A refreshing departure from most similarly themed manga, I've read before. There are just too many shounen and seinen which attempt to tackle such storylines like "saving the world" but in the most annoying fashion possible. As in: endless fighting, horrendous characterization, "textbook psychology", over-drama, endless conspiracies that rely on one too many rather obvious coincidences, etc.

Well, in Biscuit Hammer, less is more. And although much of the plot is rather cliched and often too ridiculous to be taken seriously, there is a lot of depth: strong characterisation, implied thoughts and relations, layers upon layers of emotions and motivations that are subtle and not "in your face". In short, there is nothing pretensive that tries to take on too much than it can chew and thus the plot does not appear contradictory or overtly contrived.

And as mentioned, the cast is quite huge but like many other titles that work by establishing immense layers of plot and writing like 7 seeds, Music of Marie, Koori no Mamono no Monogatari, Bokurano, Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou and so on, you just cannot build a massive world without having enough characters to fill it with. Otherwise, such an ambitious story would feel empty and incomplete.

The plot itself is fun and because it doesn't always take itself too seriously, there's a very strong flavour of subtle humour. Instead of terrible gags, you get to chuckle and laugh when the various characters behave unexpectedly and light-heartedly. As a result, even though there is tragedy, those tragic moments truly do not over-burden the plot but instead, are touching. And thus, we're spared from over-sappy moments that might have turned the story into some soap opera, in the hands of a lesser writer.

Also, there is a very strong slice-of-life feel that to me, seems more common in yaoi manga, than in any other genres, that have such storylines and in Hoshi no Samidare, both the action and slife-of-life are well balanced-out. When the pacing changes, the writing does not drop in terms of standard and quality. And also, the "slice of life" ties the characters better into the plot because reading about their daily life means that the characters have even better reasons for their actions, thoughts and motivations. In a lot of action stories, you don't always get to really understand why the cast is doing this and that, only flashbacks and bits and pieces of their daily lives. Even more important, everyone seems more human with concrete reasons for "wanting to live and protect others and themselves" instead of being portrayed as "fighting machines" whose goals are to commit as much destruction and bloodshed as possible.

The art, btw, is quite good and it is very fitting for the story and its content. It's very expressive and excellent at depicting the characters' thoughts, emotions and their actions. Truly, this is an artist whose lines gently and subtly invoke emotions.

Now, what it could have done without: all those "panty flashing" moments, though few, were a bit bothersome though I am now used to it. Now, I'm no prude but fanservice is often bland and sterile, since it's not even stylish sexuality or anything interesting.

... Last updated on April 11th, 2010, 7:19am

"Hey, Yuu-kun, DIE WITH ME?"
"WITH PLEASURE."

...don't let the crazy-ish nonsense and the ridiculous categories people voted for convince you to drop this manga early on, bear with it until Chapter 12 at least before making careless judgements.

What is revealed is an NHK-ish slice of life romance, with the silliness of the topmost visible "plot" layer acting as nothing more than an allegorical setup for some fourth-wall-breaking glances and running commentary on the real thing.

REAL PLOT: budding romance between a schoolgirl that desperately loves life and cannot accept her mortality, and a sullen, battered, lonely college first year whose life is horribly empty... she cannot forgive the world for her understanding that it will live on unaffected when she is gone, he sees no point in a world without her. bitterly, the pair hatch a harebrained plot to destroy this indifferent world (fantasy plotline) - which, in reality, amounts to a suicide pact, and a hopeless youthful dream that life couldn't simply just go on with their passing.

If I were to name my ONE favorite manga. It would have to be this one. And for someone who has consumed over 300 series, it is quite the statement. Why is it so good? Let me tell you.

Story: At first the premise is nothing groundbreaking. Save the world from being destroyed. Literally. But as it turns out, the REAL story is actually saving the world...to destroy it. Now that's a story I want to read. Other than the basic premise, however, the pacing and events are quite good by themselves. Let me warn you now. This is a not a "every human a survivor of impossible odds", this is a "every human a human." That is, your favorite characters CAN die, and more likely, they WILL. Mizukami is not afraid of killing off our heroes for the sake of a better story.

Art: Unique is it's own style. Honestly, there is nothing to complain about it. It's not as detailed as dark and murky seinens and not as empty as typical shounens. There is a balance between the two. There are no annoying or unnecessary fanservice shots, which is a huge relief.

Characters: Oh what even to say. Our hero is a dangerously loyal servant of our heroine. He is smart, quirky, (relatively) confident in himself, and even cynical at times. Not your typical shounen protagonist. Heroine is outrageously powerful, outrageously aggressive, and outrageously childish (at times). She wants to destroy the world and she is fully capable of it too. Every other character has it's own charm. The "side" cast is extremely well developed, even ones that only appear for several chapters.

Overall: A unique and highly satisfying read. This story runs from start to finish with little lull time. Mizukami cuts out all the fat and lard and shows only what matters. I don't reread mangas, but I reread this one three times. If you like action and adventure, read it. If you like comedy and drama, read it. If you like ecchi, look elsewhere. But if you are looking for a less-serious but not overwhelming seinen experience, definitely pick it up.

... Last updated on March 16th, 2012, 4:17pm

It felt different from the first chapter. I fell in love with Mizukami's style here. He is extremely good at building a relationship between the reader and the characters. What I love most about Mizukami's work is that he starts writing a story with an ending in mind, and he doesn't drag it out. No half baked, unsatisfying endings. No 1000+ chapters of the characters doing pretty much the same thing over and over again. Read this, and if you like it, read Spirit Circle too. He does not disappoint. One of my favorites.

i've gone through the comments which were critical of this series, and i believe that most of the criticism comes from not seeing this work as what it was intended to be. for me, i think looking for plot coherence in a manga where the threat of destruction of the world comes in the form of a BISCUIT HAMMER hanging from the sky is even more insane and illogical.

This actually tries to tell a story of a few adolescent ppl in an outlandish setting, and every aspect of it, its powers and everything is well aware of the ridiculous-ness. in fact majority of the fun moments come from that angle, so if you don't catch on to it, or you expect this fighting stuff seriously by the writer, you are to be disappointed.

Similarly when it comes to telling the stories of each individual, the mangaka takes a very refreshing way of not trying to get into too much details, and still managing to produce touching moments most of the times when he tries to. same for the romance stuff, there is no elaborate sequel of occurrence leading to relationships, its just that the feelings, whatever they are, are developed as if they were meant to just happen, in very simple ways.

Instead the manga focuses on the themes and takes its time with them: adolescent insecurities, despairs, introversion. hope, looking up to adults and trying to become adults. Even there it doesn't overcomplicate stuff, like creating extraordinary life-circumstances (only the MC's backstory is a little exaggerated), or wordy preachings.

in a way, its sort of Kafka-ish, but with lots of hope and positivity in it. Which is exactly why i believe this is what shounens are essentially meant to be, light hearted, not too difficult, with positivity and some attractive plot gimmicks like powers and fights, but stopping from becoming naive, cliche and sugary with smart self awareness of ridiculousness of its own plotting, and by dispensing with being too wordy, and preachy with loads of 'unnecessary details' shounen mangakas in general seems to love.

if there is any criticism, its how it ends. it does get a little serious about the battle (but still not too much, i mean which self respecting manga would allow a later villain to be weaker than the previous one), and in that process misses the opportunity to expand on two characters who should've been much more interesting.

This a good example of an underrated manga, It as a very good history(at times epic) an art that match the history and characters,and a good storytelling, but even with this people dont whant to give it a chance and read it, maybe bacause it is a Seinen and not an shounen manga packed with lots of unreal fights and ecchi shots every page.
If you are tired of all of those shounen stuff, if you want to read a manga where the history is the important thing, and where characters feel like human beinggs and not like pieces of cardboard
this your option, a manga where you will laught, enjoy,think and even cry, wondering what will happen next to characters that will grown on you.
Come on and give it a chance, Im sure you will be not dissapointed.

... Last updated on April 7th, 2009, 4:35pm

I normally don't make comments on anything, let alone something that my group works on, but I totally can't hold my tongue on this one. It was recommended to me by a fan and I'm like 'well, whatever, I'll give it a shot' and I was kind of blah towards it during the entire time that I read through the first three volumes. Not too bad, but I really didn't give it much of a chance. Then one day about 2 months later I was pretty bored with life in general and saw it on the shelf and decided to give it a second read and it blew me away from page 1 onward. I'm not sure exactly what it was about the manga that I missed the first time or if maybe I wasn't even reading it and just skimming the pages, but I was totally stunned and it left a pretty large impression on me.

Anyway, I know it doesn't seem it right now, but the first three volume of Hoshi no Samidare (the official Japanese title IS Hoshi instead of Wakusei, btw, despite the kanji) is actually something of a prologue introducing the characters (and there are lots of them), then starts the adventure. The plot unfolds in a way that leaves just about everything open to further possibilities. Characters can and will die, change sides, love and fight amongst themselves and everything in between and none of it comes off as unnecessary plot device for the sake of plot device storytelling. All in all, it's an incredibly clever comedy with underlying plot points that can and will appeal to pretty much anyone that gives it a chance and I enjoy it more and more every month.

On a side note, this has gotten me into some other Mizukami stories and I've enjoyed all of them... wonderful author for people looking for unique and well-planned stories.

I'm 27 when I write this, and I'm a seinen kind of guy — I've read a bunch of classic shounen titles, but they didn't really deliver, and claims of their depth issued by adolescent aficionados only make me smile. That said, I've found Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer to be an immensely enjoyable read camouflaged as shounen, but screwing up the genre conventions to great results. The series has all the required clichés — a magical treat to the world, a bunch of chosen ones, a Bildungsroman-type pair of leads, even a magical princess — but it treats those clichés in such a delightfully oddball way I'm still amazed (and delighted) they serialized it at all. It's a bit like Ciguatera's take on 'everyday school life' or Dangu's approach to the old and beaten revenge theme - i.e. the author picking a stale, formalized genre and showing how it would _really_ have worked.
Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer is not actually realistic, but it's got delightful imagery (starting with the Biscuit Hammer thing), a lot of psychological depth, willingness to take on serious issues without all this beating around the bush that's so irritating in teen manga (people actually die in this series), and, most importantly, a great deal of irony — a lot of popular titles are well-known for their self-centered angst and bloated self-importance, but this one provides a wonderfully fresh respite from all of that. I'm not sure whether Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer would be enjoyable for shounen fans, as it messes with the genre rules rather than simply packing the chapters with magical battles (the pacing and mood are pretty relaxed, almost slice-of-life here), but if you're into seinen, you probably don't want miss out this one, cause it's basically a shounen series tailored for seinen taste.

... Last updated on March 20th, 2010, 11:24pm

Only 65 chapters, and yet...
More depth. More character. More epic. More adventure. More intelligence. More emotion. More eloquence. More savagery. More comedy. More drama. More tragedy. More joy.
...than any series twelve times its size.

It began with a wondrous start, it took us on a journey of wonder, and it concluded with a wonderful end.
I feel that if I try to describe Hoshi no Samidare, it can only fall short of how I truly feel about this series, and of course the pure quality and excellence of this series.
I think that maybe the best words I could use to describe The Lucifer and Biscuit Hammer are just one word.

Perfect.

... Last updated on January 20th, 2011, 1:34am

I was completely blown away by the manga. It was simply amazing. The pacing of the story and the story its self, the characters, the ending. A great manga that I would really recommend.