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21
4
Finished
2007 to 2009
7.5/10
Average Review Score
100%
Recommend It
2
Reviews Worldwide
ever thought "damn why tf all mc grils so shite in manga thats not the mainstream ones. why cant i find a good mc, THAT CHOOSES THE RIGHT GOD DAMN BOI, YOU VAIN SHIT!!!" well well well, look no further. for the girl in this manga is a qt pie. story- 7/10 soooooo i enjoyed the story. this is quite a short manga so not much happened but i felt quite satisfied by the ending with the wrestling and love. art-6/10 this is just my taste but i dont enjoy people calling other people ugly (mc) when shes drawn cute... the popular guy is ugly and shit butpeople all think hes hot???? a lot of the faces the characters will make and just down right unappealing to look a. where as the actually fighting/action poses are fantastic. chatacter- 8/10 i really(!!!!!) enjoy scary guys that aren't dick heads. so the mc adn the scary dude were everything i love. the mc is this strong asdn amazing at sport teenager who is kicked out of society by how she is strong but this gril can kick ass yet isn't confident about it, characters that have relatable emotions and the best. the two other characters are meh. fuck you, popular guy. enojoyment- 8/10 yes. overall- 7/10 uh ive sorta said everything i wanted to say already
Matsuri it's a girl like all the other high school girls, likes boys, specially one called Wataru... but... Wataru seem to not notice her although she watchs him like a crazy gal... "Tough girls aren't my type" he once said, and now even three street guys say that shes a tough chick?! Nothing to good to say to the wrestling Princess. But being this kind of princess is nothing to be proud for Matsuri and its a secret that she keeps from her school mates, cause its her father that want to make her a wrestler ...but what will happen when shes discovered fighting with those three guys by Arata the badboy, who can even "fight cows"? Discover it and keep track of Matsuri Special. (Source: Village Idiot)
At first glance, "Matsuri Special" doesn't seem like anything special. The summary makes it sound like a melodramatic romance against the backdrop of wrestling competitions, the art isn't outstanding in any way, and the series itself only goes for four volumes. Why, then, did I give it a rating of "very good?" Because "Matsuri Special" is the rarely depicted story of a girl's journey to embracing her strength and using it not only to protect those she loves, but to discover herself. I will now go into more detail. Story: 7/10 - good The plot isn't anything breathtaking, but it isn't bad, either:our heroine, Matsuri Hanyuu, has grown up in the world of low-level professional wrestling, and is pushed by her father to become a professional wrestler. Matsuri, however, just wants to be a "normal girl" and works insanely hard to conceal her family and her physical strength from her classmates, and even hopelessly chases her crush, Wataru, until she meets a new transfer student, Shigematsu, and has to use her wrestling skills to defend Wataru. From that point, she flip-flops between wanting to become a better wrestler and wanting to become more cute and delicate (her idea of a "normal girl") and gets involved in some crazy situations while trying to come to terms with herself and save her father's gym. Sounds like a typical crazy shoujo plot, right? Wrong. It's handled quite well, honestly, and there's isn't the overabundance of crying and forced drama that there usually is in shoujo romance manga. Some parts feel a bit rushed, but overall, the pacing is decent, and it's definitely not bad. Art: 5/10 - mediocre Out of all the things I could rate about this manga, the art got the lowest rating, and for good reason. Matsuri and Mimi Maru, the two main female wrestlers in the story, are often referred to as "muscly" and "built" by their peers, but their bodies don't look any different from the rest of the girls. Their arms, which are apparently really strong, look like typical Shoujo Sticksβ’ (my name for the unnaturally skinny arms that are so common in shoujo manga), and their so-called "built" thighs look just as skinny as those of the other characters. It feels like the artist was afraid to make these girls as far from the "cute" beauty standards placed on Japanese girls, which seems hypocritical, especially considering the themes of the manga. Aside from that, the fight scenes are also quite stiff, which is lamentable, because other than the sub-par art, they are quite exciting fights. There is also inconsistency in the colors used for some characters, specifically Matsuri: in some color images, her hair is colored brown, but in others, it's jet-black. The artist really just couldn't decide. Character: 8/10 - very good I was really pleased with the characters of "Matsuri Special." The main character, Matsuri, struggles with conflicting expectations: the society she lives in expects her to be a "normal girl" - weak, submissive, cute, and in need of protection - but her father and the community she's grown up in expects her to be tough, strong, and fierce. Matsuri also appears in need of appreciation and validation from someone else, which she seeks from her crush, Wataru, and later receives from Shigematsu, Mimi Maru, and even her father. She has to embrace her strength and make it part of her identity rather than working to squash it and conceal it, and this makes for some admirable character development for her. Matsuri really is a strong and cool heroine! The other characters, like Shigematsu, Wataru, and Mimi, also have unique personalities and development of their own, and they each discover their own type of strength over the course of the story. I did find that the main boys (Wataru and Shigematsu) were a bit blander than I had hoped and that the girls (Matsuri and Mimi) really stole the show when it came to compelling characters, but even they had something to add to the story and something to learn for themselves on the way. Enjoyment: 8/10 - very good I definitely enjoyed "Matsuri Special." It was exactly the kind of empowering girl-power sports manga I wanted, and even though it was quite short, I found myself silently cheering for Matsuri and becoming invested in her journey to self-acceptance. It was refreshing to see that Shigematsu and Mimi (and even Wataru, eventually) saw her for she really was - a girl who is cool and inspiring because of her strength - and encouraged her, each in their own way, to reach higher and dig deeper into the way she saw and presented herself. The wrestling fights, aside from the lackluster art, were exciting and more dynamic than expected from a decently old shoujo manga, which made them pretty fun to read. Overall: 8/10 - very good Anyone looking for a good female-led sports manga with an awesome heroine, a supportive female friendship/rivalry, a wholesome romance, and a positive and empowering message about embracing your strength, loving yourself, and being the kind of girl YOU want to be rather than conforming to anyone else's expectations? Look no further than Yoko Kamio's "Matsuri Special!" It has its flaws (like Matsuri's lowkey toxic father and the so-so art), but then again, what manga doesn't have flaws? The pros definitely outweigh the cons in this series, and I definitely had fun reading it and was left with a positive and empowered feeling after each chapter, so I highly recommend it. Pick up the special series "Matsuri Special" and you will not be disappointed! Edit: apparently this is listed as shounen??? Hard to believe, but OK. It really does seem 100% like a shoujo series.
