- Last OnlineDec 17, 2025 8:50 AM
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- BirthdayJan 31, 1995
- JoinedDec 17, 2018
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Nov 25, 2025
I feel like this was obvious to anyone who paid attention to One Punch Man season 2, or really anyone who understood what was happening to the manga over the past 8 years. The series is a victim of Murata's pen. And before anyone jumps in to defend the man and say "um actually, it's written by Murata AND ONE," I'm not saying that his bad writing is ruining the story. The problem is that his desire to add endless detail, characters, and even more action than before has made the series un-adaptable. Murata loves drawing fights and has illustrated some of the most impressive
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action in any manga or anime. The problem is he made too much of it. This is a series with no downtime between fights. Go back and re-watch season 1 and you'll see that there are plenty of conversations between friends, slice of life moments that break up the action, and overall solid pacing that makes the action hit that much harder. That is what has been cut out of the Monster Association arc. It's over 100 chapters of balls to the wall action with dozens of characters and no breaks. That means that any studio was going to be facing an uphill battle when animating this series. It took Murata - a man who is famous for his consistent output - almost a decade to complete with multiple periods of re-draws. How could an animation studio do the same in less than a year of production time?
While I sympathize with J.C. Staff for taking on this gargantuan task, I also cannot excuse their incompetence. This doesn't look good. The artistic direction has gone off the rails. Character model consistency even within the same scene is poor. The dialogue is stilted and awkward with bad takes often being used because there wasn't enough time to re-record them. I won't accuse them of being lazy, however. I've worked on poorly managed projects before. I'm sure that every day is a nightmare from start to finish, with little time to rest or assess their progress. They're fighting to keep their heads above water with each new episode and it shows. I can only hope that once this is over they're able to disconnect from the world, get some rest, and move on. I accepted that this season would be bad from the beginning and I'm still kind of surprised at the final product. It's shocking how far One Punch Man has fallen. At the same time, I recognize that the underlying problem with the series is its inability to address the bloat that has occurred in the process of updating the visuals from the original series. It's proof that too much of a good thing can be bad in the long run.
In short: do not watch this. If you love animation as a medium you will be upset. If you liked One Punch Man you will be dissatisfied. Nobody wins here.
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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Sep 3, 2025
Chainsaw Man Part 1 is a tight story with strong themes exploring desire, being used by others, and the downsides of becoming powerful. The art is solid and the overall concept doesn't stray too far from traditional shonen story structures. Characters show up with goals to accomplish, there is an arc with a clash between each side's goals and values, and there is a resolution of some kind. Denji experiences more of the world and grows as a character as he learns more about himself as a person. This repeats until the story comes to a satisfying end... except then it doesn't end.
It's a perfect
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example of a zombie series carried by inertia and commercial success with very little artistic reason to continue existing. The quality of the art has noticeably declined with rough sketches and some hilarious examples of basic mistakes like layers on certain pages being ordered incorrectly making their way into publication. It's a one trick pony using shock value and cliffhangers as a replacement for the emotional resonance that made the first part so compelling. The story meanders around aimlessly from conflict to conflict with no clear end point in sight. Even worse, I don't think I want to know how this ends. No outcome appears satisfying as the world has devolved into complete chaos with no "good" options in sight, only slightly less bad ones. One of the series' major flaws in the second half is that Denji no longer has a reason to be a part of the story besides his utility to others. He has no agency or goals of his own and lacks the moral compass or intelligence to think for himself; instead he is steered in a new direction by whoever last interacted with him until he is inevitably picked up and used by another group for their own nefarious ends. I do like Asa as a character. If anything I wish that she were the true protagonist of the second part and Denji was a side character seen only briefly as he moves throughout the world, a mythical figure whom many aspire to control. But no, Denji's suffering parade must continue and you must see it all through his eyes. Eventually, because of this, the series lost me. I don't care any more. It's a shame because Tatsuki Fujimoto is a good storyteller in short bursts. He has a knack for creating characters with appealing designs and interesting motivations. He is capable of creating an engaging set piece or premise that requires an out of the box solution, but at this point it's hard to say if his heart is still in it. I say skip part 2 and pretend that it never happened because there's very little worth exploring in it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Jan 24, 2025
One Punch Man (for the first 100 chapters) is an excellent adaptation of ONE's hit webcomic series. The overall strength of the illustration adds a lot to the original story and helped lay the groundwork for one of the most iconic anime productions ever made. Unfortunately, after the 100 chapter mark the series turns into complete slop where the story makes no sense and the fights are drawn out too long to be interesting. The current state of the manga is unfortunately beyond saving, but the first half of the series is legitimately good in its own right.
My recommendation would be to read ONE's original
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webcomic (which is still ongoing), then read the manga from the beginning and stop once you reach the Phoenix Man fight.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Jun 24, 2024
The pacing of this series is absolutely awful. The illustration, characters, and overall story are fine besides some questionable choices. This really makes you appreciate the amount of time Yasuhisa Hara spends on the battles in Kingdom to properly build tension and suspense. This story feels like a grand epic that should take place over 500+ chapters to explore all the historical details and intricacies of ancient Japanese battles, but the story flies by at a breakneck pace with no time to breathe. This is the manga equivalent of the new Star Wars sequels. You have no time to process anything before the next sequence
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begins.
Update: After fully catching up to this series, I feel even more frustrated than before. This series feels like a child is telling you about everything that happened to him this week. Some major events are covered in a few sentences. Tangents that aren't relevant to the overall story are covered in excruciating detail. This series needed more time and care to explore some of the genuinely good ideas it has.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Aug 19, 2023
Oh boy. This one came highly recommended, and I truly do not understand why. The art is great, it's truly exemplary of the late 90s and early 00s in terms of its aesthetic. I understand what the author is going for with the story. He wants to impart the sense that the world is cruel and unforgiving, but he sacrificed the characters and a sense of forward progression in the story. Characters are introduced and killed off in the same chapter. The series is also full of sexual violence to the point that it borders on obsessive. The author cannot help himself. He must show
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a woman being sexually assaulted, groped, or mutilated at least once every few chapters. I don't consider myself a prude, but it stops being shocking after the first few times and just becomes tedious. It's something you come to expect and have to endure as you go through the series.
The protagonist isn't really the protagonist and none of his actions accomplish anything. If there is ever a character who you think has some redeeming qualities, don't get too attached to them because they only have a few pages left to live. Every action the protagonists attempt is always countered by an omnipotent antagonist who has unlimited resources and is always two steps ahead of their rivals. Nothing ever works out in the protagonists' favor because the world is cruel. Eventually you get tired of characters being shot in the head just as it looks like their plan is going to succeed, and that's Eden's only trick. I stopped caring about the outcome of any storyline because I knew it would end with the most important character to the story being killed. The entire plot would have been resolved even if the protagonists did nothing for the entire duration of the story. Despite this, Eden attempts to end on a hopeful note which feels totally unearned. It's a complete downer and not worth the considerable time spent reading it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Aug 16, 2023
Spy x Family starts off well with its core concept and strong cast of characters, but over time becomes bogged down in fluff and side stories that offer little substance. The main plot barely progresses and none of the main characters are ever in any serious danger, which deflates any suspense. It's a low-stakes series that most people can turn their brains off and enjoy, but the resolutions for any conflict become obvious once you become accustomed to the narrative decisions. The action is drawn and paneled well and the dialogue flows smoothly, but for a bi-weekly series the illustration isn't anything special and the
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plot moves at a glacial pace. The tone can also shift from extremely dark to sugary sweet in a way that can feel jarring.
Anyone whose main reading diet consists of shonen will appreciate this story, as it mixes action and romance in a way that is novel but not satisfying. Readers who want a slow burn romance will be disappointed by complete the lack of progress in Loid and Yor's relationship, and those who want a non-stop spy action thriller will be let down by the ease with which the main characters overcome every obstacle with their superhuman abilities.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Apr 28, 2023
Versus starts strong by flipping the concept of calling a hero from another world on its head in the most ridiculous way. Unfortunately, the premise is the only interesting thing about it. Combining multiple worlds that are all under siege from various types of "natural enemies" from demons to rogue AI sounds fun, but the series introduces the entire ensemble cast all at once and spends far too much time giving tedious exposition. The art is well laid out on the page and dynamic, but ONE has done a disservice to Kyoutarou Azuma by forcing all the characters to stand around a table to deliver
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their lines instead of coming up with a creative way to dole out information that makes use of the artist's strengths.
Make no mistake, this is a terrible fall from grace for the creator of Mob Psycho 100 and One Punch Man. Versus lacks the creative spark and genuine humanity that infused ONE's previous works. Without knowing the creative team, one might assume that this series was created by a first-time mangaka trying to break into the industry by putting a twist on a tried-and-true concept.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Aug 21, 2022
Kaiju No. 8 is an extremely formulaic shonen manga. I do not think that readers will be challenged or surprised by anything outside the initial premise. The story and characters are extremely basic and the primary antagonist is not interesting. In fact, he barely has any backstory or motivation for doing anything. He is a blank slate that looks menacing.
The art is also very basic. It is technically competent, but the flow of action between panels and pages is nonexistent. Pages follow a standard layout across chapters with far too many reaction panels. The author also overuses two-page spreads for impact, meaning that chapters fly
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by and the pacing is inconsistent at best.
All in all, if you want a by-the-book shonen action series that plays all the hits from previous eras, read this manga. It has all your favorite tropes you've seen dozens of times already. I think the current offering of shonen has much more to offer readers if they want something new and exciting, with new authors pushing the medium in interesting directions with their art and storytelling. Kaiju No. 8 does not have that. It is okay at everything, but not good at anything.
Chapter 85 update: you know things are dire when the series is blatantly ripping off Demon Slayer, and not even the best parts of Demon Slayer. It isn't even subtle. I hesitate to call Matsumoto a hack, but this is bordering on plagiarism.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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May 22, 2022
Sakamoto Days is one of the best action manga out there right now. While the story isn't necessarily deep, complex, or innovative, you root for the heroes to succeed and the villains are consistently threatening without seeming incompetent. Everyone has a clear motivation. The characters are reasonably compelling, and everyone exhibits a level of emotional maturity that falls in line with the subject matter. It's campy and comedic at times, but not obnoxious or melodramatic. You also don't get huge mid-fight monologues that bring the pacing to a stand-still.
The real strength of this series is the fight choreography. I truly feel that Yuto Suzuki is
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one of the great action artists of our era. Suzuki incorporates environments, buildings, vehicles, and everyday objects into fight sequences so seamlessly that the flow is never disrupted, like John Wick but faster and more intense. There's also a level of comedy which I wasn't expecting, but the absurdity of how objects are used always manages to elicit a smile or a chuckle. It's truly a joy to read and I constantly find myself surprised at how the action moves and develops across the page. "Motion" is the key word here, as Suzuki finds a balance between velocity and impact without what's on the page ever becoming difficult to read. It's all easy to follow at first glance.
If you find that the modern offering of shonen action sequences is too bland, if you find yourself getting bored of stiff art that looks like a staged reference photo, and if you just want to have fun reading something again without worrying too much about power levels, then check this out. It's a treat.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Apr 19, 2022
What does it mean to give something a 10? I believe that a 10 represents perfection, the peak of the medium. Something you can return to after many years and still find enjoyment or new aspects to appreciate, or details that you never noticed on your first or second time reading it.
I truly believe that Golden Kamuy is flawless. You rarely see a series like this set up so many things over 8 years of publication and ultimately pay them off in an ending that is thematically and narratively satisfying. Most importantly, Golden Kamuy challenges the reader and trusts you to draw your own conclusions
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about the story and the characters without being told what to feel. Satoru Noda has crafted a work that I feel will stand the test of time for decades to come.
There are so many things I want to say about Golden Kamuy, but it speaks for itself. You're missing out on something truly incredible by not giving this a chance. It's a perfect 10.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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