Nuh-uh. There are many manga out there to go through. Even if your plot is the most awesome in the whole world, failing to catch reader attention before book 1 ended, is a failure. I've given it chance. The episodic early part of the manga is not done impressive enough for me to keep reading.

I would say that this manga is 80% Darker than Black and 20% Deathnote. Just look up the MC (main character) from Darker than Black and you will see what I mean. This series is definitely worth reading though. It's a fun read that I binged in a day.

This manga does a lot of things right, but has some apparent flaws. I will address both situations in this review-

What it did right-
- This series knows its characters. The main character, as well as each important sub-character, are very dynamic and thought out. From the anti-hero protagonist and his counter self to the blind street-musician all have their own unique personality. There is no annoying character to bog down the story which was a nice change for once.
- Give credit where credit is due for the worldbuilding in this series. We get to know the inner workings of the Yakuza and crime in Japan. Japan in Dendrobates felt like a plausible world.
- The storytelling (not so much the pacing) is very good. Each arc is intriguing and you feel emotion for every situation, good or bad. The ending is pretty good as well, with some minor flaws. Not the best, but not the worst.
- MC is really awesome from the start.
- Very few questions are left unanswered.
- The action scenes are epic.

What it did wrong-
- The pacing is very slow at times but at other times very rushed. There is no in-between. The slow pace is in the dialogue-heavy scenes and the rushed scenes always happen in the action scenes. The rushed pace is mainly due to each chapter being its own ark and having a pretty complete story. So with limited time and space, the action scenes are over in four panels. This is REALLY apparent in the ending. This was the major flaw in the series.
- The MC is heavily OP with some MAJOR plot armor- to the point where it gets kind of ridiculous. And come on, his disguise is messy hair and glasses. MC is totally not Thousand Guns. Clark Kent is totally not Superman.
- More of a personal opinion- series pretty much has one arc per chapter. This leads to underdeveloped stories, rushed plot lines and action, rushed relationships, and missed potentials.

If you enjoyed this, you will enjoy the following:
- Kimi no Knife
- Darker than Black (The anime. There is no manga for first season)
- Akumetsu
- Black Haze (much more comedy, but similar 'secret identity' premise)

... Last updated on July 24th, 2017, 3:35pm

Dendrobates is pure distilled action movie badassery in manga form, without being too oversexed a la James Bond. A real treat for people like me who love action flicks but find the Hollywood forumula, where the (white) good guy fights black/Latino/effeminate/Muslim, etc. villains and emerges victorious with the beautiful (also white, or perhaps Latino) girl in his arms daunting.

Clean, dynamic art. An ultra-confident, charismatic, super-skilled, ruthless - and yet somehow chivalrous - protagonist. A cute love interest who offers the MC a link to retaining some form of empathy and emotion while (thankfully!) not being a source of out-of-character angst and a desire for "normalcy" that drags him down. An enjoyable supporting cast who play their roles well but don't detract too much from the goal of the plot, which is basically to have fun watching our near-infallible protagonist shoot drug lords, gangbangers, murderers, and others of that ilk in the face. All tried-and-true action movie tropes, manga-style.

I'm always puzzled when people complain about "lack of character development" in stories like this. The core cast is composed entirely of adults above 25 or so: adults are pretty set in their ways and their views of the world, have stable careers and a routine they've perfected over years. They aren't going to change their personalities, opinions and life goals every other day like a bunch of teenagers! And if you think the villains "aren't sympathetic enough," that's just silly. The antagonists in this series are yakuza/mafia, rapists, child molesters, mass-murderers, thrill-seekers who harass and torture and kill because they're bored, people who destroy entire families for a few thousand bucks. Portraying such characters as sympathetic is utter nonsense in my eyes, because I really don't buy into fiction's current trend of "grey-and-grey morality." This world isn't grey-and-grey, it's more like grey-and-black, and our (very dark) "grey" male lead murders his very "black" opponents, for a fee. If that sounds problematic to you, you will not enjoy Dendrobates.

Another comment mentioned that there's no indication Sengawa feels any remorse regarding his actions. The short answer to that is: he doesn't feel remorse. Sengawa was raised as an assassin by a South-American underworld boss, vowing to one day seek vengeance for his murdered family and friends: I doubt "repentance" is even a word in his vocabulary anymore. He seems content use the skills he gave up his childhood to perfect in order to wipe out as many underworld figures as possible, and doesn't waste time navel-gazing. Personally, I find it extremely refreshing to see a non-villainous main character who's so unrepentant and uninhibited.

On a less fangirlish, more down-to-earth note: I like how the mangaka doesn't try to pretend that Sengawa's actions are going to eliminate crime in Tokyo, or even reduce it. He makes it very clear that the man is not an angel of justice, but an avenger; and an adage of sorts that's repeated throughout the manga is: "When one crime lord falls, another will rise to take his place. [But that doesn't mean we stop fighting crime]"


Tl; dr: Don't expect a lot of depth or philosophy from this manga. Read it when/if you're in the mood for a fun action story with a cool, good-looking, nigh-invincible lead. Nothing more, nothing less.

... Last updated on September 28th, 2015, 5:34am

(Before you ask, this is meant as a NON-SPOILER post for those who are not sure if they want to read or not & to see my opinion and recommendations)

The man of 1000 guns... Interesting, eh? Yep... extremely interesting. In fact, this is one of the few mangas that managed to do EVERYTHING perfect.

Junichirou Sengawa, also known as The man of 1000 guns is an accountant by day and revenger by night. The plot was established and concluded perfectly. In the first 20 chapters, we get this episodic feel while getting a few hints of Sengawa's past. Sadly, this is also in my opinion, the weakest point of the manga. I mean, sure, the episodic chapters let us understand the scenarios that he faces everyday. In fact, I felt so attached to each story that my night went on like this with a friend:

[1/14/2015 10:17:11 PM] IAreZach (---): UGH
[1/14/2015 10:17:15 PM] IAreZach (---): like...
[1/14/2015 10:17:16 PM] IAreZach (---): ugh..
[1/14/2015 10:17:21 PM] IAreZach (---): >.> i cri everytiem

But that's beside the point. Reflecting back on it, I really wanted a full-story arc to appear. I spent all my time reading for one, and I guess I was rewarded with one. It still doesn't mean that it shouldn't have come earlier. We should have gotten some hints about the story somewhere in the start, not halfway through the story. Nevertheless, it's my opinion on why I can't give it a 10. Moving on, the last 30 chapters did everything perfect. The fights he went through daily were finally tying up into a story, everything was set in place, and then BAM! We get a great conclusion. Man, I felt so happy too, since for once a story did a more than satisfying job in the end.

So to conclude things,
+Episodic episodes give us a good view on the main character's job.
+You feel attached to each person and their scenarios, even if it was only for 1 chapter
+Great conclusion to a great plot near the end

-Episodic chapters can also be a downfall to some, as sometimes you wish for the plot establish itself sooner

For recommendations, go look at Tiji-kun. They both share similar stories with a person acting in a facade, with a little less violence than this one.

... Last updated on January 14th, 2015, 9:52pm

I liked that each chapter had a different bad guy to dispose of. So it sorta went downhill for me when the big bad came into the picture.

The art changed at some point and I felt that it wasn't as good as before.

I would have also liked to see more chapters. To see life return to normal after all the damage.

If you're looking for plot and character development, this is not the manga for you. If you're looking for kick-assery and explosions, you've come to the right place. It's more or less an action movie in manga form, and it's very well executed. The art is very interesting, and it's oddly compelling despite being fairly shallow. It definitely helps that the scans and translating is very high quality. (An aside: the main guy could totally get it.)

well, you know the same old same old kid with low strength and then train and then beat up stronger guys? there are non of that and we are presented with an OP character from the get go, just leaving us to savour kill after countless kills. dont expect any compelling character development or plot progression, this manga is for us who want to live in a world where everything can be solved with guns and violence and trust the person wielding the gun is in our side.

read this, and you will be entertained.

This is a story where the character doesn't develope because he's reached the place where he is satisfied. Wonderful story, it's like the author skipped the whole-tough journey, lots of learning, changing oneself and learning the truths of the world and reacting to that-part and got to the part where he just. Lived.

Chapters are mostly rinse and repeat. Main character witnesses some crime, takes up the job, and kills the bad guys. There's little explanation as to why he kills and whether or not he feels any remorse for killing people. After 5 volumes, they could kill off any of the main characters, and there wouldn't be much emotional impact because of the lack of character development.

The being said, the main character is a kickass, charismatic vigilante that you wouldn't mind spending time to read about.

It's your typical Assassin-punish-bad-guys manga. A lot of blood and some gore going around, so it's DEFINITELY not recommended for young kids. With that warning out of the way, let's talk more about the storyplot.

In the beginning each chapter is a wrap up for each story and ends in a similar pattern. Later on, it starts to connect to a real story, but very slowly. You can think of Detective Conan in a way.

Art fits the storyline. A mature storyline with a mature artwork, that's the feeling I got from it.

Character development? Ehh...I think it's getting there, but VERY slowly. I feel the author is taking his time to get there. The story is more emphasizes on action and the Sengawa looking cool with his finishing move, like he's the shining light at the end of the tunnel.

I'll give the author more time, seeing how slowly it's building up. Overall, I'll give it a 9, because I feel a lot of potential that is slowly building up.