Elzburg Reviews

Dr.STONE 1 by Riichiro Inagaki My rating: 2 of 5 stars 2.5 stars In a nutshell, Dr. Stone is a story about how two high school boys deal with the entirety of the human race being miraculously turned into stone. The phenomenon happens one day just as one of them is on the cusp of confessing to the girl they like. In this first volume the cause of the new stone age is not yet revealed, so if you’re not someone who can just go with the flow and not question too many things, this story might not gel with you too well. That being said, one of the characters is a scientific savant and says a lot of things that have actual scientific backup, so that might be enough to quell your worries. This was an overall enjoyable read, but there isn’t much that’s special about it. I could see how one of the lead boys and the antagonist could be seen as interesting characters to some people, but I myself don’t think too much of them. The only remarkable thing about t...

School Rumble, Vol. 7 by Jin Kobayashi My rating: 4 of 5 stars This volume was really fun!!!!! What a good time!! I didn’t laugh at all during the previous volume, but this volume had me giggling a few times, let me tell you! And like, scream-type giggling, the best type, because of the specific kinds of situations that were making me giggle, if you know what I mean… Please… stay over tonight!! Make me… Make me into a man!! So yeah, interesting and funny situations and scenes were in this volume, and that was great. The relationships between the characters are getting more and more complex and intertwined, and I love it. It is so juicy. I can't wait to continue reading. Please consider giving this review a "Like" if you've made it this far, it helps me out a lot! And follow me if you want more! Click to read my other School Rumble reviews: Volumes: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 * *Current review View all my ...

School Rumble, Vol. 6 by Jin Kobayashi My rating: 3 of 5 stars Meat. This image made me giggle in a way and for long enough that I actually became light headed. Unfortunately this was were the laughs both started and ended with this volume. This volume is entirely composed of the Sports Festival, and on-brand unrealistic hijinks ensue. Even though this was not funny, it was still decently entertaining and a nice dose of School Rumble -ness that we all could use every once in a while. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this in my reviews yet, so I’ll just say it here: I love the way this series was translated and printed in English, and here are my two reasons: 1. There are always like six pages of translation notes at the back of every single volume—which is A LOT—which I love reading along with the story since they give insight into the way the manga was originally written. This makes me feel like I’m getting more of the authentic reading...

毎日キスしていいですか? 4 [Mainichi Kiss shite ii desu ka? 4] by Hatsuharu My rating: 1 of 5 stars Ah. It’s over. *cough* Finally *cough*. So, TLDR: Don’t read this series, it is bad . It’s about a guy who sexually and emotionally abuses a really dumb girl who’s too naïve to know that he’s even doing anything wrong. The problem is that this is presented as being romance . Read my previous reviews for more on that (links below). On this volume specifically, has anything changed? A little bit, yes, but ultimately: no. Nagi (the abuser in question) just reaaaallly comes off as a super horny teenager. So every time he jumps onto Kurumi (the dumb girl in question) it doesn’t feel romantic at all, it just feels like some stupid kid using another stupid kid to fulfill his selfish desires. And then, yes—AGAIN—Kurumi literally says “no" [s] and “I don’t like it" [s] , yet the motherfucker literally does not give a single micron of a shit and keeps going. Afte...

毎日キスしていいですか? 3 [Mainichi Kiss shite ii desu ka? 3] by Hatsuharu My rating: 2 of 5 stars I have exactly zero ideas of what to think of this volume right now. Chapter 9 was literally despicable, a very easy 1 star start to this volume. This series was always despicable since the start, but it seems like that chapter was its climax since the despicable-ness stopped and the manga went back to just being funny, with less despicability than ever. (I will stop abusing that word now, sorry.) Nagio has always had zero regard for Kurumi's feelings, his own being the only thing mattering to him, but in chapter 8 he really took the cake. The end of volume 2 had us like "Yo wtf Nagio literally almost (or literally did??) molest this chick, wtf dude" (because yes we all collectively talk like surfer gangsters around here). But then the beginning of this volume (chapter 9) had us like "Nice you go girl, show it to him, he can't treat you like...

School Rumble, Vol. 5 by Jin Kobayashi My rating: 3 of 5 stars This was the sportiest volume!! (Good!!) But it was handled in a way I didn’t like!! (Oh no!!!!) This volume opens with a focus on the girl on the cover, Karen, who’s a veteran amateur wrestler. She’s insanely strong and good at what she does, however since it’s not “womanly” she’s embarrassed about it which is something that makes me really sad! And other characters are creeped out about it and scared of her because of her skill, which makes both her and myself feel even worse!!! God damn it, Japanese society!!!!!! Why do you gotta make a girl feel bad for being good at something like that? Tsk. This volume also teases the upcoming sports festival a lot, so that’s exciting since I’m a track athlete myself (and there are many track events at said festival). There are zero anime/manga about sprinting as far as I know, so I’m always excited for sports festivals since that’s the only place I can see m...

School Rumble, Vol. 4 by Jin Kobayashi My rating: 4 of 5 stars This volume was good since it was still funny and the situations still entertaining, however the quality of these has decreased since the last volume. Basically: The giggles came far and few between. Since the two main characters in this series (Tenma and Harima) are bona fide idiots, misunderstandings are inevitable, which is perfectly fine and can lead to funny gags. The problem with this volume, however, was that Kobayashi took these gags too far and stretched them out way too long to the point where the whole thing just became annoying. The particular misunderstanding didn’t last the whole volume, at least, so basically every other part of this volume except for the last annoying part of that misunderstanding was entertaining. These reviews are getting shorter and shorter the deeper I get into this series... But no one really cares, so it's alright ha ha, ha... ha... Please consider g...

School Rumble, Vol. 1 by Jin Kobayashi My rating: 3 of 5 stars In today’s episode of Elz Reviews : School Rumble ... Did an oopsie. Previously, in This Book Review : Holy shit. The first chapter ended my life. I was laughing so hard I was crying and I couldn't even try to keep reading because looking at the page just kept knocking me out. This first gag is so funny oh my god. Oh… oh no… What happened? Three stars? Oof . The first two chapters: Great. Good stuff. Super funny, loved it. The rest of the volume? Ehh. Not… Great... Kind of disappointing, not going to lie. This is the manga of the greatest anime of my youth, something filled with memories of laughs and gaffs and which created a rare opportunity to bond with my brother. So, what went wrong? To answer that, we must first examine what went right. The first two chapters in this series are great because they are humorous introductions to two of the main characters in this series...

School Rumble, Vol. 2 by Jin Kobayashi My rating: 4 of 5 stars This volume was very fun and quite entertaining—more so than the first volume for a couple reasons: My expectations in terms of how much it was going to make me laugh was lowered greatly, and because there was more of a large story going on as opposed to being a volume full of one-off gags. Because the first two chapters of the first volume were god-tier in terms of comedy, it raised the standard for the whole rest of the volume to a level which it was unable to meet again which is why it ended up being disappointing. This meant that going into this second volume, my standards were a lot lower, so I didn’t mind if it wasn’t making me laugh as long as it was entertaining. Happily, it was that, at least. I think my prior experience and familiarity with the characters probably contributed to my entertainment (I had watched the anime back when I was a wee little girl), but there was a specific thin...

School Rumble, Vol. 3 by Jin Kobayashi My rating: 5 of 5 stars This was the best volume so far!! This is what I was expecting to read when I picked up the first volume! It never gave me any hardy laughs, but that’s okay since it had me consistently giggling throughout the entire book instead. Volumes of other series have been able to do both of these, but I’m happy that it seems like School Rumble is finally finding its footing and getting itself up to speed. This volume still deserves its place among those five-star books because it perfectly intertwined said giggles with a great continuous storyline. What makes this series so entertaining is its continuity. I think we’re all very much used to comedies having one-off gags that end up having no impact on the characters or overarching story, and the way that School Rumble breaks this mold is so satisfying and makes everything that much more funny. Please consider giving this review a "Like" if...

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, Vol. 1 by Hideyuki Furuhashi My rating: 2 of 5 stars ( Read right to left. Mouse-over images to view sources ) My Hero Academia: Vigilantes is a fanfiction spin-off manga of the fantastic My Hero Academia series, and I'd say it was a pretty bold move to try something like this since it has such an amazing behemoth to live up to. So? How does Vigilantes compare to its predecessor? Well, if you noticed my rating you might have guessed that I didn't think it did a great job. Vigilantes was a mixed bag for me. There were certain parts that I liked, but then other parts that just soured the whole experience. The concept is a plus, for me. It takes a look into a new aspect of this hero society that the main series doesn't show: The underground heros who act illegally without a license, who help out with slightly smaller crime like street fights and whatnot, and who help tackle bigger busts like drugs from dif...

Death Note by Tsugumi Ohba My rating: 0 of 5 stars Death Note is a fantastic 5/5 series, but I want to make some details about this specific edition clear to potential buyers. THIS IS NOT A BOXSET. It is a single paperback book that has all 2400 pages of the manga, including "a never before printed in English epilogue". It's obviously really thick (and really heavy), but it is also actually quite short (in terms of height; Not page length). It is the shortest book out of my entire manga and graphic novel collection. Even my authentic Japanese imports (which are always tiny for some reason) are taller than it. The front and back covers are somewhat flimsy, so you'll have to be careful while reading it not to bend/rip it or open it too wide if you don't want to get dents in the spine. And unlike the single volume and Black editions, the first few pages are not printed in their glorious full colour. That, to me, is the biggest blow...

ポロの留学記 1 [Poro no Ryuugakuki 1] by Hitsuji Gondaira My rating: 0 of 5 stars I read the first 3 chapters officially translated for free by Viz Media here . I'm pretty sure this series didn't fare too well in Japan. I personally enjoyed the first three chapters and have been waiting for the volumes to come out to continue reading, but they never have. Not in English, anyway. Only two volumes have come out in Japan and the series is marked "Finished", which my weeb senses tell me means it was axed from its magazine, Shonen Jump , since I doubt they would have signed off on such a short series at the important and tide-changing time that this series started serializing. Again, I haven't finished reading these, so that's just my speculation. I've waited this long and kept this book on my "on hold" shelf, but at this point I think there's literally no way for me to finish reading this volume, so to the "dnf...

Grand Blue Dreaming Vol. 2 by Kenji Inoue My rating: 0 of 5 stars Dropped 23 pages into chapter 7. Well, we (and Iori) finally saw underwater. One of the most disappointing things about these books so far has been the lack of actual diving, and we finally got some in this volume. Well, from what I read of this volume at least. Obviously I couldn’t be bothered to finish it. I literally just didn’t care about anything that was going on. There was some sort of festival that I didn’t care about, and Iori and Kouhei were distraught that they’d have to cross-dress in it which I also didn’t care about. I really wanted to finish this volume, but when I looked at what was ahead of me I really, truly, could not be bothered. From what I read I’d rate it 2/5 stars, but because I didn’t finish the volume as a whole I don’t think it’s fair for me to rate it, so I won’t. I still hold that I feel like this series is just not for me, and that you very well might enjo...

手品先輩（１）Tejina-senpai Kindle Edition by AZU My rating: 0 of 5 stars (Click the banner if you wanna see how I made it, lol) Dropped after Chapter 3. English synopsis: Our main character finds out that his school requires him to join a club and during his reluctant search he stumbles upon Tejina Senpai attempting magic tricks in her clubroom. Tejina Senpai has massive stage fright however and so now that she has an audience her attempts are simply comedic and usually result with her in sexual situations. I tried, I really did. But this manga was just so extremely boring and uninteresting. I was promised humor and laughs but all I got were extremely unimpressive attempts at comedy that went nowhere. I’ve been dropping manga from the first chapter lately, but I gave Tejina-senpai three whole chances to not be a complete disappointment and it failed every time. Maybe it picks up after chapter three, but too bad I don’t care enough to try and find out....

ギャルごはん Gal Gohan [Gyaru Cooking] by Taiyou Marii My rating: 0 of 5 stars Dropped after Chapter 1. Do you like the look of gyaru fashion ? Do you like fan service? Do you like potential student-teacher relationships? Do you like food and/or cooking? If you like any or all of the above then Gal Gohan is the right manga for you! I, on the other hand, hate all of these aforementioned things!!! I could not have been any more completely out of the target demographic for this series. My main problem was definitely the huge sexual tension between the girl gyaru student and the male teacher. Student-teacher relationships are something that I am so completely and utterly against that I cannot bring myself to enjoy a series that seriously hints at it like this first chapter did. But hey, if you don’t mind that kind of thing you might enjoy this. Who knows. View all my reviews

カーストヘヴン 1 [Caste Heaven 1] by Chise Ogawa My rating: 0 of 5 stars Dropped after Chapter 1. This manga is about a school that runs under a caste system. Each year they have this kind of "contest" where poker cards are scattered around the school, and whichever one you end up with determines your rank. Example: If you find the King card you become the absolute ruler of the whole school and can shit on anyone and everyone you please, or if you end up with the Joker card then you become a living ass-wipe. The premise of the book is how the tables turn when the previous year's ruler ends up with the Joker card this time around. This seems really interesting, no? And it would have been--If it was done right. To preface my situation: I randomly started reading this because the synopsis sounds SUPER rad and interesting, but little did I know that this is a yaoi. I don't really enjoy reading or watching that kind of stuff. I enjoyed the Sun...

Gin Tama, Vol. 1 by Hideaki Sorachi My rating: 4 of 5 stars Gintama is one of my favourite anime so, naturally, I wanted to try out the manga as well. Seeing as, you know, I like reading and all. I actually don’t have that much to say about this… It was… Gintama all right. This volume was basically just an introduction to the characters, and even in the anime it doesn’t really get good until past episode 30, so I really don’t think I can talk about this volume in an unbiased way that isn’t tainted by my having had 191 episodes of exposure to this series and its characters. This is a comedy series, but I’m not sure if this first volume made me laugh (I don’t remember since I read this over a month ago as of writing), but it was definitely enjoyable. I am completely sure I enjoyed it solely because I’m already very well acquainted with these characters, so I have no idea how a newcomer would feel about this. All I can really say is that I’m a big fan of the anime...

毎日キスしていいですか? 2 [Mainichi Kiss shite ii desu ka? 2] by Hatsuharu My rating: 3 of 5 stars ( Mouse-over image to view source ) I'm slightly confused as to why this volume is rated much lower than the first one, because I thought that this was the same—if not better—than the first volume. The first two chapters had me laughing so much, that’s when I finally realized that this is a rom-com and that’s the real reason I’m enjoying this series. During the last two chapters the laughs slowed down, and then the end of the last chapter happened, and maybe that’s the cause of the low ratings. If you didn’t think that Nagio (the childhood friend) was rape-y during the first volume, I’m sure you’ll think he’s rape-y in this one. In the first volume, Kurumi (the main character) tells him to stop, says “no”, does the whole works, and he kisses her anyway. In this volume… The same happens except in a more intimate situation… If you catch my drift. That was pret...