Choujin X

Edit

What would you like to edit?

SynopsisBackgroundAlternative TitlesPictureChapters/VolumesPublishing DatesRelationsTypeExternal Links  

A masterpiece of its own seinen kind. First pro, the little, beautiful flowers of romance are extraordinary. Second pro, the drama messes you up so badly, especially after getting attached to certain characters. Let's move on to the third pro.

The suspense. Of course, the cliffhangers aren't always anything crazy, but sometimes they are, and when they are, you'll be so interested and curious to see what happens next that you'll be forced to wait to find out.

Putting the three pros aside, the first con I'd mention isn't really a con for me personally, it just might be for certain people, so I'll make it crystal ... clear. This manga isn't afraid, not even one bit, to kill off a character you love on a whim.

Lastly, I'd say the second con is something that I personally don't like, which is the fact that some mangaka divide their manga chapters into parts. I don't like that. It throws off my tracking. This manga does that, unfortunately, but oh well.

This first chapter was fair

Story: 6

The story is a kind of a copy of Tokyo Ghoul but with some different concept.

Art: 8

The art is really good, and I didn't expect less from Ishida.

... Characters: 6

The character design are good and for this first chapter Tokio is the most original character I've found. Azuma seems like an uglier Kaneki.

Enjoyment: 4

The problem with this chapter is precisely the story and the enjoyment, which is the same problem I found with Tokyo Ghoul. This chapter was really boring and pretty basic in my opinion.

I'll continue it for heaven's sake, but I don't think it's higher than the vote I gave at the moment

I'm not a hater of Choujin X, in fact, i think it has potential and it's currently among the best ongoing seinen action mangas.
But, after reading 70+ chapters of this (very long chapters) i think, as of now, the payoff wasn't worth it. Please note that i will be often comparing it with Tokyo Ghoul (for people fan of Tokyo Ghoul who's interesed in reading this manga, there aren't explicit spoilers), the same author's masterpiece, as how others would often compare Pluto to Monster, both by Naoki Urasawa. I'm not C2 in english too. Oh, and please read Tokyo Ghoul before Choujin X, thank me ... later.

I'll start by saying how i don't like the art that much, or maybe just the desings, with the exception of very few characters. I prefer those of Tokyo Ghoul, but of course, this is just a shallow aspect of the series (incredible symbolisms though). Sui Ishida has arguably gotten better at drawing too.

The main protagonists are Tokio, Ely and Azuma. I think Tokio is on good track, but still lacks development, i recognize him as one of the pillars of the series throughout all of it. Ely is healthy i guess. With Azuma i just can't stand him, pretty nice development and dynamics though. But, those are just flatter words, because they are neither comparable to the characters Tokyo Ghoul had at the moment (auction arc~) and of course very underwhelming when compared to another ongoing series. I love past Sui Ishida's work, but i think people overrates incomplete characters just because he is who he is, although i can see the seeds growing well. 8/10

The obvious spearhead of the series is the antagonists, well, only two of them, Batista and Sora. I don't have any problems with them, very good characters with definite goals, background and interesing plots. The problem is with the other antagonists, they're just punching bags, no interesing background or aspirations, just strong people for our cast to beat. I do think there're better antagonists to come, but as we had Tsukiyama, Yamori and Kanou along the way in Tokyo Ghoul, here in Choujin X don't have a memorable antagonist for many chapters. 8/10

If antagonists were the spearhead, the obvious dead weight would be the secondary cast. Some remarkable characters are Sandek, Tsukiko, Palma and a certain spoiler female character (H), i can't really say anything about any other character. I just noticed the femenine cast could be overall better than the masculine, fun fact. Don't expect a cast near as good as the Anteiku or the CCG. 4/10

I already said i like how well Sui Ishida manages symbolisms (9), and i should say i consider it to have awesome foreshadowing (8), i wish i could say the same about time-skips, i wish i could enter into details but i'm not bringing up spoilers, however i loathe how time-skips are treated here (3). I think the world building is okay, i like the concept but i keep holding some questions that have yet to be answered (5). In comparison to Tokyo Ghoul, Sui Ishida still manages symbolism with mastery and seems to have a huge scheme for the rest of the story, time-skips weren't the strong point of Tokyo Ghoul but they're a lot better than in this work. I personally like Tokyo City where Tokyo Ghoul was placed on more than the world of Choujin X (bigger world doesn't equal better worldbuilding).

Introduction, this is the topic people discusses the most and i get why, because the first chapters can be confusing, heavy and boring in contrast with the dynamic start of Tokyo Ghoul, however, but, nevertheless, yet... (3) Everything is just awful, not a single good character in more than 30 chapters, OMG, but it gets better. I won't talk about conclusion because is not concluded yet. As a comparison, imagine the first Aogiri arc in Tokyo Ghoul had taken 100 chapters, Could you say it is a good start?

Pacing is inconsistent, both narratively and its serialization, some feel like buzzchapters, some feel too short, some too long, some too empty. 6/10

About themes, conflicts and messages, the manga is still a bit too green, even though it has 70+ chapters and around 3800 pages. Do you remember going from Kuroneki to Shironeki in Tokyo Ghoul? There's nothing like that, and i'm not lying.

Dialogues (7), monologues (8), quotes (7) and the sort. Oh, fights (4) too. I think that what makes a fight good is to have great dialogues, interesing monologues and good visual narrative, the sad thing about Choujin X is that it has incredible visuals, both background and characterization, but it's outshined by Hazbin Hotel level dialogues and Jujutsu Kaisen level monologues, the sort of: "I'll k*ll you", "You're weak", "He's fast" and "Let's do this", in every fight. Outside of fights, i see correct most of the dialogues, monologues and quotes portrayed, and for those who already read the manga, having Nietzsche references doesn't make this any better.

And that's enough slandering. Obviously, for now this is not a proud succesor of Tokyo Ghoul, but it has some potential. I tend to like seinen action series, like Tokyo Ghoul, so i thought it was finally time to give Choujin X and opportunity after 70+ chapters, but it's not the time yet, for any person reading this review, let this manga accumulate more chapter.

Also, for those under the bandwagon effect of the Tiktok fanbase that are thinking: "Best newgen manga", "More potential than Tokyo Ghoul", "Best newgen antagonist" and that sort of things, What would you think of this manga if it wasn't written by Sui Ishida?