“…when I’m frustrated, I bury myself in manga to escape.” Oof, mood!
What would a manga be without a host club or men dressing up as women or being sealed for a century in an animal’s sack (yes I said sack)?!
For as odd as this manga is, I am disappointed that it is not continuing even with some weird plot points. The characters are very entertaining and I was growing attached (looking at you Kotton and Ten). After Hell’s paradise I will still look out for work by Yuji Kaku.
More of a 3.5 rating & I read the official English translation through an app called “MANGA Plus by SHUEISHA”. I’m sad that this manga series got cancelled because I was really getting attached to the characters (especially Maruo) and I was very intrigued in the world-building. Despite having a rushed ending, I still greatly enjoyed the series and the specific way that it ended. While the last chapter of the series officially ended in a cliffhanger, we got a good wrap-up to that current manga arc and there was a nice setup for the potential of adding a more definite ending.
So disappointed this series got canceled. Great concept and art. This volume is great until the end. The ending gets rushed and we still don't get a satisfying conclusion to the series.
Ayashimon was a fine series. I don't love it like I did some of the others that have gotten the axe over the last two years, but even I will admit that it was far better than a lot of the stuff still in the magazine. It's a darn shame to see it go out in such a disappointing way.
I have been eagerly awaiting this volume of Ayashimon! Fast paced fun and gutsy battles galore as Maruo fights for the Urara Gang and his boss! He is the chosen fighter of Urara who is trying to find out the truth of what happened to her dad and gain control as her father's successor of the yokai in Kabuchiko. However Maruo is human, can he go toe to toe in a ritual fight with an Ayashimon, a yokai in material form?
Maruo is up for the challenge like Son Goku, he thrives on fighting and the harder the fight the more he is energized! Watch out these two are in it to win it!
...Yeah, nope. I can deal with a lot of anime weirdness... like Maruo getting mystical training from the crazy immortal homeless dude that allows him to see and punch the non-physical concepts that make up an Ayashimon's being... or that this mystical training had me dusting off old memories of Ranma 1/2... but I draw the line at giant tanuki balls. I know, it's based in lore and it's part of tanuki mythology, but... just nope. It freaked me out in volume one and this made it worse.
So yeah, the story had potential, but never had the oomph to make it good. Then it kinda fizzled out to the point where the reader doesn't even get a final climactic battle. Just "we can win if we never give up because we're not alone!" and a standoff implying the final battle happens. Very disappointing.
Series: Ayashimon #3 (Ch. 17-25) Rating: 4 stars - It was really good
In this final volume we see the ending of the battle between Marou and Kotton, Marou learning how to fight against fire, big changes with all the gangs, and a battle against Tamagawa and the Kori Hotels.
Like the previous volumes, I enjoyed this and the battles that happened. The Khor hotel battle against the tanuki and kitsune was very interesting and action packed. It was really great to see how far Marou has come since the first volume and how he is getting better at fighting yokai and being the right hand man of the Urara gang.
While I did enjoy this volume, I was disappointed that it ends on a bit of a cliffhanger and we will never see the ending battle against Chairman Doppo. This manga was apparently canceled so there will be no conclusion or true achievement of Urara and Marou’s goals. I do think since it had to end early, this was probably the best place for it, instead of in the middle of a battle. But it does suck that we will never see the full story.
So just be warned if you are going to read this series, it is incomplete and has a bit of a cliffhanger.
*Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review*
I feel like it's not the fault of the mangaka that this series (very unfortunately) got cancelled, the consequence of that being a completely rushed and ambiguous ending. Half the volume is a training montage, for the back half to include one rather short final fight before conveniently giving the Gang the opportunity to confront the Enma boss. It's a shame that the series didn't last longer, the character development that we did get for Urara and Maruo was really good, and it would've been great to see how they evolved. For what it was, while unsatisfying, the ending wrapped things up as well as it could.
i’m really sad that shōnen jump cancelled this manga, it was one of my favourites (just behind jujutsu kaisen). i loved the characters (specially maruō and urarara, but also ten and kotton) and the story was fun, intriguing, well-paced and had so many mysteries yet to unravel. i’d have loved to read urarara’s gang taking over kabuchinko and maruō actually defeating doppo. the “end” wasn’t bad, at least kaku yūji got to close this arc and gave somewhat of a open ending to the manga (who knows, maybe it’ll return somehow, sometime). but, well, yea, i’m really sad and kinda angry ):
I'm a little torn and sad about this series, because there's just so much in there that is right up my alley, from the whole concept to the characters and the delightful weirdness. Sadly, the series got cancelled and it really shows: the plot feels messy and rushed and the ending is a plain, open cliff-hanger. So much lost potential. I did not regret reading it, but I do wish it had gotten more time to develop and I'm not sure if I'm going to keep it.
I wish this series was given more of a chance to build up its characters and world, but sadly most Shonen Jump titles don’t get that chance. I just know that this could’ve been a much better series if it had even a few more volumes, but what were have right now is just “okay”. It’s not great but it’s also not bad. Worth checking out eventually if you feel like it, but I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s a must read.
I'm really bummed that this story was cut so short, and was forced to pull off a hasty, unsatisfactory ending. There were so many beats in this volume that I could tell would have been really amazing if they had been given the proper time to pull them off tactfully. There's a really, really incredible shonen hidden within this brief series -- there just wasn't enough time. I'm gonna miss these characters.
I quite enjoyed this series, and I really wish it hadn’t been cancelled. That being said, I can excuse the weak, obviously rushed ending as the rest of the story was strongly written. The characters were compelling and the story was very interesting, with just the right amount of humor for how serious the motivations of the main characters were.
I knew this series had been canceled before even picking it up. I knew this was going to be the last volume and the story wouldn't end, but it still hurts to stop right when it reaches a point in the story where you know things are about to get real and some major revelations are coming.
So this volume is a great read, but it's also incredibly frustrating.
What an end to this manga, I would’ve liked to see how it turned out though but the journey to this was awesome! I loved the found family aspect with Urara, Maruo, Ten, and the rest of the characters leading up to the finale! Definitely worth checking out and reading, I enjoyed it very much!! Definitely recommend!
The finale of the series set up a bunch of really interesting leads and it's a shame we'll never see the payoff for them. I really hope Kaku Yūji's next work is accepted more by the Eastern audiences!!
It felt like the mangaka was finally starting to find his footing here, you can easily spot the areas where he had to rush to wrap things up, but I’m glad he left it on a cliffhanger instead of making us see the end without the dots to connect the plot points.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I wish there was more. This could have easily been as long as Hell's Paradise! I'll miss these guys!! Glad to have the 3 volumes in my Manga collection!