Project Otaku Powerlevelling: Part 14

Different anime, same bat-channel.






I'm guessing Yozakura Quartet is an awesome manga. I say "I'm guessing", because I've never really read it.

I haven't read ahead, don't know any friends--but you can always tell. Japan has a habit of adapting manga that are not even close to completion (Or have just started. See: Omamori Himari) in order to fill out more programming hours. As a result, the adaptation always feels like there's chunks of the universe missing, the story incomplete.

For most manga, this is a death knell (again, see: Omamori Himari), often reducing a decent plotline and interesting characters to stereotypical protagonists and a fluff story, but in YQ's case, the good parts of the original story come shining through. The incomplete part still remains though, as we're given a story about a city of humans and youkai who have slowly learned to live together, and a villain trying to destroy their harmony, that feels more like part one of a series with MUCH more story to tell.

Another thing that helps Yozakura Quartet is (thankfully), none of the characters are annoying, or particularly useless. They serve a purpose, both in and outside of battle, so none of them ever feel like they're wasting time simply being present on screen. I give them points in particular for creating a central female character perfectly capable of handling herself in a fight, while not slighting the male supporting character either. Both are completely competent fighters (this is important in an action series), and enjoyable to watch during their everyday lives. In fact, none of the characters are particularly unlikeable, which made the series a breeze to finish.

There's a remake OVA that started recently that is meant to be more accurate to the actual story. Despite it's flaws, the television series itself was well-done enough that I don't mind giving the story itself another shot, so I'll be talking about YQ again, I'm sure.

Comments

  1. It is an incredibly awesome manga. By far the best I've ever read. And about a million times better than the anime, which wasn't horrible, but...the manga is in a class of its own.

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