I cannot take this manga seriously. Some of the dancing shots, man. If you see it, you’ll know what I mean lol. Things look slightly off, but I think it was an effective and commendable way for the mangaka to show movement. This is one of those mangas where an anime is almost necessary to really get the ideas across.

Despite that, the characters are charming. Kaboku’s a tall, shy dude who doesn’t want to stand out due to past insecurities, but somehow dance and a cute girl keep drawing him out of his shell. Hikari is quirky and uses dance as a way to express herself. I like that Hikari’s not pushy and notices Kaboku and encourages him. Kaboku is also a decent guy. These two are wholesome.

 Aww, Babymouse is still as fun as when I used to read it when I was younger. It’s so surreal seeing Babymouse and her friends fully colored! Here, Babymouse finally comes to terms with her messy whiskers. 

 This had all the ingredients for a tasty pizza (cheese, flour, tomato sauce, toppings if you get down like that, etc), but it was never put into the writing oven. So, we were left with an undercooked goopy mess. I could not connect to the storytelling style. It relied heavily on “telling” things about the characters that it could’ve have shown. Dialogue/banter was unseasoned. 

Circle of Shadows’ story is plot-driven. There are some big themes: a cult; two armies of ninjas (taiga and ryuu); a brother and sister estranged due to their ideologies; animal-based magical abilities; a male lead realizing his feelings for his best friend; female lead consumed with revenge; dead sister; did I mention multiple BLOOD SACRAFICES? 

The dark angle with the prince and princess’ fallout was interesting. The graphic violence and the cult made a sharp, almost whiplike effect, contrast against the otherwise light story. The humor was lighthearted as well as the previously mentioned unseasoned banter. 

Even the most cliché story can thrive with a cast of fun characters, but I didn’t care for this crew. Early in the story Sora decides to take her taiga training skills seriously in hopes to move up in the army/elite fighting force. She was supposed to be this goofy prankster, but it felt like she never really was. She threw one “prank” which was just overdoing a performance for the princess and a mention of making laxative brownies for a bully. Despite getting serious, you would think she would retain this supposedly goofy personality. 

Daemon, which is way too close to demon lol, was dull. He was grappling with his feelings for Sora and his identity. He was abandoned as a baby and never knew his parents. With some work, this could have been a fun or compelling character. The rest of the side characters had quirky name-conventions/codenames, which I didn’t mind, but none really stood out either. There was a petite, flirty chick and a guy who basically worked in the file cabinet/administration. But they needed more to be likable. 

The magic system not being more fleshed out was a huge letdown. I needed to know more of its limitations. Being a Taiga comes with animal power-ups, by chanting an animal characteristic (think: teeth of a shark!) will grant the user that ability. However, it’s not clear how long they last. At first, the abilities were shown to wear off, but in another instance the effect lasted even with the user unconscious. Another example is that Daemon is basically Rock Lee (Naruto) here as he sucks at casting spells/using magic. Is magic innate or genetics-based? Can you be gifted it? I know the gods specifically select the taiga, but why would they select a magicless baby? 

It’s very unfortunate I didn’t mesh with the story. Because I love stories about ninjas + magic abilities + a sweet first love. And a guy raised by wolves! Come on, those are some of my favorite things. Personally, I don’t need the most elaborate worldbuilding or robust magic system if I enjoy the characters or the story. I’ve liked worse, less than critically acclaimed stories before. Truly I wanted to like this story, but it’s not for me. 

There is some beautiful prose here and a questioning of ideals and culture, but it's messy, weird, and at times disturbing. It sprints constantly from poignant to "fake deep FB caption" to poetic or clever, but it never stops being engaging.

Our main character is in a "what's understood need not be explained" sometimes toxic relationship with a once bright-eyed, but deeply troubled former photographer, revolutionary, and recovering drug addict. Neither are named in the story. Neither need to be with each other before some intense therapy. No woman can heal a broken man; he has to want it for himself. Both fetishize, condescend, underestimate, and pleasantly surprise each other.

There are side characters, but the focus is on these two. Ms. Lady wants a soul-searching journey and to reclaim her roots. She acknowledges she had a diluted version of her culture from wanting to fit or sell the best version of herself. 

Her father had his own experience with that. On his part, he used his heritage as way to market and differentiate himself. For example, changing his actual name Freddy to Fouad to better sell his holistic expertise to foreigners seeking to exotify him. The relationship between Ms. Lady, her father, and the mother (they're getting divorced) is just as interesting as the relationship between Lady's western values and Egyptian cultures colliding and meshing, and the equally tumultuous relationship with Guy from Shobrakheit. Guy from Shobrakheit has issues and demons, but you understand why he does until he becomes increasingly too abusive to have sympathy for.

Unlike most though Ms Lady has a claim to her roots and wants to fully explore it. It happens clumsily along the way from some struggles from being an outsider, a woman, or her western upbringing. Beyond that, the bits about the revolution and the fallout afterwards are disheartening. You see how it affects Guy from Shobrakheit, the people of the city, and even Ms Lady who can only chase the ghost, never having been there to experience the dashed dreams. The author beautifully describes the second-guessing of everything once you THINK you've overcome culture shock or expertly learned something only to find a new layer. 

Part 3 is an absolute doozy! You'll never see it coming.

I'm not often interested in analyzing a book critically now that I've finished school, but I wouldn't mind trying to dissect this. All its moving pieces and parts. I enjoyed the reading experience. And the bite-sized chapters!