Yosuga no Sora

tl;dr: A manga adaptation that hits plot points well enough but fails to convey the related emotional beats. Yosuga no Sora is a visual novel that was originally released in 2008, got adapted as this manga in 2009, and then got an anime adaptation in 2010. As is generally the case, the VN had multiple routes each centered around a heroine. The anime adaptation did something pretty rare and used an omnibus format to handle all the routes. This manga on the other hand focuses solely on a single route, the main heroine Sora’s. However, it still does touch on all the other routes and thusspends time on them. That combined with how short the manga is, only two volumes, results in a manga that’s so rushed it largely doesn’t really accomplish anything it sets out to do. Each of the routes in the VN and the anime are centered around a romance. There is certainly a plot surrounding said romance, but the romance is the focus. In this manga, for all the main routes except Sora’s it essentially goes through the motions on the plot, but skips the romance. Albeit rushed, the plot gets conveyed decently enough, but without the romance aspect it’s just not as worth getting invested in and the manga simply isn’t able to get the reader to feel any of the emotions that are a key part of the anime and VN. This part comprises the first 3/4s or so of the manga and is largely pretty dull. The last 1/4 is dedicated solely to Sora. There’s some development of Sora and her relationship to the protagonist before this, but it’s pretty minimal. That’s not to say that the last 1/4 is all that better either though. Part of it comes down to being rushed and going through events so fast that they don’t really have time to set in. But just as importantly, the manga is much more subdued compared to the anime and VN. This also negatively effects another heroine, Nao’s, story somewhat, but with Sora considering how strongly her route is connected with taboo themes and how romance is a core aspect, it’s absolutely fatal. A sense of rawness and extremity is critical, but the manga just doesn’t have it. Moments that are supposed to be tremendously emotionally impactful just have no impact. It goes through the key scenes okay, but they just don’t hit as hard as they should. And thus just overall, it isn’t anywhere near as heavy as it should be. The art, while decent, also isn’t particularly strong, not enough to read the manga for at least. Thus, I would say the audience for this manga while not non-existent, is incredibly limited. It would really only be those that are already fully familiar with the story, either through the VN or anime, and want to experience it again, with particular preference to Sora’s route, but would prefer not to do so through the VN or anime due to various circumstances, such as time or medium limitations. Everyone else should just go to or return to the VN or anime.

I already know what to expect because I already saw the anime way back in 2011 but unlike in the anime adaptation, there's really a little redeeming qualities here, the story is automatically below average to me, too dramatic for my taste, yes it is drama so I should've seen that coming but a lot the problems presented here are solvable by logic not just following your "feelings". This reminded me how selfish the "main girl" is, she's almost like a yandere, the reason why the anime is rated higher than this manga is because of the "plot" scenes (you know what I mean whenyou watch it), if the anime doesn't have that, I bet I'll rate the anime lower too, heck the best character in this manga isn't even a human, it's the "master" in the anime "master" doesn't have too much spotlight.

Just so everyone is aware, I don't know about an anime, novel, or anything that is related to this story. I am reviewing this manga as it is, all alone. With that said, let's get into it... Story: Well, I mean shit. I wasn't expecting how this went. I'm not going to write spoilers, so I'll keep it vague... But I guess I should have seen it coming? But really, the story itself isn't anything new and not exactly well executed. It's just average, and unfortunately short (because I feel like if the author could flesh out their ideas with more chapters, it might be better). Art:The only redeeming part of this manga. It's well done. That's pretty much it. Character: Flat. Boring. Enjoyment: To be honest, knowing it was 14 chapters I just roughed through it because I wanted to see if the ending would save it... It didn't. Overall, this was a bit disappointing. I saw a lot of people recommend this... but I think it was obviously a troll (due to the content).