Olympos

This manga could've just as easily been an artbook and it would be just as good or better. I believe that before adequately judging the work you should identify what it's trying to achieve and then conclude whether it succeeds but there's also something to be said about how valuable the goal is to begin with. In case of Olimpos, author's goal (judging from afterwords) was to just draw a bunch of cute boys in elaborate outfits. The goal is clearly achieved as one again stated by author themselves but is there anything else of interest to the manga? Not really, the story is completely pointlessand ties to mythology are even less than superficial. The only reason you might want to check this out is an elaborate bishounen art style. The illustrations really are gorgeous but personally I grew tired of seeing same few characters in same outfits and same poses for hundreds of pages. Even nice looking drawings don't excuse for lack of variety and noticeable lack of backgrounds. The only place the viewer properly gets a feel for is the miniature garden we spend a lot of time in. This is a bit of a shame cause given the characters there was opportunity to show off a lot more. In the end, it's a pretty inoffensive quick read with a skippable story and some nice art, if that sounds like your thing then give it a try.

Ok, normally I do not write reviews and I do not believe in them either. I find them plain useless. Still, I need to talk about this story and so I shall write the third review. The art is above average level at any case. What I disliked a bit was the lack of females and the fact all males looked like girls, but considering the shojo genre it’s perfect (although few times I could not distinguish the two main characters from each other due to the long hair and similar garments) The story really deserves some attention. Honestly, it is not for everyone. It’smainly base around theology and existentialism, and also some interesting eastern philosophies about the creation of the world and the balance of things. So, yeah, if you are not interested in the subject you will find the plot mediocre at best. If you have some basic knowledge or even the tendency to be curious about some things, I believe you will get mind-blown. The impact I can compare this piece of art to is the impact I got with Ergo Proxy and all the philosophy there. The topics vary: immortality, creation, knowledge – all you can think of among these fields. I found the story very intriguing to the point I decided to actually write I review. The characters are also interesting. Sadly not all of them. But at least the main characters deserve some attention and are well-developed based on their traits. Apollo is the one who is the most contradicting but if we stick to the nature of the actual god, he is perfect. I liked a great deal the taste of order in the chaotic way of thinking of gods. It is well-balanced between the idea that humans cannot comprehend gods and also that gods cannot comprehend humans. The essence of the whole story is in that balance. I do not recommend this to anyone. But to everyone who is intrigued by philosophy – you may find a little diamond for thought in this particular work although it will still leave you wondering…

[Forgive me for my messy-ness.. >< My first time writing a review on Myanimelist ;w;] Here we go!: Aki did a very, very good job on this series. However, I wouldn't recommend Olimpos to readers who are new to Aki's works. Cons: Why? This series is extremely confusing to readers who aren't used to Aki's storytelling style. For instance, many readers complained how the plot was confusing and strange. But for other readers, like me, who have had experience reading works of Aki understood it fine. So the only way for one to understand the plot is to either read a lot of Aki/ get used to herstyle or pay an extraordinary attention to the details. [hint: pay more attention to Apollo and hades' dialogs; they help a lot :D] Another problem I need to address is "overly girly looking" guys. |||OTL There's also been a lot of complaints from readers saying that the guys are almost indistinguishable between females. I have to agree with this actually, though I really liked their designs... lol Also, Olimpos need more background in the panels Oo' Even though the character designs are well-drawn, it can't be an excuse for so many empty/white backgrounds ^^' Pros: The art is awesome-sauce [besides the background and character design problem]. So I have to say, Olimpos is the most detailed and proportionally accurate manga I've ever read. So if you're the type of person who obsesses over art in a manga, this is for you. Aki did a very good job researching. Most of the mythological and historical information stated are actually accurate. [usually in many manga the author would twist historical information to fit their story] Also, her choice of using Ganymede as a main character is surprising [in a good way] since Ganymede's abduction isn't exactly a popular story... Overall: Confusing, strange, detailed, beautiful, and a work of art. This can be either a light reading as Aki had suggested, or it can be pretty serious. Just keep in mind that all the scenes and dialogs aren't there for no reason, so pay attention to everything while reading if you want to actually understand the manga. Thank you for reading and I hope this'll help orz...