Choujin X Chapters Two-Four Review: The World of Choujins.

I have been quite surprised at the rate of speed Sui Ishida has been releasing chapters for his latest manga, Choujin X.
When I heard that there would be no set timeline for release dates so he could focus on his health this time, unlike with Tokyo Ghoul where he was really overworked, I thought that we could expect a few months between each chapter.
So, it was a pleasant turn of events to see Ishida release Chapter Four not long after Chapter Three.
I do hope he is continuing to keep healthy, though.
In any case, I have been falling behind on reviewing these chapters since I reviewed Chapter One, so now I’m going to review Chapters Two, Three and Four in one big post.
I will also be sure to write more reviews as the story goes on.

Chapter Two:

The second chapter of Choujin X picks up with our secondary protaganist, the little girl from the plane crash that happened in the first chapter.
Her name is revealed to be Ely Otsuta, and it is explained how she helped her adopted grandfather with farming tomatoes, showing that she is a child prodigy in that regard.
However, this backstory is interrupted by a tomato Ely picks up screaming as it bursts into flames, as she wakes up in a construction site with a concerned construction worker standing over her.
A dazed Ely asks for directions, only for the helpful construction worker to be burned to death right before her eyes by Chandra Hume, the Choujin who attacked the plane.
Que the big chase scene of the chapter as Ely makes a break for it after Chandra offers to escort her.
It is during this chase where we once again see how Ishida is going in a more comedic direction with this manga, as we get plenty of gags from Ely riding a skooter, to her miraculously finding a tractor and then using this to escape from Chandra and a group of gang members wearing sheep masks for some reason.
These comedic gags are quickly cut short when Ely and the gang members begin falling to their deaths and Ely uses her newly aquired Choujin powers to save them all.
She obtained these smoke powers through being infected by Chandra’s, or so he says, claiming this was just a “first attempt.”
It will be interesting to see why Chandra is so interested in creating other Choujins.
Not to mention that the way Ely became a Choujin seems to be a completley different from how Tokio did since he did so by injecting himself with the strange serumn.
Coming back to Chandra, he offers to teach Ely everything he knows about her power but she obviously does not accept this offer, thinking back on the kind elderly woman who Chandra murdered in the first chapter.
However, she does seem to hit a nerve with Chandra when she calls his power “worse than a turd.”
Chandra is clearly a very insecure person because this insult causes him to nearly go all Firelord Ozai on her face.
He would have succeeded too, had it not been for Hoshi Sandek, “Yamato Prefecture’s Choujin Protector,” or as I like to call him, Captain Chin.
Seriously, his chin is so freaking gigantic it takes up more than half his head.
Ely is clearly enamored by him, based off the heart eyes Ishida draws her having.
Not to mention that this guy resembles her imagined husband she talked about in the first chapter pretty closely, so of course she would have an instant crush on him.
Hoshi’s arrival on the scene also proves one of my previous theories to be false.
I predicted that because of what Azuma said in Chapter One there were no good Choujin, but there clearly are based off Hoshi.
We will probably get more information on the Choujin system when his character returns, along with Ely.
It would also be good to know what exactly his power is.
We seem to see him use it but I cannot quite tell what it is yet.
Following Hoshi and Ely’s first meeting, we get a pretty cool cut to Tokio’s story, as Hoshi asks Ely, “What’s your name, little Choujin,” only for us to then see Tokio’s sister calling her brother’s name.
Tokio has reached home after his transformation into the Beastial Choujin but his vulture-like appearance has not dissipated yet.
As he rests in the shower, Tokio wonders if he has become a Choujin, which should be pretty obvious to the guy, given what his face looks like.
This brings an end to what is a pretty good chapter.
The chase between Ely and Chandra is entertaining and quite funny at times, especially one joke where Chandra’s car is hit by a truck that says “we love saftey.”
Along with this, Hoshi’s appearance raises some questions about the Choujin system that I am interested to see answer.
One criticism I do have is that the action is a little bit hard to follow during the chase scene.
The artwork is still great, though, so it mostly makes up for that.
So, overall, Chapter Two does a good job of continuing Ely’s story and I am intrigued to see how it will progress further.

Chapter Three:

Out of these three chapters, Chapter Three is definitley my favourite because of how it handles the aftermath of Tokio becoming a Choujin and its impact on his and Azuma’s friendship.
The chapter begins with a flashback to Tokio helping Azuma after he collapsed due to the injection.
However, Azuma wakes up after Tokio falls over and looks horrifed at his friend’s appearance.
Tokio is just glad that Azuma is okay and says he will take him to the hostpital.
Azuma is quick thinking, though, and tells Tokio that if people find out he is a Choujin then he will never have a normal life, so he should just go home while he goes to the hostpital.
Tokio takes this advice, yet I am not so sure that Azuma’s actions were quite so innocent here, especially given how he acts later on in the chapter.
Also, keep in mind that the two still did not know if Azuma had Choujin powers here, so Azuma going to the hostpital could have exposed him to being a Choujin if he was one, yet he suggested Tokio go home.
From here, the chapter cuts to the present again where Tokio’s vulture face mask has still not come off.
Tokio fakes being sick so he will not have to go to school and be revealed as a Choujin to everyone and we get some really good artwork of what his face looks like now as he tries to eat breakfast.
This makes it really funny when, in subsequent panels, Tokio’s Choujin face honestly looks pretty derpy.
I am sure this is intentional by Ishida and it has great comedic affect.
Again, Ishida cuts the comedy short, this time by Tokio breaking down into tears because he is scared he will look like this forever.
This leads to him going to see Azuma for reassurance after he doesn’t pick up his calls, acting like he is going out shopping to his father and sister, while hiding his face.
He calls Azuma outside his house and this time his friend picks up but is very standoffish.
Azuma claims to have gone to the hostpital and got a bloodtest, only for nothing out of the ordinary to be found.
Azuma then makes the connection to Tokio looking like a vulture because it is the form he desires.
This leads to Tokio asking Azuma what he should do, only for Azuma to yell at him to think for himself for once.
Tokio hangs up and leaves, even more depressed, before Azuma can apologize.
Azuma says to himself that it isn’t Tokio’s fault, but his actions make me wonder if he is jealous that Tokio got these Choujin powers instead of him.
It seems many other readers are starting to suspect Azuma and Tokio may turn out to be rivals in the future of Choujin X and I am beginning to think so too.
Think of it as the opposite of Kaneki and Hide’s friendship from Tokyo Ghoul.
After this great scene, which may be hinting at a potential rivalry between Tokio and Azuma, we then cut to the Mr Fantastic Choujin, Johnny, and the masked man who gave him the injection.
It is here that I see what may be another Tokyo Ghoul refrence, since the man’s mask looks a lot like the ones the Clowns would wear.
The masked man learns about Tokio turning into a Choujin but not who or where he is, and kills Johnny when he refuses to say anymore.
His Choujin power seems to be related to cutting people up, since he decapitates Johnny fairly easily.
This looks to be the main antagonist of the story, or at least this part of it, as he seems to be preparing to hunt down Tokio, maybe for the same reasons that Chandra wanted to recruit Ely.
Overall, Chapter Three is a great chapter that does a really good job of characterizing both Tokio and Azuma, while getting us hyped for the future of this story, as we get more insight into the mysterious masked villain who is now after Tokio.

Chapter Four:

Okay, so Ishida had to have had a terrible first date, right?
I mean, first he has Kaneki nearly get eaten by Rize in Tokyo Ghoul, and now Tokio is currently being eaten by a snake Choujin in Chapter Four.
It can’t be a coincidence.
Jokes aside, Chapter Four is another good chater of Choujin X that starts off by continuing to expand on Tokio’s power set as a Beastial Choujin.
This comes through the comedic surprise of Tokio being able to talk to pigeons, who refer to him as the bread atelier, due to how much he feeds them.
It seems that talking to animals is not just a power only Tokio has, though, because the snake girl also appears to talk a snake in the chapter.
This makes me think that there are different categories of Choujin.
For example, the Beastial Choujins, which includes Tokio and the snake girl, would be in its own category and those who have it can talk to animals but only the ones that resemble their specific Choujins.
Tokio is a bird Choujin so he can talk to pigeons, and the girl is a snake Choujin so she can talk to snakes.
If only Tokio was observant about this, it may have saved him from becoming snake food by the end, as the girl lures him into a zoo and leans in to kiss him, only to take a bite, just like Rize did in Tokyo Ghoul.
Again, it really seems like Ishida is trying to tell his readers how awful his first date was.
Much like Kaneki, I do expect Tokio to get out of this one, he is the main character after all.
Maybe he will be able to gain help from the vulture he couldn’t communicate with at the zoo.
Maybe he will unlock part of his Choujin powers to escape.
Or maybe he will be tracked down by the masked Choujin currently after him.
It will be interesting to see if any of these happen or if it will be something different entirely.
All in all, the fourth chapter of Choujin X is another solid one, with a great blend of horror and humor, which seems to be the norm for this manga.
If I had to rank the chapters we have got so far, I would probably go with Chapter One, Chapter Three, Chapter Four, and then Chapter Two.
They have all been really good reads so far and I am excited to read more of Choujin X and keep reviewing it.
So, you can expect a review for Chapter Five whenever that comes out.

School-Live! Review: An Anime You Don’t Want to be Spoiled About.

Before reading this review, I would highly recommend watching the first episode of School-Live! if you have not watched it yet.
Seriously, you do not want to be spoiled about what this anime’s plot before you see if for yourself.
I had no idea of what was going to happen going in so it made the surprise all the better.
If you have made it this far into the review, I will assume you have either watched it or do not care about spoilers.
Based off the manga written by Norimitsu Kaiho, and directed by Masaomi Ando, School-Live! follows four girls and their dog, Taromaru, who have started the School Living Club, where they strangely stay at the bright and colourful school twenty-four hours a day.
These girls consist of the bright and bubbly Yuki Takeya (Inori Minase), the shovel wielding Kurumi Ebisuzawa (Ari Oazawa), the president of the club Yuuri Wakasa (M.A.O), and new member Miki Naoki (Rie Takahashi).

*School-Live!* follows the adventures of these four girls and their dog.

There is also their teacher and advisor to the club, Megumi Sakura (Ai Kayano), who is especially helpful to the dim witted Yuki.
However, this is where the twist comes in.
The “bright and colourful school” I mentioned?
Yeah, turns out it’s not so bright and colourful because a zombie apocalypse has taken place, leaving the members of the School Living Club as the only survivors, and all the happy stuff is entirely in Yuki’s mind since she has basically created a fantasy world to cope.
So, we are really seeing this story through two lenses, the first being Yuki’s fantasy world and the second being the harsh reality of the zombie apocalypse.
This made for a fantastic cliffhanger in the first episode, which brought the show from looking like a by the numbers slice of life, to a slice of death with plenty of zombies.

I remember audibly gasping when I saw the zombie twist. I figured there was something weird about what was happening but I next expected that.

From here, the story continues detailing how the girls survive their terrible situation, while constantly trying to keep the fragile Yuki’s fantasy world intact for her betterment.
Unfortunately, this doesn’t really result in anything as interesting as that first initial twist.
This is not to say that School-Live! is bad but I did find it a bit hard to get engaged with the characters and events at times, which was not helped by how convenient and obvious some further twists turned out to be.

While the first twist is genuinely great, others feel too obvious or convenient. Thankfully, some of these twists are not saved for the final episodes and revealed quicker than I expected.

It wasn’t until the final few episodes, which racked up the tension, that I became truly invested in the plot and characters again.
Although, this was also wrapped up kind of conveniently again by the end.
Despite these issues, I would still say that School-Live! is worth a watch.
It may not exactly live up to how fantastic its initial twist is, yet the interest generated by the twist and the intensity seen in the last few episodes do make it enjoyable.
Just don’t expect anything worthwhile and a bit of a slow pace and you will have fun.

Berserk Review: A F###ed Up, Almost Masterpiece.

It would be difficult to find a manga that is more influential than Kentaro Miura’s Berserk.
The dark fantasy manga has been going ever since 1989, where the story of Guts, the Black Swordsman, the Struggler himself, began to unfold for many readers.
Miura continued this gruesome, tragic and reflective story for decades, all the way up until his tragic passing on May 6, 2021.
For whatever reason, I had never read Berserk before, despite knowing it had inspiried so many other stories that I loved from the mediums of manga, anime, movies, video games, and novels.
Well, I finally sat down and read the whole thing over the course of a week and it was quite the traumatic experience.
Joke’s aside, Berserk is quite the disturbing manga, one which provided some of the most horrifying scenes I had ever read.
I actually needed to take breaks when reading because some of it became a bit much.
However, gruesome is not all Berserk is because Miura was brilliant at crafting reflective and emotional scenes, as well as horrifying ones, resulting in what has to be one of the best protagonists I have ever read, Guts.
His struggle against his inner demons in the face of a monstrous world is one I will not forget.
I went from disliking Guts, to sympathizing with him, to being sympathetic but still horrified by his actions, to smiling at his redemption.
There are so many emotional moments with his character.

Guts’ most emotional chapter for me would have to be the Chitch chapters. It was brief but incredibly tragic and heartfelt.

He is such an amazing character and his supporting cast is just as good.
The most noticeable of these if Griffith, who has been the subject of quite a few memes saying, “Griffith did nothing wrong!”
Well, after reading the eclipse chapters, I can say that, yes, Griffith did do something wrong, quite a few things in fact.
You know what?
No.
He didn’t just do “quite a few things” wrong, he took the entire concept of wrong and became the freaking personification of it!
Seriously, what the f**k Griffith!?
Still, an incredible character who complements Guts quite well.

F**k you, Griffith. You’re a great character but f**k you.

Then, there’s Casca, who is also amazing, and her romance with Guts is fantastically written, especially with how it culminates in the brilliant “Wounds” chapters.
Honestly, pretty much every other character is fantastic as well.
Puck, Judeau, Pippin, Rickert, Schierke, Farnese, Serpico, Isidro, Roderick, The Skull Knight, Zod, Luca, Silat.
There is not a single weak character that I can think of… well, except for Nina, she sucks.
The story these characters drive is also both a horrifying and beautiful one, just like the world they live in.
This results in some incredible arcs like the famous Golden Age Arc, and the Conviction Arc.
Accompanying this amazing story and these amazing characters (except for Nina) is some jaw dropping artwork.
So often, I would just stop reading and gaze at the beauty of what Miura had drawn,
I would go as far to say that, in my own personal opinion, Miura is the greatest mangaka of all time when it comes to artwork.
It feels like some of these panels could have gone into a museum, that’s how incredible they are.

Panels like this one are seen all throughout *Berserk* and they constantly leave you in awe at how beautiful they are.

So, with all this praise I have been heaping on Berserk, it would be safe to say that I consider it to be a masterpiece, right?
Well, unfortunately, I do think there are a few things which hold it back from taking that title, at least for me.
The first of these issues is minor, and it is that the story does drag a little bit at the boat arc.
Since this storyline lasted years when being written because of how long gaps were between the release dates of chapters were, I imagine it must have been agony waiting for this storyline to end for some fans.
Well, since this arc had been finished by the time I read it, it only took me a couple of days to read but it was probably the weakest part of the story for me.
Still, this is not a huge issue because Berserk is over 300 chapters long and, when you get a story of that length, it is almost inevitable that it will drag at some points.
The next issue, which I found to be a bigger one, is the treatment of Puck’s character.
I really enjoyed Puck’s role in the story for the first half of Berserk, with him basically serving as the angel on Guts’ shoulder, not that Guts really listens to him.
However, after the Conviction Arc, Puck becomes a complete caricature of his former self, his only role in the story now being to tell insufferable, fourth wall breaking jokes that do not even suit his character.
I remember a moment when I was reading through one of the final arcs in the story before Miura’s passing, where Guts was having an inner monlogue and he thought about Puck, and I realized I could not remember the last time the two of them had even had a conversation.

I would choose the good old Puck over Chesnut Puck anyday.

The final issue I have with Berserk is the most problematic and its the rape, or rather the constant usage of it.
Now, credit where it is due, I do think that Miura did an amazing job portraying the trauma of sexual assault, especially in regards to Guts and Casca,
How their trauma resulted in the “Wounds” chapters and Casca’s return in the Fantasia Arc was very emotional to read.

Guts’ unveiling his trauma to in the Wounds chapters is one of the most well written romantic scenes I have ever seen.

However, while I do like the depiction of the trials Guts and Casca face due to their trauma, I think Casca suffers from the threat of sexual assault way too much.
I honestly lost count of how many times Casca would go off on her own, comes across a group of random rapists, who would then rip off her clothes, followed by plenty of uncomfortable panels of her naked body, only for Guts to save her or for her to save herself.
The first few times this happened it was horrifying, but by the third, fourth, and how ever many more times it happened, I was completely tired of it.
Was there really no other way to show that Casca was in danger that wasn’t so degrading to her?
Well, at least Miura seemed to realize how repetitive this was because the constant danger of rape Casca was facing ceased in the last few arcs.
It was these issues I had that kept Berserk from the title of a masterpiece for me.
That said, I completely understand why this manga is a masterpiece to so many other readers.
It certainly has many masterpiece moments and characters, with Guts already being one of my favourite protagonists, and the artwork itself is a masterpiece all on its own.
When I reached Chapter 363, I immediately went to read the next one, only to realize that this was the last one released before Miura’s passing.
While it is sad to see that his epic story will potentially remain unfinished, what’s more important is the loss of a man who inspired a generation of creators.
Without Berserk many great stories simply would not exist.
So, may you rest in peace Kentarou Miura and thank you for gifting us with this amazing work that so many have loved and been inspired by.

Wonder Egg Priority Review: Brilliant Beginning, Baffling End that Highlights Everything Wrong with the Anime Industry.

Oh, Cloverworks, you’re not having the best of years, are you?
First, we get The Promised Neverland Season Two, which is one of the worst manga adaptations I have ever seen, and now we have this whole Wonder Egg Priority fiasco.
It was truly a shame to see this anime go from something truly brilliant, to a downright bizarre show that is unnecessarily confusing.
Created by Shinji Nojima and directed by Shin Wakabayashi, Wonder Egg Priority follows Ai Ohto (Kanata Aikawa), a teenage girl reeling from the mysterious suicide of her best friend Koito.
As she sinks deeper into isolation, she is abruptly pulled into a series of trials in a dream world, where she must save the spirits of girls who have also ended their lives from evil manifestations of the ones who hurt them.
Learning this may provide a way to bring back Koito, Ai resolves to save as many of these girls as she can, alongside three other girls, Neiru Aonuma (Tomori Kusunoki), Rika Kawai (Shuka Saito), and Momoe Sawaki (Hinaki Yano), who are all also trying to bring back their deceased friends.

Each of the girls are great, my personal favourite being Rika because of how emotional her standout episode was.

From here, the story takes on an episodic format, with each episode focusing on one or two of these girls trying to save the spirits that hatch from the Wonder Eggs, leading to some incredibly emotional moments.
Episode Seven, “After School at 14”, focused on Rika and her suffering from self harm, which was very well handled and left me a wreck by the end.
Then there’s Episode Ten, “Confession”, where the first half of the episode has the best interaction between one of the girls and a Wonder Egg spirit, with Momoe and the boy she is trying to save.

Momoe’s bond with Kaoru was very sweet, short as it was.

These fantastic moments and episodes are supported by amazingly good animation, a subtle yet quirky soundtrack, and solid voice acting.
With all of these contributing factors, it looked like Wonder Egg Priority was going to be a perfect anime for me by the half-way point.
However, there were signs in the initial episodes of the fall that was to come.
For example, in the very first episode, “The Domain of Children”, the magic system of the Wonder Egg world is settup, only for one aspect of it to be completely contradicted and never brought up again later.
Problems like this became more and more persistent as the show went on, as the story went from a simple one about a group of girls entering a dream world to save spirits, to full on ridiculous with plotlines revolving around things like artificial intelligence and parallel universes.
Episode Twelve in particular, “An Unvanquished Warrior”, was so confusing that even now I struggle to understand just what the heck was going on.
The show just became more needlessly complicated as it went along, culminating in the final, special episode which was just released, “My Priority”, and it was quite bad.
So many of the episode’s twists come out of nowhere, the characters are incredibly inconsistent, the anime’s handling around topics such as suicide takes a turn for the worse, the ending isn’t satisfying at all, and the animation is awful at times.

Oh, dear lord, no, this running animation!

Not to mention that the first half of this promised hour long special is a freaking recap, when we already got a recap earlier with Episode Eight.
It is incredibly obvious that there were production issues for this anime.
However, Wonder Egg Priority’s production problems apparently go even beyond the show’s quality.
The anime is already pretty notorious for the suffering of its animators, with the producer reportedly needing to go the hospital because of overwork… twice!
Unfortunately, unhealthy working conditions and bad pay seem to be the standard in the anime industry but the amount of stress and health problems the production of Wonder Egg Priority apparently caused really points to how badly animators are being treated right now.
They really do deserve better.
As for Wonder Egg Priority, it was sad to see this go from a fantastic show that handled difficult subjects to a bizarre, confusing train wreck, that caused those making it to go through the ringer.
I would still recommend watching at least the first ten episodes because, even when the questionable moments begin to seep in, the brilliant moments more than overshadow them.
The rest of the anime I would skip because it’s just not worth it by the end.
A second season could improve the story a bit more but, at this point, I’m not sure I even care any more and I think we can all agree the animators should not be put under the kind of pressure that they were here.
The anime industry needs to do better for its workers.

Chainsaw Man PV Reaction: All Aboard the Hype Devil Train!

Warning: This reaction will contain spoilers for the manga so if you haven’t read it then don’t read this.

Chainsaw Man is one of my favourite mangas.
Written and illustrated by Tatsuki Fujimoto, the story is a constant mix of being endearing, hilarious, horrifying, and emotional.
I’ve reread it twice and I’ve only loved it more each time.
So, obviously, I was very excited for the PV for the upcoming anime from Mappa Studio.
Well, we got the PV recently and its safe to say that the fanbase lost its collective mind over how good it was.
Seriously, I really hope that we don’t get an Attack on Titan Final Season situation where the actual show’s animation doesn’t live up to Mappa’s PV animation.
Not saying that Attack on Titan’s animation was bad but the PV did look better, and this caused a lot of outrage when the actual CGI appeared, which went as far as some stupid people harrassing Mappa’s staff.
Now, was the Chainsaw Man trailer preanimated?
Almost certainly.
However, this doesn’t mean we won’t be getting the same outcome as Attack on Titan because apparently the same people working on this trailer will be working on the anime and also the schedule will probably not be as bad for these animators, hopefully.
As for what happens in the trailer, it has a lot of recognizable and unrecognizable moments interestingly enough.
The PV starts and we see a young Denji standing in a bloody alleyway and a mouse nearby, as the shot pans out to reveal the city outside.
This works as great symbolism, both for what will be revealed about Denji as the story goes on and also the whole country and city mouse discussion that comes about.
From here, the trailer cuts to the Hayakawa household, with Denji, Aki and Power having a nice family meal.
The three of them look excellent and this is seen further with the following shots of Denji, Power and Kobeni at the beach and Aki and Himeno in bed.
Along with these moments leaving a smile on my face because of how well animated they are, they also had me intrigued because these scenes were not in the manga.
It makes me wonder if Mappa will be adding some anime only scenes or if these are just for the trailer.
Will be interesting to see.
However, the fact that the next shots reveals these idyllic settings are happening inside a TV screen means it is likely that these moments are not real and the disturbing stuff that follows is.
These disturbing things include shots of the Eternity Devil, a graveyard for devil hunters, a bloody Gun Devil bullet, Aki’s house exploding, Katana Man and Sawatari walking, Denji’s door, Denji resting with Pochita in an old shack, and Makima herself about to throw down.
Once the horror side of Chainsaw Man has been shown with this, the trailer makes sure to show the action side, with bombastic music set to even more quick shots, this time of Kon, Aki drawing his sword, Kishibe rising up, Power attacking with a sledge hammer, and Denji facing off against the Bat Devil and Leech Devil.
The final shots of the trailer see Denji in his full Chainsaw Man getup, as he cuts down zombies left and right in a gory display.
Now, these last few shots do give more credence to the trailer being preanimated, since Denji is wearing his devil hunting outfit here, when in the manga he was shirtless.
Still, even if it is preanimated, I have hope that the anime can actually make this fight look as good as it does in the PV.
Overall, the PV is excellent.
It does a fantastic job of hyping up fans of the manga and also getting those who will be anime only viewers intrigued.
Also the director has been announced as Ryu Nakayama, who is a first time director but has been a key animator for anime like Kill la Kill and One Punch Man.
As for the composer, they have been announced as Kensuke Ushio, who has composed for A Silent Voice, Devilman Crybaby, and Japan Sinks: 2020.
So, both of these people are promising people to leave Chainsaw Man in the hands of.
I hope that they and Mappa Studio can pull off adapting one of my favourite manga.