Time Stranger Kyoko

It was too predictable, I could always tell who would make a couple, what the next problem was going to be, etc. It was just so cliche and as a love-comedy, it wasn't even remotely funny. The characters were so bland, some even annoying, and I curse my curiosity for making me read it to the end.

Story - 7 It started out good, but then it was kinda...rushed. Manga would have been better if there were more chapters. Art - 6 I didn`t really like the eyes, they were just too huge for me. Characters` faces are too much like each other. But other than that, the art is beautiful. Character - 5 Characters aren`t developed much, and there was almost nothing about strangers like Yami, Toba, Rin... Enjoyment - 7The monologues were just great. It was touching and cute, so I enjoyed it. Overall: 6 Manga`s nice, but it could have been WAY better than that.

It’s been almost 20 years since I first read Time Stranger Kyoko, and honestly it was pretty forgettable after all this time. I’ve been a huge fan of Arina Tanemura’s work growing up (Full Moon, Gentleman's Alliance, KamiKaze Kaitou Jeanne, ION), so going back into this series there had to have been a reason why I forgot what happened in the story. If anyone is wondering why TSK is too short or questioning why the story feels cramped, on the side panel in chapter 10 in the physical book of volume 3, Arina Tanemura elaborates that she was not mentally well when creating this seriesfrom the start, which lacked her focus on the story and characters completely. She wanted to end this manga because of how overwhelming her psychological welfare was. I would say that this is not one of her best works and average at best, and that the story is not fleshed out as well as it could’ve been, but at the very least Arina had every right to stop working on a piece of artwork that she could not focus on. Her mental health came first and she is 100% valid. After this series ended, she went on to make Full Moon Wo Sagashite. Needless to say, even though Arina didn’t need to explain herself, this is just brief info for those who are reading or read this series and felt something was off. With that said, be aware that the story and characters are not fleshed out to its max potential. 3 volumes was not enough room for the world building of TSK, and there are so many characters and tribes that are supposed to be important to the story. Kyoko’s objective is to find 11 Strangers to awaken Ui, Kyoko’s sister, but about 6 of these characters were just placeholders and not fleshed out at all. Because Arina wanted to end the story abruptly, she did not elaborate the history of these other characters and tribes they came from; and the characters that were established had so much more that could’ve been worked with. Their subplots had so much more to elaborate on. The characters had potential (fleshed out) character traits and interesting upbringings. The ideas were implied through her artwork and story, but I wish this series went on longer to get that full potential for something greater. Everything was too cramped together. I will give her an incredible amount of credit for her completing this series on her own terms despite the mental health issues she was facing at the time. She made the story the best she could and she pulled through it. For what it’s worth, this is a good project to look into in the lens of a manga artist struggling through it, and she still succeeded at the end of the day. She created Full Moon wo Sagashite two years later. One of her best works. Ironically, I don’t think I could forget Time Stranger Kyoko now despite my review lol