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Despite not being exactly mainstream, Welcome to the NHK is easily among the most hailed franchises in all of otaku media by elitists and also one of the few that was also very well received by a more casual audience. It is also a title that I wanted to check out for a while, but was holding back because I was expecting it to be a lot darker and harder to consume and face. I recently watched and read all three versions of it, not counting the sequel novel that is still coming out, so I figured I could say something about them in one single review, so this should be a long one.

The concept is well known by now; NHK is a black comedy and primarily a critique on otakus and more specifically hikikomoris and otaku culture in general by showing them in a ridiculous and critical way. It is also a self-critique of the author, who was and still is a hikikomori himself. It is also very clearly about escapism and anti-escapism, but if you look at it from a sociological level, it is also about Japan being plagued by religious cults, scamming schemes, online bets and the addictions that come with them, suicidal tendencies and groups, drugs, dropout students, parasites living off of others, and young people being mocked and feeling insecure about getting a job.

If you want to think about it also on a level that is not only sociological but also philosophical, you can also interpret it as the journey of the characters in trying to find a purpose in life, while also experiencing first hand that, as selfish and sufficient humans could be, as sociological and rational animals, they are still needing of being in company of someone else in order to build a project and purpose in life, and feeling mentally sane and emotionally complete.

Whatever one’s evaluations about these ideas may be, no person could deny them being interesting on paper.

Although the very core is the same in all versions, there are noticeable differences among the executions between them.

STORY

-Novel 8/10 (2/2 premise, 2/2 pacing, 1/2 complexity, 2/2 credibility, 1/2 ending)

-Anime 7/10 (1/2 premise, 2/2 pacing, 2/2 complexity, 1/2 credibility, 1/2 ending)

-Manga 5/10 (1/2 premise, 1/2 pacing, 2/2 complexity, 0/2 credibility, 1/2 ending).

CHARACTERS

-Novel 7/10 (2/2 presence, 2/2 personality, 1/2 backdrops, 1/2 development, 1/2 catharsis)

-Anime 8/10 (2/2 presence, 2/2 personality, 2/2 backdrops, 1/2 development, 1/2 catharsis)

-Manga 6/10 (2/2 presence, 1/2 personality, 1/2 backdrops, 1/2 development, 1/2 catharsis)

The concept is interesting but more so in the original novel, since it takes some chapters for Satou and Misaki to encounter, while in the anime and manga that happens almost right away. Thus the original work is about a look into the mentality of a hikikomori first, and everything else after, while the anime and manga delve faster into the aspect of the premise being about a cute manic pixie dream girl helping an otaku just because. It does not help that the way the characters try to fix their problems is by delving more and deeper into the self-indulging cause of them.

Its first issue could be at the same time one of its most interesting and strongest aspects, how by trying to leave some addictions and fixations, and trying to face oneself’s own insecurities and anxieties, one relies in the same things that started the whole issue, while also depicting how one can fall backwards again in a circular pattern, while trying to move forward.

The main difference between the three versions is that the novel focuses mainly on Satou himself and his hikikomori life and mentality themselves. He has issues with drugs and alcohol and hallucinations and becomes a porn addict with pedophilic tendencies, but also gets confronted about those things a lot faster and more seriously than in the other versions. What the original version lacks is everything else; as the reader does not get to know his parents, nor see much about the lives of Yamazaki and Hitomi, let alone delve into online RPGs or suicidal groups, and Megumi and her brother are nowhere to be found. What it has that the others lack, is a deeper look into Misaki’s religious group.

All those elements and more are present on the manga and later on the anime, effectively making them more complex works on paper. The main issue is that the characters kind of bump into each other in a casual way, and for how big and serious their problems are, they always seem to find easy or convenient solutions to them.

Granted, that always end up leading to more problems and mini arcs, that although can get a bit frustrating to watch and read, at to a point is good in reflecting the cycle of which the characters have it hard to escape from, while also giving those versions a far richer content on paper.

On execution however, these easy solutions and circular patterns are what make the story in the anime and manga worse in my opinion, since the novel is faster, more direct and straightforward and makes more sense.

In terms of pacing the anime is equally good as the novel, if only slightly worse, despite having more elements and mini arcs, because it dedicates enough time to each thing without making it feel like the theme exploration and the progression of the events are rushed.

The manga is the fastest in that regard but also the more rushed of them all, as it burns through the same events of the anime in half its duration, or more precisely, the anime choose to end at a midpoint while the manga was still ongoing and adding more stuff. The faster pacing in the manga makes the issue of how convenient things play out a lot more noticeable. It also does not help that, perhaps because it was published on a shounen magazine, its tone is a lot more light, playing off lots of events in a more lighthearted way or that they are not real or did not happen to the characters, who made them up, such a shame.

The novel is the most serious and best of them all in tone, while the anime balances out the mood of both previous versions by being a comedy like the manga, but knowing how to have a lot more just serious moments, closer to the novel.

Before moving on to the conclusion, is important to talk about the characters, since they are in a way part of the story itself. Their presence is strong in all versions for initially being well known stereotypes, but eventually becoming a more looked into and darker versions of themselves. The novel focuses a lot more on Satou while also has Misaki on a middle point between her other two versions, as she is more direct and less mysterious around Satou as she is in the anime, while also nowhere near as screwed as she is in the manga. Yamazaki is a character that was treated far better in the anime version, as he gets a relationship with Nanako, and more backdrop and focus than just being a support character with two lines of backdrop like he is the novel, and perhaps even more in the manga.

And of course Hitomi and her husband are a lot more explored in both the manga and anime versions, and Megumi and her brother exist, unlike the novel which does not feature them in any way.

The main issue with the manga is how screwed every character is in there, by extension becoming more unlikable and harder for the reader to tolerate, let alone empathize with. One could argue that that is beneficial for the main point of the product itself, but it also becomes very frustrating to keep seeing these characters falling more and more for more stuff, being fooled time and time again, repeating mistakes, not moving forward, becoming worse and more damaging versions of themselves, and what is worse, being more mean and manipulative towards others.

As the manga is double the longer than the anime, and even more than the novel, as the equivalent of the ending of both versions happen only in the middle point of the manga, it also changes some characters dynamics and goes deeper into their backdrop stories. This sounds better on paper but again the issue comes in its execution.

First of all, the manga has Misaki interacting with Hitomi and her husband, who here has a different job, and she is also the one that helps Megumi’s brother, and although that makes the characters more interconnected as a whole, it also makes everything to feel a lot more convenient in how the characters just bump into each other or influence others.

Another issue is the manga refusing to take itself seriously; it shows the same backdrops as the anime, but then has the characters playing them out like jokes or lies to manipulate others. One could maybe say that they are downplaying their issues, but being subtle is one thing, while being ambiguous about everything and everyone is another completely different.

Also despite the characters getting more focus, is not exactly for the better, as Yamazaki gets into a dysfunctional relationship with Nanako, only to end it with a joke, it shows Hitomi’s marriage becoming really fucked up, only to not mattering in the end, and Misaki gets a lot more focus, only for her whole story to play out as a lie and her being far crazier, delusional, insecure, mean and manipulative than her other counterparts.

Although a less idealized version of the character, more flawed and with more dimensions should be better, it is not. She fixes others’ problems with ease, going to extreme and not very sane lengths for that, and treats everyone else as inferior, especially Satou, who she has a very toxic and unhealthy relationship with.

Plus the narrative of the manga in the second half becomes very messy, as characters’ backdrops and relationships are shown in between others, you could get two pages centered on a character, then another one on another, then another two on another, then going back to the first character, what is up with that? Why do it like that?

As the conclusion of each version is directly tied with the catharsis of the characters, the closure of the characters arc ends up affecting the overall message and the quality of both the story and piece as a whole. The novel and the anime share the same finale, and although both leave the spectator with an “mm ok” feel, the novel feels like the most logical conclusion because of the major focus that the two main characters have, and because of Misaki’s characterization, the best out of the three. The anime is almost as good in that regard but because of the almost angel like figure that Misaki has over there, and because she doesn’t anticipate stuff about her in the same ways as the novel does, her backdrop and resolution feel a bit more sudden.

Either version is better than the manga, which goes for longer than both the anime and novel and making every character more messed up and miserable and plainly a bad person. It becomes really hard to tolerate them and you stop wanting them to do good after a while for how toxic and manipulative they become, and for how the manga almost becomes misery porn, it gets that bad.

The manga finale should be more complete, as the whole cast gets more focused and a resolution, but because of what I said earlier, and because of a time skip right in the last chapter and before the very end, the whole thing feels undeserved and that came out of nowhere, with nothing leading to that direction. Yamazaki was doing fine in the farm. How? His whole life crumbled. Hitomi was doing fine with her husband. How? Their relationship was the worst. Megumi and her brother seemed to be doing fine. Ok that is the most logical one but it also does not make sense based on how previous events play out. Misaki was doing fine on school. How? She could not even be there.

It all feels like it just kind of happened during the time skip and out of screen because there had to be a happy ending. It is not the finale itself what is bad, it is the whole thing prior not leading to that in an organic way.

And message wise it feels like the novel and the anime end up saying something like building relationships and slowly getting small opportunities and solutions will help with the problem, although it won’t be fixed because the characters are still blaming someone or something else. The manga on the other hand rushed through the whole thing without showing how to get to that point, plus the main character almost ends in the same spot as he began, only now in a very unhealthy and toxic relationship with a bad and manipulative person, how does that helps or serves with the anti-escapism message?

VISUALS

-Novel 5/10

-Anime 7/10 (1/2 artwork, 1/2 character designs and figures, 2/2 backgrounds, 1/2 motions, 2/2 special effects)

-Manga 8/10 (2/2 artwork, 1/2 character designs and figures, 2/2 backgrounds, 1/2 motions, 2/2 special effects).

Visually the novel only has two illustrations by Yoshitoshi Abe, and even though that means that they are well done, with such a small amount, and with his typical design as always, just with different clothes, I can not give it more than the base average score.

The anime was heavily criticized because of its quality drops in artwork and character figures, even though they stand out for a 2006 anime and even more compared to the novel. The motions could also be notably jerky at times. Backgrounds and special effects are well done, even if they include CGI, which is used subtly and sparingly, plus more often than not they reflect the hallucinations of the characters, so they serve a purpose in-story.

The manga is the best in that regard, with the best artwork and special effects, different styles for the comical moments and for when the characters play videogames or hallucinate. It also has the best backgrounds, as they reflect better the different settings, both real and virtual within the manga, and also for not falling for the white, empty backgrounds while characters talk that most manga use sometimes to save time. The character designs are still simple, there are not very interesting sequences to talk about motions, and the change in artwork at times for comical effect turn the tone a bit goofy in a way that feels like mood whiplash.

SOUND 8/10

The anime can be pretty immersive with its sound design and effects, the music is good as well and fit the mood well, even the normal jpop anime-ish songs are fine because they have an in-story reason. The series has two versions of the same opening, which sounds like a generic romcom opening, but thanks to the lyrics it fits the anime well enough, and even more in the more sad and melancholy second version used during the second half, which even has darker colors. The second ending has a similar feel as the opening, and the first is both awful and amazing, but it is a cool rocker and reflects the more insane bits of the series well. All of them are worthy to check out, even better if they have lyrics at hand. The voice acting is ok, Satou’s voice is a bit weird but fits his awkward personality well, and Misaki’s voice felt a bit too young for me but I guess her angel like characterization she has on the anime, while it would be unfitting for any of her other two versions. As a whole the voice acting feels decent enough but I was mostly unimpressed by it.

VALUE

-Novel 7/10 (Somewhat known but not so much in the West, unforgettable, it doesn’t have that much of a reread value but there is nothing bad with doing that because of how short and easy to read it is).

-Manga 6/10 (Somewhat known and unforgettable, but becomes very frustrating in the second half and the ending feels unsatisfactory, plus is the worst version in characterization and theme exploration, thus I don’t think it has a reread value of any kind really, it is more of a one-time read).

-Anime 8/10 (Known enough in the West, well known in Japan, it is included in several best anime of all time lists, it is also unforgettable and thanks to its balance of the complexity of the manga and a close execution to that of the original novel, it is the one that I find to have the highest rewatch value of the three).

PERSONAL ENJOYMENT

-Novel 7/10 (Very enjoyable two days read that unfortunately felt too short for me to love).

-Anime 7/10 (I would cringe out during the more otaku oriented bits which I’m glad that the novel does not include, but the most serious moments made it a pretty enjoyable watch).

-Manga 6/10 (I was very engaged at first but at some point I hated the switches in tone and the characters).

CONCLUSION

Every version is worth consuming based on characterization and theme exploration alone, and even more because of the mediums they belong to, but the novel feels short and the manga stretched out and dragged out and becomes worse in writing, so I only see it as just another version in case you want more of the same story. The anime more or less combines all the appealing elements of the other two, so it is the best version in my opinion, and even then it had some episodes that are worse and more cringy than others, for focusing on otaku culture. It is a good little franchise, but I think it is also way inferior to the kind of similar Tatami Galaxy.

FINAL RATINGS

-Novel 7/10

-Anime 7.5/10

-Manga 6/10

Ad Astra does not start very well because it presents Hannibal with an almost supernatural fated image and aura about him, a manifestation of the spirit of his country of sorts that can even intimidate a way older war general and although the raw GAR energy of it can be very appealing, in terms of writing is kind of too much to take.

Thankfully that is only for its first chapter and from the second and until the end there is no element nor moment like that ever again, and the manga becomes 100% a political war epic full of on field, tactical and mental battles and debates, political struggle both between the two enemy countries as well as for each one on their own, as the manga bothers to also cover the internal issues they had at the time both in their political systems and societal classes and even between the generals themselves.

And unlike other political war epics, Ad Astra does not really suffers from rule of cool, there are a lot of very strong and imposing manly characters but it never feels like what they are able to do defies the rules of their world, like Huo in The Ravages of Time. Plus there are explanations for everything to at least make it seem like everything makes sense, and the setups are explained before the plans and tactics are put on motion in battle, they are not thrown in nor explained as they are happening, thus they do not feel ass-pulled at any time.

The manga is also fair for both sides in the sense that every major character has a moment to shine and even when defeated and during their last moments they can give the winners a hard time or have a badass and cool end.

Unlike other series like it, Ad Astra is also not hard nor very heavy to follow, the dialogue is about complex topics and well-constructed, but never really to the point that is hard to grasp and need a second read, nor becomes tiring for the mind.

The length and pacing are also really good, just look at the number of chapters, and the plot moves forward at every moment.

In terms of characterization, it feels like the manga does something similar to LOGH with its own Yang and Reinhard. It is true that after the first chapter and a big time skip, Hannibal is presented mostly as serious and focused on the war without relaxing moments nor flashbacks to flesh him out more, but he is explored through his relationships with other characters and all the difficulties he had to face. Plus the realization of the consequences that his attitude leads to and the way it comes to bite his ass at the end is a great moment to behold, you feel like everything up to that point was made deliberately that way just for that catharsis.

Scipio on the other hand gets most of the focus, as he learns and grows mostly from his number one enemy and uses his own strategies and tactics against him, you can even say that there is point in that, in how they were not very different in the end and that eventually, in a sense, Hannibal was his own downfall. Scipio’s sad ending is also really something to behold.

Other secondary characters are also fleshed out in the same way, whether by getting the right amount of spotlight, or through flashbacks, or by getting their own development through gains and hardships in battles.

It is also interesting to see how even when they are sworn enemies, the characters from the different countries show respect for the others exactly because of the things that make them stand out.

The artwork is solid all the time, with good backgrounds, movements and special effects, and the only issue for me are the designs, which by going for realism (mostly), ended up becoming kind of repetitive and hard to tell apart, even more when they are in the battlefield.

As for the negatives, there are some minor secondary characters that are plain one dimensional rapists and murderers that are an unnecessary edgy addition that takes away from the overall seriousness and level of the manga, but luckily they disappear from the story almost as quickly as they are introduced.

The manga also has some comedy and just like is the usual case in anime and manga, it sucks. To its defense, at the very least it is not present at all during serious moments.

Honestly, at the end of the day there are very few things I can complain about it, the exaggerated supernatural elements and the inferior minor characters disappear completely from the story and the comedy, although awful, is never used in a way that ruins the tone. Thus I find just a few and very little issues in the manga, which is why I reflect that in the rating.

10/10

THE MEH

The premise of Sengoku Youko is both generic for a fighting shounen and familiar coming from its author, who was working on Hoshi no Samidare at the same time. Two siblings (not really in here) defeating both bad humans and demons and telling them to do better, out of love for either one or both species.

The initial plot structure is one of the same for a fighting shounen as well, the main group gets formed while defeating minor enemies, antagonist organization and big bads appear, more and more powerful bads appear later on, the good guys get stronger by getting more and more power ups, some romantic interests thrown in, and there you have it, your fighting shounen served and ready to go.

The comedy can be a mixed bag, there’s a lot of the usual silly yelling, funny moments thrown in during serious ones, overreactions and the like, yet there’s also some good comedy about subverting those typical shounen moments by cutting them off out of annoyance around one of the protagonists, so it evens out.

The powers are based on elements, spiritual energy, illusions, and the fights revolved completely around either fist or sword fights with demonic powers or transformations in them. At most they mix some boxing in it but that’s about it for innovation, which is very basic and inferior in terms of choreography compared with Hoshi no Samidare.

At least the usual craziness from this author is still there and if all you want is epic scales and scope in your fights, you will have them in both parts of the manga.

The art is overall decent but can be rough around the edges since the author was never very good at drawing. The artwork is simplistic and often lacks details or backgrounds, the character designs are simple and generic and feel kind of reused from other works, the motions are so-so, and as a whole there’s a very sketchy feel about what’s on the pages. At the same time the special effects are really powerful, and combined with the sketchy art style, the darker, hypest and more psychological moments in the manga have a raw feeling that make them immersive, impactful and memorable enough.

THE BAD

You can’t have your typical fighting shounen without its typical elements and moments, and that’s where all the bad writing comes in:

-Convenient power ups in battle, with even its own nine tails like Naruto.

-Quick training sessions on rooms where time moves differently so the main characters can conveniently become way stronger in order the defeat their opponents. Sometimes not even that but training montages through flashbacks and after time skips instead.

-Forgiving old bad guys that become future allies against stronger new enemies.

-Lack of permanent deaths in the long run. For the most part that’s present as well, but at least the characters that do die in here are more fleshed out than the ones in Hoshi no Samidare.

-Meh antagonist organization. As a whole they are fine, there’s enough variety amongst them and both good and bad guys in it but individually almost every member in it is lacking powerful enough characterization. Eventually two or three of them are fleshed out but the vast majority of them are not. Later on more antagonists appear and they leave a lot to be desired for how hyped they were when they appeared for the first time. Plus their existence is confusing in a way that feels like a plot hole. They come from the far more advanced past and despite claiming that they try to prevent their end, descendants keep over the time on which the series take place in, how is that possible?

-Random anachronistic element that doesn’t fit the historical setting, in the form of a rapper like villain that even speaks in English randomly, what the hell is with that guy?

-Lots of last moment saves and characters appearing randomly when needed.

THE GOOD

Despite the criticisms I’ve made, I think that Sengoku Youko is overall a decent one time read fighting shounen plainly for its second half, which although it still has the issues from the first, it also amplifies the good parts of it and adds some more on its own.

First of all, it takes an interesting narrative choice by switching the roles of some characters, thus you have some good guys from the first part being the antagonists while some bad guys are now the protagonists, while at the same time it follows every single recurrent side character or antagonist from earlier with a new role and newer character dynamics with some others, thus everyone remains kind of relevant for the story and plot and there is a sense of evolution for most of them that way.

This is done by not forgetting anything from both the earlier and the later parts, as every seemingly unimportant side story and character reappears with a role in the final battle and arc, while it also tries to make some sense out of the stuff that previously didn’t have much, or any.

The themes are ok as well. As it seems to be the case with this author, it’s anti-suicide, edgyness, depression, losing yourself out of greed for power, people getting a new perspective and identity in life and all that stuff, with this time the relationships between humans and demons as an addition.

Last year we have had several anime depicting demons in different ways, Frieren as irredeemable, Helck as victims, the S-Rank Adventurer Daughter anime as something in between, as there were demons that were just evil, as well as others that could be reformed with better nurture. Sengoku Youko takes a similar stand as the latter, as there are both demons that kill for hunger and humans that kill any demon indiscriminately, as well as demons and humans that coexist peacefully, since even though they are different on the outside, they still share presence in a same spiritual world, thus being essentially the same. The end of the manga also shows how demons can be reformed by being taught a different diet.

The key to the theme exploration is the presence of characters that are both human and demon, products of artificial experiments. Thus both demons and humans learn that coexistence is possible through them, with the key characters for that aspect being Shakugan in the first half, who was not just a friend for Tama and a romantic interest for Shinsuke, but also the one that helps the human hating Jinka notice that.

Tama is important for the theme exploration as well, since she was around humans or half humans as well as demons her whole life, which is why she is the mentor for everyone else in the main group, in terms of getting along between the different species.

And finally, remember that golem from Hoshi no Samidare with an existential crisis that was one of the best, if not the best character from that manga? Well Senya here is the same but done much better, coming from an empty husk of a character to an amnesiac little boy to a dangerous monster that can’t control his powers, to a suicidal half demon half human character with an identity crisis and full of guilt and repentance, to the hero of the story that never really breaks the power scaling, and finally a Buddha like figure that spreads forgiveness, hope, pacifism and coexistence between demons and humans, exactly because of the nurture, psychological introspection and character dynamics and development he has throughout the whole story.

The evolution of other characters is good as well. Jinka starts as an edgy hotheaded character but we also learn how good he is with other demons, and he develops by learning that coexistence between species is possible, before losing himself in his own power, requiring every other character to cooperate in order to stop him.

And Shinsuke begins as a comic relief character that turns himself into the edgy suicidal loner before he also learns the same thing as the other characters, and becomes a mentor for everybody else.

The female characters, as a whole, have an important role also during the fights, which is kind of rare for a fighting shounen, and although they never really match the males in power, for its genre and time period in setting, their roles stand out and deserve a mention, as they are not just romantic interests, plus the seemingly most powerful creature in the series (for the longest time at least) is a woman. Another good thing is that, although they are presented as cute and romantic interests, and although there are some nudity moments in the manga, they are very few and are never shown in a sensual way, thus the women are never treated as fapservice.

The second half also fleshes out other characters that up until that point were fun but shallow.

The conclusion is solid as far as characterization goes, as everyone gets a catharsis, and although easygoing and with a typical happy finale, it is also kind of bittersweet in a way, as it bothers to actually show the inevitable pass of time and its consequences, without a happy ending that skips character dynamics like Hoshi no Samidare, thus I consider this one to be better.

Bottom line, as it’s usually the case with straightforward action fiction, this is not a series you really follow for the writing or substance, even if it does become better in the second half, but the changes in it in the later stages of the manga and the characters, along with the epic shit moments, that make it a one-time worthwhile read.

Note: This will cover both versions but focus mainly on the manga, with some spoilers ahead

Hoshi no Samidare is an example of a cult classic manga doomed by a very bad adaptation. I had it on my list for years until I decided to read it just as I watched the anime two years ago but even if I didn’t do that I would have noticed the issues within the anime, as many anime-only people did during the episodic discussions.

Despite the infamous low budget that made most drop the anime series, truth is the manga isn’t that much better looking either. It doesn’t have the same issue of having character designs and backgrounds that don’t seem to fit in the same place, nor the horrible motions nor the pathetic special effects of the adaptation, but the drawings are still very basic and almost sketch-like, the backgrounds are very lacking and usually even absent, and the special effects are not very good either. Near the end the overall thing looks and flows much better than at the beginning, with even some quite epic scenes and moments in it, but as a whole the end result is nothing more than mediocre coming from a mediocre artist, and that is still way better than the awful visuals from the adaptation.

Obviously, the sound is only an issue present within the adaptation and man if it isn’t even worse than the visuals. The music was good but often misused and unfitting, the openings and endings were all extremely forgettable, the sound effects were pathetic for the time the series came out, to the point that you could find shows from 40 years earlier with better ones than the adaptation of this manga. And the voice acting is overall one of the worst I have heard in the medium, most voices don’t fit their characters, and the ones that do are seriously lackluster in their delivery, as if the seiyuus weren’t even trying to play their lines correctly. The only one which I remember being performed with some effort was Mikazuki and he had another problem which was being way overacted, easily the most I have heard in recent years after the cast, and more specifically, the protagonist, of Redo of Healer.

The actual plot begins with an interesting premise where seemingly villains will fight alongside heroes and against some other villains for conquering and eventually destroying the world and since the quantity of chapters is quite low, nothing is stretched out to last more than needed.

The issue with it is that at the beginning both protagonists come off as very edgy and immature with one of them also having a very edgy backdrop with a very in your face presentation, and the same bullshit Japanese handling of the clear victim having to understand and forgive the person that is clearly on the wrong, but at least here it leads to powerful character development for one of the main characters.

The plot structure is very simple as it plays out like a fighting shounen where the main group faces off against zero dimensional golems that are increasingly stronger each new time before fighting against the big bad guy, and eventually leading to a very basic and predictable finale with a sweet but very simply presented message of continuing to fight for your life and wish to live it and make the best of it even when it seems pointless and about to be over soon.

The credibility is also extremely low as the characters fight in open spaces and although it is established that common people can’t see the super powers and the golems, they should be able to see the main group jumping incredible heights or distances or being tossed around by some enemies, in what looks like an empty Japan.

Leaving that aside, the main girl of the show will come off as a self-absorbed, selfish and edgy brat for wanting to take the whole world with her, even more so because the series tries to present her as a poor victim when she is not. She is a tragic character alright but many would have it hard to find her sympathetic. To her defense I will say that her being that way is the whole point of the manga, as she begins to question herself throughout the story and, well, predictably, ends up being called out and given a new hopeful perspective and will to live in the last moments, so the manga becomes anti-edgy as it goes forward and leaves behind the juvenile teenager way of seeing life.

Despite that, the plot itself is not very good either because many aspects of it are a joke or quirky at best, since the spirits the characters fight alongside with are simple and plain looking and based around toys, their powers are basic, some upgrades come off suddenly when needed, and as a whole the story is basically two superhuman long-lived almost immortal psychic siblings playing to save or destroy the world for fun and resetting it every time until the happy outcomes happens and the bad one is defeated for good. Plus the finale becomes way too convenient and even convoluted with the use of time travel and time loops as a way to get power ups, and simple emotional motivational speeches, driven completely by ideals and emotions instead of any logic or plausibility. The outcome is also convenient, since it’s a happy ending after a time skip and the main issue was resolved and some character dynamics changed, both things out of screen.

As a partially romantic series I also want to point out that I find it creepy that the main couple has a dude in his twenties wanting to go out with a minor, and the harem aspect of the series can be annoying and unnecessary. To its credit though, the manga is clearly a support type of harem, since no other girl interested in the main guy actually tries to make a move, he is clear about who he loves from the very beginning, and the main couple doesn’t actually get together until they are both adults and their age gap is more reasonable.

Not everything in the plot is bad though, as there is a lot of downtime for the characters to actually train and get better at using their abilities and powers, so the power ups don’t come off as obvious ass-pulls, besides the final one in the story.

Not only that but it also allows for a lot of character immersion and interactions, with both their spirit companions and the other heroes, which also aided in getting the two edgy bratty protagonists to gain the more positive perspectives in life, so it also led to powerful character development for the main leads. Even that aside, despite moving as a group, no character is left as an archetype with no individuality, everyone is given a backdrop, motivation and daily life activities, and there are some interesting dynamics amongst them, whether as mentors, or partners in training, long-time friends, possible love interests, and more. Some of them even notice the hidden intentions of the two mains, so it’s not like the support cast is clueless about the whole thing.

Another positive is that at some point the author or some editor might have noticed how it didn’t make sense for the fights to take place in the open while having no one else around, so the battles move to some mountains where it makes sense to not have crowds witnessing everything and yet being able to see nothing.

Plus, aside of the subsequent golems becoming stronger, they also have some differences here and there, so they require some level of team strategy and fight choreography in order to be defeated.

And it’s not like the bad guy is fooling around doing nothing for the sake of the good guys being explored and bonding, it’s clear that he doesn’t have his full powers at the beginning, needs some time for preparation and making and upgrading his minions, and even if he did, it’s clear that the main girl is the strongest character in the series, so it’s not like he can just simply face them off without some kind of plan, thus the downtime doesn’t simply come from the ego of the villain being confident in his abilities, there is an in-story reason.

Likewise, although the main girl can simply one punch the earliest enemies, it’s not like she can do that every time for the particular characteristics of some of the later golems, and also because her powers are directly linked to the sister of the main bad guy and the actual hero of the story, thus, as the latter helps the support cast become stronger, the powers of the female protagonist are limited, and that affects her strength. Basically, the author put in some effort to excuse the action the way it is, and along the way corrected some of his mistakes present at the beginning of the manga.

There are also stakes, and I don’t mean that just for the whole world being at stake, but also because there are actual deaths amongst the good guys in here, without cheap ways for getting them back. The narrative regarding this point is not the best however, as some of them are dead from the beginning of the story, or die shortly after being fleshed out, making the red flags and pattern of deaths predictable and their exploration not very good either. At least, since every dead character had some personal connection and dynamic with another one from the group of heroes, every death leads to some impactful character development for the living.

Other things I want to count as a positive is that even though the connection between the two main characters seems kinda random at first, it’s eventually revealed that they are far more interconnected than they seemed initially, even if it’s done at a bit of the cost of their agency and free will.

Also, unlike other fighting series with similar elements having parents of the main characters being dead or clueless about the whole thing, here they exist, they are present, they notice the dynamics amongst the main ones, they serve as mentors or guides in life, the familial circumstances of each main is shown and given importance for their characterization, and the mother of the female lead is even given a very important role in solving the main issue in the story, even if it happens out of screen.

And finally, the last good aspect I want to talk about is a particular golem who is easily the best character amongst the bad guys. He is created with a humanoid form and the ability to mimic humans, and with the capability of evolve and learn, thus he is curious, yearns for knowledge, befriends an edgy boy amongst the heroes and even almost gets him to join the bad guys, and even gets an identity crisis at some point, he is easily one of the best characters of the whole manga, perhaps even the best.

The catharsis for every character is fine on paper, a good chunk of the support cast is given the proper immersion for that, it’s just that, like I said, the epilogue of the story happens after a time skip and out of screen, so you don’t get to see how their dynamics changed and thus how they achieved that catharsis in a way that feels organic.

The anime adaptation messed up the whole writing by rushing through the whole thing, something obvious to see even for anime only people, and also for changing the order of certain events, making some of the characters appear and disappear in awkward moments or having the main issues from the manga in a way that’s even more obvious, such as dying as soon as they are fleshed out, which also affects their exploration, since every moment they get to themselves is also rushed. Thus, even if the story and characters are there in the anime, the presentation was completely ruined and even the weakest aspects of the original are even way more prevalent. It’s not just the visuals in it that suck, even if those play a big part in also ruining the action and battle choreography.

Bottom line, despite being a cult classic, I found Hoshi no Samidare to be just on the same level as most barely worth reading one time action fantasy stories that’s barely worth consuming for its few positive aspects in its very flawed writing and theme exploration, for its main message and for its characters, but not exactly for the quality of its plot and story. Decent, but that’s it, and even that is way better than the mess that was the rushed and very poorly presented anime adaptation.

Anime 4/10 (and I feel generous)

Manga 6/10

Since I already covered every major Monogatari (anime) part, I figured I could do the same with the manga and make it my last review about the franchise. Comparisons will be made but nothing regarding major plot points, of which I already wrote about, so this review theoretically could work for newcomers as well, though it’s better to read those other reviews before, I think.

Although somewhat praised and still quite popular, the Monogatari manga seems to be seen as an inferior version within at least the western fanbase of the franchise. How do I think it fares as someone outside of it and that didn’t really enjoyed it?

The first big difference that fans aren’t pleased about is the visual style. Certainly, usually you can’t expect to match all the craziness of such an anime with a manga, and although Oh! Great is a good artist, he didn’t do much to fare with the wild directing of its anime counterpart. Not to say that he doesn’t do his own things, like drawing a character between two vignettes, making it seem like they are “jumping” off the manga on certain scenes, or drawing over black paper (I think, at least it looks like that to me) during some dark moments for a more shocking effect, or going for the typical comical gag of having just one character in a page that is otherwise full of dialogue, to mimic some moments from the anime and novel where, well, the characters talk a lot, but otherwise aren’t really saying much. This was done before on different titles, some even by the Monogatari author himself, like Medaka Box, and it’s present here as well.

But still, what Oh! Great goes for obviously can’t compete with the visuals of the anime. Not to say that his art style is bad though, he is still an overall good artist who keeps a permanently consistent artwork and very good special effects, and is usually very good at drawing fighting scenes, which are more prominent and violent here than in the anime counterpart, and he also keeps the same bizarre and dreamy feeling of the backgrounds, although nowhere near as much as the other version. He also does an accurate imitation of the art style of different manga whenever there is a reference, as it happens in the different animated series and movies of the franchise.

The worse aspects of his are his character designs, you can tell he is the artist right away if you ever read something from him, despite all the hairstyles, hair colours and clothes which he uses to make his characters stand out from the others, he tends to repeat faces a lot, and it happens here as well. Not to say that you won’t notice which character is who, but if you are a fan of the character designs of the anime, the difference might be quite big to accept.

Finally, the worst thing about this artist, is the fanservice. If you don’t know a thing about him, let me tell you the two biggest problems of his, he tends to overstuff and overcomplicate his plots and from a certain point take them very seriously despite his silly premises, and yet still fill them with loads and loads of naked minors. So, Monogatari seemed like a match made in heaven for him. There isn’t a single one of my Monogatari reviews where I didn’t bitch about the fanservice, and it is actually worse as a whole in here, more present, more prominent, more explicit, thrown in more inappropriate moments, but at least he keeps it away from the youngest characters for the most part, along with the pedophilic humor, which is something that the manga has in its favor compared with the anime.

As someone who doesn’t pay all that much attention to the visuals and doesn’t consider them as important as other people do, and finds liking or disliking something entirely because of that aspect to be incredibly fake and superficial, I didn’t mind all these changes much. In fact, I preferred the visuals of the manga, as I was never a fan of the antics of the anime, I like the more straightforward but still quite artistic presentation of the manga a lot more, and I especially like not having to pause every few moments to try to read a wall of text representing the inner monologue of a character, taken from the light novel. But I also really wish it toned down the fucking lewdness. As a whole, despite my personal preference, the artsy visuals of the anime franchise are still better than what’s present in here, but I want to make it clear that the visual presentation of the manga is overall still very good, besides all that fucking excessive nudity.

Now we can finally move to what really matters, plot and characters. And if you are a newcomer that doesn’t know the first thing about this franchise, is a harem located in a weird city where supernatural things happen and supernatural creatures and deities appear, mostly at night, having a direct effect on the mentality, and even the looks, of the characters, and the plot structure, much like almost every other harem in existence, has the protagonist helping his potential love or lust interests with their problems and making them fall in love with him for his kindness and stuff, like in a dating sim videogame, that much didn’t change, the premise stays the same.

What Oh! Great changed, is making the overall plot far simpler and more straightforward than the anime counterpart, which is rare for him, as he, like I previously said, tends to overstuff and overcomplicate the plots of his works. I don’t know why this was done this way, but that’s how it is.

The overall basics and important plot points are still there, but several relevant details are modified or even skipped, the reasons for things within the setting are explained differently or even skipped, secondary characters have a much minor role and exploration here, and even entire arcs, both of the plot and the supporting cast, are nowhere to be found, heck, a big part of that secondary cast doesn’t even appear, as the manga focuses almost entirely on Kiyomi Araragi, Tsubasa Hanekawa, Hitagi Senjougahara and Kiss Shot Acerola Orion Heart Under Blade. This way the plot is faster and far more focused, but also loses a lot of the layers, scope and mysterious vibes that played a big part on drawing such a huge fanbase in the first place.

As someone who didn’t like all the pointless talking and slow pacing of the franchise as a whole, I much preferred this far more straightforward version, but it is understandable for the fans of it not to like it as much, as part of what they found appealing in the first place is now either gone or heavily modified.

In specific, Bakemonogatari (arc/volume/part, however you want to call it) is kept practically the same, as a buildup of a season for what’s to come in the future. It has the same ups and downs of the anime, fleshing out every girl but at the cost of not moving the plot. Since this is a manga, one can read it at their own pace, and since it doesn’t have all those inner monologues from the light novels thrown in as walls of text for split seconds like the anime, it is a much easier and more pleasing and tolerable experience than the endless, and a lot of the time pointless, talking of the anime, but that still doesn’t change the fact that most of the arc is still lots of pointless talking that doesn’t let the plot move in the end. There is a reward for toughing through that in the anime franchise, but since most of the secondary girls don’t have their own arcs here, it is all not only pointless, but it also doesn’t lead to something worthwhile in the end, making it an overall inferior version of its anime counterpart in retrospect.

A good thing of this version, however, is how it completely skips the absolutely pointless, useless and disgusting part that was Nisemonogatari. Sure, it presents characters that are relevant in the future, but since they do not appear here, erasing it from the continuity, along with all of its crappiness, was a really good thing.

Instead, the manga goes directly into flashback territory, as it adapts Kizumonogatari, the only part/arc/whatever I enjoyed in the whole franchise, and that’s actually thanks to this version, which I consumed before I watched the anime movie trilogy. Skipping Nisemonogatari but adapting this one makes it perfectly clear that the overall manga focuses on the characters I mentioned earlier, as this arc shows how they got to know each other and form their relationships, as well as how the protagonist got his super powers and got himself into a big mess of an enmity between different super powerful supernatural entities, along with all the cool action that comes along with it.

Compared with the anime, it’s equally or slightly more brutal and explicit about it, but not gruesome or exploitive. The ecchi aspect of it is, again, worse, and somehow even more stupid, perhaps you have seen an infamous memed panel of Araragi walking into the mountains that are the boobs of Hanekawa, yup, stuff like that is present throughout this arc. Another issue, which wasn’t on the previous arc, is how sometimes the author throws very silly comedy between the serious moments, something that doesn’t happen in the other adaptation, even though it does in the, surely coincidentally, worst seasons of the anime.

What’s better in the manga, however, is being more psychological, as it has all the main characters introspecting about their pasts, how they show themselves to others and interact with them, and their flaws, thus being closer to the other parts in that regard, something that was missing from the anime. And also, the exposition is far better in this arc, as it has a flashbackception where Kiss Shot not only tells her past, but also the mangaka chooses to actually show that, instead of having characters just talking about it, as it happens in the anime.

Anyways, just like the movies, this is an arc that explains and actually shows why the characters are the way they are, instead of just being extreme versions of common anime, and harem, stereotypes, and fleshes out each of them while setting up events and character dynamics to come, along with cool and brutal action, thus it’s fine even though at the end of the day it’s still an arc without real stakes because the protagonists are practically immortal and far stronger than their enemies.

After that, the manga follows with a heavily modified version of Nekomonogatari and Second Season, focusing itself entirely on Hanekawa, Araragi and Kiss Shot, showing how the first got to put up an image of a perfect know it all harem girl because of all her familial troubles, in an even darker, as in, more messed up and brutal way than the anime, with some of the darkest scenes and visual metaphors in the manga. Unfortunately that also means that it needlessly takes it to the extreme at times, in a far more violent fashion than needed, as this manga is far gorier and action oriented than its anime counterpart.

Like I said, Second Season is heavily modified, as Araragi basically rejects every secondary, not fleshed out girl and rushes to…well, where the plot needs him, you know if you consumed any of the other two versions. While that is happening, Hanekawa is fighting and accepting her dark and true self, both mentally, and literally, since, as I said, this version is far more action oriented and at times needlessly gory, and don’t forget the fanservice and poorly mixed comedy, there is a lot of that as well. The messages are perhaps delivered more directly than in the anime, and some details are changed (Tsubasa never goes to the Araragis’ house here, is Hitagi’s father the one that tells her to stop running from her problems instead), but as a whole it was a good alternative version of both Neko Kuro and Shiro/Tsubasa Tiger.

Unlike the anime, which would run an entire arc in its entirety before showing what was happening at the same time, here both the aforementioned arc and the second one from Owarimonogatari are shown simultaneously, the manga goes back and forth between Hanekawa and Araragi, and what he was doing regarding Kiss Shot and the other vampire, in a more comical but still very similar fashion, and since over here neither Izuko nor Yozuru are present, Koyomi is the one that makes the deal, thanks to being influenced by Meme, which was a cool detail honestly.

Anyways, this part of the arc shows the beginning of how the setting came to be, everything basically being the result of a tragic, kind of unrequited or perhaps forgotten love, as it was in the anime, and kind of cheesy as a whole, but good in making the characters face their pasts and move on from them. Things are not as well explained nor in a satisfactory way as in the anime, but it was still fine, except for the part where the main antagonist of the arc turns out to be the main antagonist of the whole thing, of which I have a mixed opinion about, him being a proactive antagonist instead of a semi tragic figure that couldn’t do anything to prevent his actions was a nice detail, but it came with the cost of taking away proactivity from other characters, such as Tsubasa, and that’s a bit of a shame.

Still, the connection between the two arcs and the split presentation of the narrative, as well as the messages and themes explored through it make it a decent double arc, with some major changes in its favor, but it is still not as good as the anime version, except for the aspect of being faster and not having all the silly comedy from the beginning.

After that is over and practically the whole plot covered, the manga moves on to the date of the last arc of Bakemonogatari, skipping Hanamonogatari, Tsukimonogatari, and thank fuck also the disgraces of Koyomimonogatari and Zoku Owarimonogatari. As I said, as an alternative version it can weird out longtime fans. There isn’t much to say about this final part, it’s there to give Senjougahara some spotlight which she didn’t have for a good while, and also to give a needed closure for both the characters and the romantic aspect of the plot, as well as the story as a whole. The one off chapters about each secondary girl were a mixed result for me, the ones about Hanekawa, Shinobu and Kanbaru were fine as a closure for the characters, the ones about Hachikuji, the Araragi sisters and Sengoku were disgusting, a failed attempt to rush through the most famous or infamous parts of their anime arcs, and they don’t even address important plot points even when they are mentioned, it would have been better to skip them entirely like the manga was doing before instead, this way the it feels like the manga was initially going to be longer but had to be rushed and compressed for some reason.

My final opinion about the manga is that it’s more casual friendly, as a tighter, faster, simpler and easier to follow version, without all the weird antics in the visuals and directing of the anime, reasons why I preferred it over the other alternative. Despite my personal enjoyment, and the aspects which I found better done here, I also have to admit that Bakemonogatari, as a single arc or season or whatever, was done poorly in retrospect, exactly because it took away the later importance of almost everything that happens in it, as it also happened with several details in world building and characterization for the supporting cast. Fine as an alternative version mostly for newcomers, as long as they can stand big amounts of fanservice, but most likely a disappointment for longtime fans. Inferior than the anime, but still ok as a whole.