SaiKano

Let me start by saying I consider Saikano to be the best manga I have ever read. A nearly perfect blend of seinen and shoujo, sci-fi and drama, I picked Saikano up on a whim with fairly low expectations and was honestly consistantly stunned by its quality. Story 10: Most of the negative reviews I've read of Saikano seem to revolve around this category. Saikano is a war drama, it is a sci-fi, but by far its focus is romance. And this is where it really succeeds. Rarely do you see a true romance epic, but I cannot think of a better term for Saikano. Fromthe summary I was worried this was just another "Magical Girlfriend manga", but in a similar way that Evangelion isn't just a mecha anime, Saikano really surpasses all of the standard cliches and stereotypes. Art 9: Personally, I really love Takahashi's art style, but I can see how it could not be some people's thing. (If you liked the art in the FLCL manga, chances are you'll like it). Specific to this series however, I would like to applaud him for two things. Chise's weaponry is not only fascinating and more than slightly disturbing, it is also very visually appealing. Also, the sex scenes were tasteful, romantic, and never seemed gratuitous, all of which seem to be rare qualities for a series that includes several. Character 10: This is definately where Saikano exceeds other great works of the genre; with a normal grasp of character Saikano would be fairly similar to shows such as "This Ugly Yet Beautiful World". But Saikano's characters are almost unarguably (and increasingly) realistic, sometimes painfully so. They don't beg us to like them; they aren't flawed to make them interesting characters. They are all real people, examined more honestly than most people ever get to see more than a handful of people. Enjoyment 10: I cried at some point during each volume of this series. Saikano is SAD. I'm not even sure what to say beyond that. I think it really speaks for itself; go into Saikano with an open heart and I promise you you'll feel something. Overall 10: Saikano is an ultimate underappretiated work, matching and at points exceeding much of the medium's finest works. If you are looking for a mature, heart-rending love story, I really don't think you'll be disappointed. Good if you like... romance especially tragic romance; immaculately detailed plots and characterization; stories with a slow, thoughtful pace; Apocalypse stories; humor used to highten tragedy; slice-of-life school dramas; flawlessly imployed literary techniques (especially symbolism and foreshadowing).

This manga is beautiful and terrific, in the archaic sense of the word. It is largely a slice of life tale, but with an overarching theme of, well... I'll leave that for the reader to find out. Story: 10 The story is extremely well put together and told in a way that doles out information on a need to know basis, while tossing out little tidbits of what is yet to be told that tantalize and, all too frequently, leave the reader with a hollow feeling in the pit of their stomach that is commonly known as dread. Meanwhile, it tends to take a lighthearted approach muchof the time, keeping the mood in tune with the characters emotions, but never really getting rid of the increasingly intense sense that not only is something not right in the world, but, perhaps, nothing is actually right at all. The setting is a world that is dystopian, war torn, and gradually sliding toward chaos and oblivion. However, that is not really what the story is about. It is about two young people who decide to start dating, much to their mutual surprise. When things get tough, they think of quitting, but when they actually talk things over, they find that they both are feeling the exact same thing and they agree that they are going to stick it out a bit longer, but now they are going to get serious about falling in love. However, when things get even more complicated, it will take every ounce of love and devotion they have to stay together. They don't succeed completely, but can they make it work in the long run? Some of the themes presented include young love, secrets, long distance relationships, infidelity, unrequited love, and, of course, how to deal with the fact that your girlfriend has been turned into a cybernetic super weapon. Art: 10 I seriously debated about the ranking for art. I was going to give it an 8, but the amazing background art and frequently breathtakingly romantic scenes with our young couple pushed it up to a 10. The character designs are typical for Takahashi-sensei, with most of the characters having rounded features, wispy hair, slightly stout figures, and a certain level of cuteness. He gets good mileage out of chibi transformations and exaggerated facial expressions when portraying emotion, but when things get serious, the character art is stunning and the emotional love scenes are remarkably touching and romantic. The real standout in the art, however, are the backgrounds. From incredibly detailed views of towns, cities, or countryside; to amazing action scenes with explosions and chaos; to air raids and, of course, a cute little ultimate weapon with giant rocket launchers, energy beams, and dragonfly/fairy wings that are beautiful at a distance, until you see the damage they wreak on the clothes and body of Chisa as she returns to her "normal" self. Character: 9 The characters are strong and, for the most part, likable. (At least when you are supposed to like them.) The main couple are both wonderfully crafted, with Chisa being a shy, soft spoken, but surprisingly strong girl. The process of watching her gradually gain confidence while simultaneously getting further and further from being truly human is amazing. The heartbreaking middle section, where she loses out to her growing ability to "know too much" and longs for people who can just look at her and tell a bald face lie to make her feel better, despite the fact that the earnest (if not always faithful) and loving people around her cannot bring themselves to do her that favor. Shuji is gruff, sharp tongued, and, with the exception of on a few choice topics at a few choice moments, honest to a fault. His love for Chisa grows as she becomes more dangerous and harder to love. However, the hardships of their relationship and an extremely ill-timed reunion lead to some very poor decisions that make him seem less of a "nice guy." In the end, he is one of the few people who is always thinking of what is best for his diminutive super weapon. The side characters are strong, especailly Akemi, the best friend of Chisa and former track teammate of Shuji who, quite obviously, harbors a longstanding unrequited love that leads to tragic outcomes for more than one character. Some of the soldiers are also well done. One of the characters I cannot bring myself to like, but I don't know that you are supposed to like her. If there is a weakness, it is in the amount that suspension of disbelief needs to be stretched for the process by which Chisa becomes the Ultimate Weapon. Her blithe acceptance of her fate and complete lack of anger, at first, that she seems to have had this done to her without consent, at least of her parents, is dumfounding. She really seems to be saying that she met with the people, then woke up and was a cyborg. It makes no sense and could have been handled better. Of course, it could be that she just couldn't tell Shuji about the details, but we never see the details in the sections when we look at the world through her eyes either, so it seems off. Enjoyment and Overall: 10 This was a roller coaster. It had highs, lows, gut wrenching twists, dizzying heights, and devastating. earth shattering descents. The ending is phenomenal and, I should say, incredibly, profoundly, and touchingly sad.

Well, let’s get the disclaimer out of the way first. Generally I try to avoid spoilers in my reviews, but with this one I'm really going into a lot of details of the story, so if you want a spoiler-free experience the best I can say is to scroll all the way down, check my last paragraph, where I write my overall thoughts, and see if that interests you or not. I want you to follow my experience with the first chapters of Saishuu Heiki Kanojo, or Saikano, in the oficial English translation, as I went into it pretty blindly. I knew it was a 2000'smanga, and the artstyle really does feel like straight out of late 90s, early 00s manga and that it was written by Shin Takahashi, which I only say because I like acknowledging the author. I assumed that this manga was going to be your normal teenage romantic drama and the first chapter reinforced that idea. In this first chapter we meet our two main characters, Chise and Shuji, as they just started dating and they are really bad at it. At the end of it, they get to know each other a little bit better and they vow that they will learn to love each other, which gives the idea that they don't care about each other just yet, but they both proceed to talk exclusively about the other person for the rest of the manga. But it's on chapter two that the big reveal is done, as our characters are caught in the middle of a bombardment that ruins their town and kills thousands, and in the midst of all this confusion Shuji finds out that Chise isn't just a normal highschool girl, she is a mechanically engineered ULTIMATE WEAPON. This is a reveal so bonkers that I understand if people don't like it, as it does feel that it came completely out of left field when you're reading, but I personally appreciated how bold it was. These two chapters introduce us to the two main themes of this story, the classic teenage romance, and the ambiguous war that creeps into all character's lives. It's a unique and interesting concept, as we see these characters trying their best to have a normal teen life in this bizarre existence, but it's in it's execution that the manga falls apart. The first problem we encounter is the comedy in it. Now, I can excuse a drama focused manga to not have the most funny of jokes, the real problem is on how they are inserted in the middle of the dramatic parts and actually end up ruining the flow of the manga. It doesn't help that a lot of jokes are about how the main duo should have sex. This is something that happens more frequently at the start and thankfully gets better as the story progresses. But don't let your sighs of relief out just yet, because it's now that the real problems start to appear. These two characters have this ideal role that they both have to abide, as "boyfriend" and "girlfriend", and both of them seem to be more focused not on loving each other, but on dating each other. And that's all fine, but suddenly Shinji has basically an affair with a new character, Fuyumi. A married adult that really wants to fuck Shinji despite the big focus that we will have on how she really likes her husband. Admitedly, hey don't have sex, in fact this is the very first example of a character doing a lot of sexual stuff with one of our main characters, but without doing the real thing, which I guess it's supposed to make all of it okay? It's then further excused for both sides because "they are horny". But that doesn't really excuse you. And this is the first example of the biggest problem in the series, a lot of the characters motives, problems and solutions end up revolving around sex. And sex is just TOO much of the focus here. At certain point our couple decides that this relationship is too much to bear and decide to break up, this ends up exploring two alternative relationships that I think are the highlight of the entire manga. We get to see more of Shuji and, arguably the character he has most chemistry from day one, Akemi, Chise's best friend and also an old friend of Shuji. It's shown that it's with her that Shuji really can be himself, and I have no idea why this is the side romance and not the main one. On Chise's side, we get to focus on her on the warfield, with soldiers, in particular Tetsu, which is actually Fuyumi's husband. It's adorable and sad to see Tetsu and Chise walking around the deserted and destroyed cities, as he tries to save a bit of Chise's innocence in the midst of all of this. In general, the parts of the story that happen in the battlefield and with the soldiers are the most successful of the manga. Sadly these two decently build romances have a pretty horrible climax. And I'm not talking about the that both Akemi and Tetsu both die, I think that's an interesting and logical end to these arcs. No, it's the fact that they both die while thinking of sex. Akemi finally confesses to Shuji and therefore it's Shuji's "duty" to grope her tits and let her grab his dick until she dies. Tetsu dies confusing Chise with his wife, so it's Chise's duty to let him grope her tits until he dies, which would be slightly better executed if it wasn't for the fact that Tetsu had went as far as fingering Chise just a couple chapters before. I felt like that was quite disrespectful for these characters as in the end they were only horny beasts waiting for sex until their last breath. Not that much after we get Fuyumi crying and being super sad about Tetsu, just to try to rape Shuji right after. It's probably the worst segment of events of the manga, but you know what? It's actually followed by an actual nice "arc". Shuji and Chise decide to run away from people and end up living on a different town, and we get some really nice and touching moments. As the duo live their lives alone, we finally get some moments were the couple does look like a real couple and have nice chemistry, too bad we're already on the second to last volume. Due to circumstances however, Chise needs to return to the army and the city itself is being destroyed, so we actually are back to have them separated. We only get to meet each other together again near the finally where they finally do what they wanted to do since chapter 1... they fuck each other all night long. At this point, it only makes sense, as sex is the main drive and theme of all the relationships, so to end it finaly by having the two characters have sex with each other, it's thematically coherent. Which doesn't mean I personally enjoyed it. And then the ending came, which was not the worst, but it led me to some confusion. See, the war that's happening is only ever talked about vaguely, we never know the enemies or reasoning for the war, and for the most part, it really doesn't matter. But at the same time, there's also earthquakes happening over the course of the manga, and sure, we're led to believe that it's because of Chise and her enormous power, but there's also a moment of an earthquake happening while Chise isn't around, which is confusing. So when we finally get the reveal that the world is ending, it makes sense that it's because of Chise. At this point in the narrative we're so used to see the now apocalyptic scenario of Hokkaido that it kinda feels fitting. But here's the thing, Chise, after revealing this, also mentions that there's things happening around the world, things that we never get to learn what they are, but it makes sense to assume that whatever it is is what's causing the end of the world, but then it's implied that it's because of Chise. I dunno if I read the ending wrong, but it was all very confusing, and it was with that note that Saikano reached its end. It was really hard for me to judge this manga. It had a good premise and it had good ideas, it even has good moments, chapters and I even go as far as say volumes, but for everything that it does right, it also does one thing wrong. The couple and the drama could have been handled better, the comedy as well, but ultimately the nail in the coffin is for sure the fact that every single character is completely horny and we're supposed to accept their sex drive as something that drives the drama in the series. With less focus on that and more focus on the romance, or you know, the war, this manga could have been leagues better than what it ended up being.

I've read this manga long time ago. And recall that their is no feeling for them. One of my friend comment this to me as he know I love to watch drama movie/anime. And even enjoy some action manga with drama fused with them. I read this manga thoroughly and find nothing...and even thought hey! they begin to cry too much The Story is rather interesting at first. Poor girl who became a weapon...but they try so hard to make us sympathize with the girl and her boyfriend. And try so hard to make us cried. But I found this huh? It barely move my heart andthink that oh dear they cried again...and what's repeating "I'm sorry" though you're not from Hinamisawa? Story-telling is ok. But the plot just keep repeating in the same loop after the hero knew what happen to his dear Chise.And so many time I found that they are overacting , they cried again and I said huh? to myself again. Drama value in this manga continued to drop repeatedly volume by volume. Even the nearly last episode of Minami-ke : Okawari (Anime) has more drama value than this manga (Yes! I'm talking about Comedic Slice-of-life anime!) If you want good mecha with romantic/drama value I recommend "Voice of a Distant Star" Sorry for my poor english...You may tease me "Coppora! Coppora!" if you wish.