Feb 3, 2010
After watching Tenjou Tenge some time ago, I thought I'd check out some other stuff by the mind behind it.
Himiko-Den, a 12-episode anime based on the PlayStation game released around a decade ago [early in the year of 1999], had the mangaka behind Tenjou Tenge have his take on it. But much to my short-lived dismay, I had neither played or watched either.
The story is said to be based on an old Japanese tale told by the official Chinese history book Sanguo Zhi [Records of Three Kingdoms], covering the times of 189 to 280, written in the 3rd century. But that's just ... a fun fact to anyone who isn't familiar with ancient history and kinda likes the idea of revamping ancient stories.
When I started reading this, I had felt the similar to the way I did about watching the first episodes of Tenjou Tenge.
I thought "Hilariously Cheeky. Refreshingly Ambitious. Aesthetically Brutal. a bit pervy." The art seemed fantastic. The story seemed to be awesomely ambitious. The characters seemed to have great potential, though a bit stereotypical of shounen stories (every female has Double-d bewbs, purpose-defeating clothes, hero dweeb/main character, excessive pwnage of bad guys). I thought i'd enjoy it thoroughly, and never forget reading this.
And much like when I came to the end of watching Tenjou Tenge, I had felt a bit...empty and lost. Sure, it had some excitement and some sort of depiction of emotional turmoil. Some battles won. But I have to say, I had thought :
"Endings just isn't this man's forte.. beginnings, absolutely. But, it's as if I'm watching the leo d'caprio's frozen body comically bob up and down, floating around the emotional young lover of Titanic - instead of slowly sinking into the depths and darkness of the cold Atlantic Ocean to reflect the coldness, forever lost feeling of death and despair."
It's that something that irks at you, and I think those who watched the anime i just can't stop mentioning, I think you know what I mean.
Personally, I'm a fan of good plots, twists, character development, some humbleness and some sort of inspiring insight into how life is with the end page. I don't quite think I found any from this manga. Though, I suppose I shouldn't be looking for those things in a shounen manga, no matter how ambitious it seems. My hopes were kinda up when there was fantasy and 'the end of the world' theme, I'll it.
_re-reading this, my apologies if I sound a bit hostile. just seems like I oughta have a say for the me-who-hadn't-read-it-yet, and the me-who-read-it-and-feels-unsure-if-should-feel-bad-about-not-liking-it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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