Manga Review: Saikano: The Last Love Song on This Little Planet, Volume 7, by Shin Takahashi

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: Editor's Choice (VIZ Media)

Release Date: 2006.

Volumes: 7.

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. RightStuf.

Volume: 1.

Goodreads Synopsis:

With the war finally winding down, Chise begins to realize that her last chance for happiness is slipping away forever. Desperately trying to reclaim the humanity that she lost, the shy teenager makes one last bid for true love. But is it too late? Has Chise lost the opportunity to experience the most basic of all human emotions? Despite her awesome arsenal of military might, Chise has never been able to take control of her own personal life. One way or another, that's about to change.

Review:

I mostly just don’t know what to think about this series. I wasn’t in love with it, that’s for sure.

I didn’t really connect with the characters until near the end, and even then I wasn’t in love with any of them. I liked seeing the two as a real couple, when they were living together. This seemed like a very sedated, quiet series, where things happened slowly, almost in a boring way, but also quite depressing.

There was never much of an explanation, in a sci-fi sense, for why she was the way she was, or how all that worked. Mostly, the whole world and reasons could have been explained a lot more.

The characters could have been developed a lot more.

And the ending just… just why? I don’t understand the point of it all, with that ending. (Although, maybe that's the point?) It’s depressing, and I just… Maybe I just don’t get it? I mean, I guess it kind of makes sense, it was kind of leading up to this, and yeah the title makes more sense now. Maybe it's just that I don't like the kind of stories that end like this. It's disappointing, it seems like too much, and just doesn't always seem necessary?

I didn’t really care for a lot of this series, and I didn’t really get the ending. But also, I am definitely not the intended audience for this series.

Manga Review: Saikano: The Last Love Song on This Little Planet, Volume 1, by Shin Takahashi

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: Editor's Choice (VIZ Media)

Release Date: 2004.

Volumes: 7.

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Shuji and Chise are high school seniors in a small town who have just started dating, when Shuji discovers that Chise has been engineered by the SDF so that she can transform herself into a powerful weapon. While Shuji and Chise keep trying to nurture their relationship, Chise continues to grow even more powerful as the Ultimate Weapon, and becomes increasingly torn between being a destructive fighting force and remaining an ordinary teenager. What do you do when the girl you love becomes a weapon of mass destruction?

Review:

I borrowed this from a friend at work, and I wasn’t too sure what to expect. Clearly I knew that it was explicit (which I don’t mind), and it’s from VIZ, which was a good sign. I was intrigued from the get-go, and slightly wary.

I’m still not too sure what to expect. This first volume seemed a little slow, or subtle. The concept is intriguing, and I’m interested to see how it develops—what with her being the ultimate weapon and all, while falling in love with him, a normal guy. It seems a bit typical teenage love story angst, aside from the war part. Plus, quite a bit of the war parts and technical aspects are skipped over, which I hope changes later, but also might be because it’s from the guy’s point of view.

I do think that the feel of the book works well with the artstyle. It’s more old-school and subtle, with some wordless panels for emotion, especially at the end of this volume. I do appreciate that.

I feel like there is still a lot for this series to work out and develop, like the story is just getting started. I’m interested to see where it goes from here.