GANTZ by Hiroya Oku [MANGA] [COMPLETED] ⁰⁷.¹³.⁰⁰ ⁻ ⁰⁶.²⁰.¹³

 GANTZ

                 Hiroya Oku

Typed: October.02.2025 (there were things I had to do, and it got in the way). My favorite manga of all time... Hands down, legs up, HEADSTAND- *screaming to the high heavens about this amazing, amazing composition of art*.

I would like to start with how I first discovered this gem. At first this diamond did not leave a positive impression, to long for more, because at the time I was but a child. My first introduction to Gantz was through the anime... Yes, they had an anime² and it went on for two seasons, my sibling and I dropped it after a few episodes because we couldn't stand the gore and raunch (before Gantz, there was Elfen Lied, the anime was released in the same year as Gantz and we watched that before we got to Gantz, which already traumatized us and added more disturbance to our already defiled minds).

Years passed and I rediscovered Gantz, through the movie Gantz:O which blew my mind. CGI that derives from animes usually are not that well-made (like every damn Berserk adaptation, besides the original animated one, they make you want to jump off a cliff while yodeling) but the CGI in Gantz:O... Oh, my goodness, it was so gosh darn good that I have rewatched it multiple times. It made me curious about the progression of the story since we my sibling and I stopped at a measly 3 or 4 episodes back in 2004, the new characters, the aliens they got to fight, wow I was awestruck and made me want more, made me wanted to know more about what the heck was going on. From that day on, this manga blew me away and made me put this sweet baby gem at the very top of my manga hierarchy. 

Enough lactating, now let me explain to you why this manga is number one to me. From character development (yes serious character development and you know why when you start reading) to character progression (it may look like they are two words describing the same meaning, but by my definition this relates to how far the characters go as they continue to adapt and get stronger and stronger, while seeing how they influence the outcome), the countless settings they are brought into while introducing us to varies of aliens that they must take down in order to free themselves. Without saying much to spoil, if you like action, brute force combat and blasting through shit like they are different levels of a video game, this will pull you in as you start reading. I love, love variety and Hiroya Oku (bless this man) does it perfectly.

Hiroya Oku is not done, he has made many different versions of Gantz as well as many amazing other mangas I have read like Inuyashiki for one (after finishing the original Gantz and Gantz:G) the art is so darn good that you can put him in the same ballpark as Yusuke Murata. As you delve into the original Gantz, you will see how the art advances since he first started at around the year 2000 and ended it around 2013. Also, a last bit before going on to the rating; he has also recently made Gantz:E, which I did not know about until a few months ago when my sibling finally... FINALLY started to read and finish the original Gantz. I have started reading and have caught up, still equally excited for what is to come as I was when I first read THIS gem.

I started this read at around 2016-2017, cannot recall the month and day but it was when we first found that they made a movie which was released in 2016 and later I remember the sneak peak of what animes are to come in 2017 which one of them was Inuyashiki, I remember clearly telling my sibling that I read that manga months ago and am excited they were making the anime adaptation to it. So, it was between mid 2016 and 2017.

ART & DESIGN: 19

STORY: 18

WORLD BUILDING: 18

CHARACTERS: 19

PACE-RESOLUTION: 17

I give it a whopping 91 out of 100, a rightful 9.1/10.

Dorohedoro by Hayashida Q [MANGA] [COMPLETED] ¹¹.³⁰.⁰⁰ ⁻ ⁰⁹.¹².¹⁸

Dorohedoro

 Hayashida Q +

Typed: September.25.2025. Now this is what I am talking about. I enjoyed this manga so much I kept picking it up no matter how many times I told myself to take a break, I just wanted to know more about their world and, most importantly the mystery of who made 'Kaiman', but ultimately WHO OR WHAT IS HE?

If you are into dark humor, the whole magic genre, amazing works of combat mixed with the gothic black environment and subtle but direct story telling; then this is a must read. For the ladies, there are hints of romance here and there, but don't bet on anything.

Hayashida Q unique style of art carries over on to their other works, and I absolutely love it. 

I started this read on September 07.2025 and finished around September 19.2025. I'm reading more contents from Hayashida Q as I just started reading Dai Dark, hoping it would give me the same wow factor Dorohedoro gave me.

ART & DESIGN: 19 - The illustrations of the settings is a blend of modern architecture in Japan/East Asia and Hayashida Q's imagination of how the fantasy world would be when it comes to where the sorcerers reside in. They are no ordinary sorcerers; they are literal dark wizards & witches. How well Hayashida Q's designed their characters have completely won me over when it came to the aesthetics and how it all fits in. The gothic-satanic aspects of one world and how dark and gloomy the other is (though both cross) doesn't jiggle you up in the noggin but to me, I love it A LOT and leaves an imprint in my mind. 

STORY: 17 - Who am I...?  WHO AM I??? Maybe if I bite down on every sorcerer I come across, the man in my mouth will help me find out? But first, GYOZA!!! That was the daily routine of our protagonist and our lovely supporting protagonist, but when it escalates... Boy does it ramp up, taking a sweet and sour turn introducing us to more major players; giving us the insight of their lives and how it ties in with the main story, the focal point not shying away from Kaiman. Overall, without saying too much and not spoiling anything for newcomers to this manga, I love how it all concluded, it is worth the read, especially the mystery of how things work and how things came to be. My only issue would be Hayashida Q not explaining the origin of how humans came to existence as well as the hot shot devil, THE devil himself. The story is great, but I think Hayashida Q could have done an excellent job tying up the loose ends that he accumulated and left as the story concluded. Stated as 18 years (I read somewhere it was around 20 years as stated by the author themself) in the making, it could have been on similar level with Hunter x Hunter and One Piece, but I am uncertain of Hayashida Q's complications and well-being (like Yoshihiro Togashi, the creator of Hunter x Hunter as example).

WORLD BUILDING: 14 - From the human world to the world of the sorcerers and lastly the world where the devils reside, all are so very interesting BUT seems very limited because the human world feels so small and isolated. I always had this thought in the back of my mind whether we would see other places, hoping the human world would be similar to planet Earth but it was kept as it is for the sake of the story and for not over complicating things. With the powers some sorcerers and devils have, the possibility of expansiveness could work but as mentioned earlier, for the sake of not overly complicating the story they kept it contained. It is mentioned that the existence of Devils, Sorcerers, and Humans go back thousands upon thousands of years, so there could have been a much deeper, expanded world. 

CHARACTERS: 18 - Every character is amazing in their own way; it all works, and doesn't feel 'extra', besides Ebisu *me screaming in a pringle can out of irritation*, but it is understandable- she is understandable, you will understand what I mean by that (poor girlie, but SHEESH). Each major player has big personalities, and it just properly links up. Kaiman, and his true self (plus some very interesting stuff I wish not to say because it is a major spoiler), my lord what a bad ass. Nikaido is such a babe, hoowee does she get things done and is such a good friend and partner to have. Their character development is like most mangas, but they play an extremely special role as the story progresses (; ... Shout out to En, the big bad boss of this whole run. I want to say so much more but I will trail off on to the tangent of pure spoilage... 

PACE-RESOLUTION: 16 - As mentioned above, it ramps up and how it concludes makes sense. Sadly, I feel like it was rushed, I am not going to state that s/he had this many years to make it good (which it was, it was great!) because I'm uncertain about what happened, what they went through, and what they have- but if Hayashida Q were to revisit Dorohedoro, I don't mind him/her taking it nice and slow when it comes to thoroughly explaining the loose ends and properly converging everything together. I can be impatient when it comes to generic content, but I absolutely loved Dorohedoro and hope someday Hayashida Q revisits this and makes a prequel or sequel, answering the questions. Added bonus and I wouldn't say it is a spoiler but more like my theory; when you guys come across the chapter that states that devils, sorcerers, and humans have existed for thousands and thousands of years, the 3 special types of gold coins that a particular devil, THE devil himself crafted around that time, gives a subliminal piece of evidence that the major event that unfolds is thousands of years in the making, and MAY have happened more than once (thus the gold coins showing three different faces/being three different types). Kinda bridging it with the whole biblical tales of how maliciously mischievous the devil is but most importantly who 'God', may be, even though we see that THE devil plays a strong part in creation, and is technically the God of this manga while we are still wondering how humans came into existence (there may be a God, as typically mentioned in our reality, but never said in the manga). 

Overall, I give it an 84 out of 100, a reaching 8.4/10. Feels sad man, I hope Hayashida Q makes a sequel that further explains the origins of certain things that I cannot say or else it will spoil.

"Now that is friendship... Sadly, non-existent in my life... What are friends?         ???L('இ'﹏'இ')⅂???" 

BLAME! by Tsutomu Nihei [MANGA] [COMPLETED] ⁰¹.²⁵.⁹⁷ ⁻ ⁰⁷.²⁵.⁰³

 BLAME!

                                               Tsutomu Nihei

Typed: Septermber.23.2025. A phenomenal read that goes straight to the point. If you want immersive jaw-dropping settings, with catastrophic action that does not stray from the main narrative point, this is a must read! 

I started this read on September 01.2025 and finished around September 06.2025. I will be further delving into the other lines of this story and hope to share it with you guys & gals. I started reading Tower Dungeon, another of Tsutomu Nihei's works, and will share my input in the future (manga is still ongoing). 

Though my review seems shallow, (the 'SHmoniker', being 'DEEPER-REVIEWS', the depth varies depending on what is being reviewed like mediocre to poor content compared to quality content like 'BLAME!', as an example) I do not want to extensively explain it because it is not very textual, the visuals speak in magnitudes. 

I want you guys to experience it for yourselves and give me the raw outlook on this amazing piece of work; you will not regret it if you do not expect anything that the present storytellers are providing. 

You pick it up, read a few pages/chapters, put it down until it is time to read it again.

I score it through a system of 5 categories: ART & DESIGN, STORY, WORLD-BUILDING, CHARACTERS, PACE-RESOLUTION which each category maxes at 20 each, where I divide it by 10.  

ART & DESIGN: 17 - The art is superb, Tsutomu Nihei out does it by the zoom out panels of his dystopian world, to highlight such details is a monstrous feat. Character designs for protagonist and supporting characters a long side the antagonists and wondering miscellaneous figures are unique. If I had picked this up years back, it would have gouged such a memory that I would have kept referencing to this day. 

STORY: 14 - Pretty straight forward which I really like, but it is not just about 'that goal'. The search leads to layers of that story to unwind giving you vital information on how it came to be, and you slowly understand that this is not some grey-zone blunt force wahoo trip.

WORLD-BUILDING: 17 - As Killy (the protagonist) progresses on his search, it diverts your need to understand the point of all this, instead each page makes you wonder if he will make it or not. Tsutomu Nihei throws out outwardly panels of the world he created, a world where you imagine yourself in, getting lost and having an all-out crisis. While Killy here gets things done with his arm cannon, blasting through everything in his path while showcasing the anxiety inducing realm...

CHARACTERS: 14 - Bias, but Killy is my type of character when it comes to a growing plot like this manga. I could have rated a bit higher, but characters come and go, so you cannot really form a liking for them because of the prominent situations they are constantly engulfed in... But Killy, one bad ass dude.

PACE-RESOLUTION: 18 - The pacing of the story is perfect, perfect in my opinion for that it goes on straight to the point without any stale detours that slow the pacing and wears you down nor halting the momentum Killy builds up. The ending, well fit. Nothing more, nothing less, maybe a slight thought of how and why it all came to be popped up, but at the same time putting it to rest feels more appropriate.

Overall, I give it an 80 out of 100, a solid 8/10. A slight bias- but more to come when it comes to the works of Tsutomu Nihei.

"I wonder if they have shirts with the graphic of Killy being pushed back by the blast of the Gravitational Beam Emitter... That would be so sick!"