A bumper sized final volume of "super powered young people who rarely use their powers in a world without super powers but with yakuza!" spends limited time on the final resolution on whether the girls can change the future, whilst spending a lot more on what happens next, and the big question will Hina ever truly grow up and be a proper adult? Lovingly underwhelming and yet engaging as it is meat to be, this outlier tongue-in-cheek quasi comedy has been a very refreshing manga read alongside the cool clean art and most random storylines. Hugely recommended read for those of you that want something completely different from your manga. A final rounded up Four Star, 7.5 out of 12 final jam from Ohtake. 2026 read
A low-key series comes to a low-key conclusion. The fate of the world is at stake, but to save it all the protagonist has to do is put on good concert? Sure.
A good chunk of the volume is simply spent visiting the many supporting characters to see how they'll be getting on, and "more of the same" seems to be the popular response.
The author admits in the end material that not a lot of effort was put into the creation of many of the cast members, a lot of attempts to give them fuller lives were nixed by the editor or dumped for lack of time and space, and the volumes in the closing stretch were filler to get to some arbitrary goals (first a specific holiday date and then slipping to 100 chapters). And yeah, that lack of effort shows up on the pages as coasting, but I still enjoyed my time with these amusing characters.
FOR REFERENCE:
Contents: Chapter 96. Disassemble! Destroy! Farewell! -- Chapter 97. Super Sugee Festival -- Chapter 98. Great Job, Everyone! -- Chapter 99. Their Lives Thereafter: Part 1 -- Chapter 100. Their Lives Thereafter: Part 2 -- Some Notes on the Characters from the Author -- Extra 32: May! Thy! Soul! Be! Pure! -- Afterword -- Hinamatsuri Outtake Collection
While I think Hinamatsuri's gags started to taper off towards the end, I think we got a nice enough conclusion that made me happy to read it. The final rock concert ended up being an 'arc' but it had some good gags- specifically the car chase on the way there. The epilogue chapters were sweet, I like the combination of actual growth for the characters alongside some great gags that had me laughing even knowing it's the end.
This was absolutely bonkers, but at the same time, while I came for the mad-cap hijinks, I stayed for the sweet slice of life that went along with it. Hinamatsuri is a very unusual series in that it's both completely absurd and surprisingly tender, which honestly was exactly what I needed it to be.
The characters, the situations that go 0-to-60 in about 3.5 seconds, and just the silly sense of humor were all perfectly balanced. This is a series that makes you laugh, but also sits with you for a long time after you finish reading. Who would have thought that the story of a Yakuza and a psychic child would be so beautiful?
I'm having a little trouble wrapping my feelings up into words, but I suppose that I would say that this was a truly beautiful series and one that I would absolutely love to own (which is a rare sentiment, as shelf space is at a premium for me). But, I want to revisit this one again, and I want to do it on my time, when I'm ready, whether that's in the middle of the night or over a long weekend when the library is closed. The series is at its best in the middle, I think, but honestly, there wasn't a bad book in the bunch. I found Haru a little trying, but his appearances are limited enough that it didn't dampen my enjoyment. So, in the end, I think I might say that this was one of my favorite manga of all time. And I fully intend to buy the complete series. Five stars for this book, and five stars for all of it.
Buku terakhir komik Hinamatsuri. Dapat habiskan kesemua 100 chapters dalam masa 2 hari. Secara ringkasnya, manga ni boleh dianggap sebagai satu masterpiece. Scene2 komedi, aksi, dan slice of life dalam manga ni begitu menghiburkan. Endingnya juga memuaskan, walaupun rasa banyak lagi plot yg boleh diterokai (harap ada sambungan nanti). Perkembangan plot dan character building manga ni juga mantap, puas melihat perkembangan watak Hina, Nitta, serta beberapa lagi watak utama (seperti Anzu, Mao, dan Hitomi) dari zaman Hina di middle school hingga ke kolej.
Well, that's the end of an incredible manga. Not the best ending, but everyone relevant got their closure. What a ride! Good work to Masao Ohtake and the translators!