Forest of Lore

I guess I'll be the first to review this. Firstly, there are 3 separate stories for each of the chapters of this manga. The first one is in a high school setting and sort of gets you into this world of "lore". The second one takes place in the country side with a preteenaged boy who lost his parents. The third one... The fourth one.... Needless to say, each story is interesting in their own ways. The synopsis given for this manga (above) only speaks a bit about Eiko who is only in the 1st chapter. Now that that's out of the way, let me reviewthis. Story: 9 As I said, this manga is chopped up into three parts. The first one made me sort of question this manga, but it was still quite interesting. The manga becomes a mystery in more ways than one and that really keeps the reader captivated. Even without gore everywhere, you still get this sense of ultimate fear of what may happen (more so in the second and third stories). No spoilers in terms of whether the three stories have really anything to do with each other, but I guarantee you'll be somewhat happy with the outcome. I'd recommend this especially to readers of Ibitsu. Although the twists aren't as strong, they're still pretty shocking. To those who haven't read Ibitsu (READ IT), I'd recommend this for the curious soul who loves somewhat thrilling horror... with a twist or two in it's depths. Art: 10 The art was definitely interesting. At some points, it even freaked me out (which is saying something). You honestly have to get past the 1st chapter to really see this, but I guarantee it's worth it. It all added to the entire horror feel of the manga which, I mean, is always nice to see in horror manga. A lot could be said without the words and that's always the way to go when it comes to manga. Character: 9 There isn't a lot of character development, of course, since each character really only gets a chapter, but there is a lot to be said about each character - even the minor ones. That's what keeps you really interested. Even the characters that seemed as if they were just there to look pretty mattered...A lot. And the ones who were actually there to look pretty did their job at looking pretty, but also had some sort of personality to them. Except for in the 1st story. Eiko wasn't that interesting (to me). For this story, it would've been nice to see her thought process in general. The best part about the characters, I've got to say, is that they were undeniably human. They had these fierce human traits of curiosity and hope and fear. They were also fun, which is definitely important in making anyone "seem" human. The way the mangaka twisted these together was superb. It's always nice to see actual human personalities in characters. Best character is definitely Shiomi-Kun. He's the true reason I got past the 1st chapter thinking of twists. Enjoyment: 9 I did really enjoy this manga, but as I've stated many times, the 1st chapter was a bit of drag for me with only one character really standing out to me. Thank God the mangaka also noticed this. Also, in the 1st story, a lot is solved very quickly with no sort of reason as to why Eiko, herself, was able to come up with these. Other than this minor problem, this actually had my heart pumping in some points and my curiosity shooting through the roof. It was actually a page turner for me and I'd recommend it to anyone. The chapters feel almost like episodes of the twilight zone which I thoroughly enjoyed. Overall: 9 For a very short manga of only 3 chapters, I think it was pretty well done. The best way I could describe my enjoyment of this manga is: bittersweet. Also, yes, this manga only has 3 chapters. Not 4. So no, I did not miss the last one.