Another part of me wants this to be a 7.9 but honestly I have to give it a 4.0.
It has lore but the lore isn't strong enough to be a plot twist or unexpected. It's just given to you. It does not feel all to different from the anime.
What I can say is unlike the anime the protagonist gets a girlfriend fairly quickly. So the romance doesn't drag.
The reason why I want to give a 7.9 is cause of the art(if your not nit picky about the one missing finger) , and Dark himself. Honestly I enjoyed chapters after the last hiatus simply because the reveal ends up happening and the plot actually goes somewhere. But if it takes me only two days to read something and I was already bored in the process of reading it, there's a problem. It has a very similar ending to the anime itself and that finished years before the manga. I don't know if the author already told the anime staff what the ending would be like because that's a possibility.
But there are two many times in the manga where I felt this is just filler, story for the sake of story. It lacks a lot of atmosphere too, sometimes I can't even tell where the characters hang out besides Daisuke house. I felt the the Jeanne anime that also has a phantom theif story handles it better and at least the author of the Phantom theif Jeanne manga (the titles that straight forward) made that story short too. Sure somethings are bound to be long but at least you can tell it had a lot to offer.
From a mile away you can tell this didn't have much mystery or didn't try to. What was a 104 chapters could have been made to 50-54. I can think of two arcs in the story that were totally boring and completely unnecessary and took up too much of the manga. If you only watched the anime you were fine with that alone. There's only two kiss scenes I remember in the manga and they were rushed.
If your hoping for something different to happen with Dark then with the anime you can forget about it and Krad is just as annoying as ever.
I enjoyed it but only because apart of my childhood was satisfied but would I recommend to anyone, no. The only reason I bothered is because of my history with the anime. But the writing is all over the place. I was able to piece things together but somethings didn't make sense. I'll spoil below.
Spoiler:
So Daisuke gets rejected by Risa and ends up with Riku the Tsundere, how Dark Conviently ends up liking a different girl from Daisuke but yet told time again they are the same. I guess sameness in this manga has more to do with following a similar path than actually being the same because even though Hitari shares a body with Krad him I guess they are different because krad is selfish and Hitari isn't . Also is dark an ancestor or not. They never make it clear if he was the embodiment of a phantom theif captured in an art piece or if he was a trapped part of Daisukes ancestor and what part did Krad really play besides getting in Darks way. We are never really told why he was a piece of Dark and what characteristic he was. Either way I guess Darks an alter ego shared by the family but you would think Darks form/appearance would change for each male member of the Niwa family.
I low-key get kingdom heart vibes from this series.
The mirror story arc wasn't necessary where Niwa gets kidnap by some dude name insomnia or whatever. We get the "oh this art work should have known his place treatment that he shouldn't be part of the real world and just be grateful for the world he had". But time an time again we get art works with human characteristics that get to have a life in Daisuke's house.
Be consistent.
Another arc that was annoying and boring Was The Romeo and Juliet knock off story. There names weren't Romeo and Juliet. Nothing really comes out of it but to test Daisuke but it was pointless. No real lesson was learned only to remind us that the artworks Dark wants to catch are not normal but give off life or something supernatural.
I remember there are actually three kiss scenes but the first doesn't count because Dark was trying to share a love potion through his mouth to Riku so she could fall for him but it too late when he already turned back to Daisuke, and I'm guessing the potion had an effect on Daisuke too because he end up falling for her not long after.
Dark having Risa as his crush simply because Daisuke's heart change was a bit weird. But I can't deny Risa was better suited for Dark then Riku. Riku and Daisuke's relationship was more romantic in the anime but in the manga their relationship isn't taken too seriously after she becomes his girlfriend. Most of it just becomes tsundere jokes. But I still think she appreciates him at least.
If it weren't for those two annoying arcs it could be a 6.0 but The author did a lot of things right that's why they this series gets a 4.0 instead of a one.
But it's written kind of sloppy and the characters themselves aren't the issue they were okay. It story placement, the rushed last chapter pacing that could have been extend to two. The two unnecessary arcs, The not so strong lore that was shrouded in mystery that could have been explained in the beginning without ruining the story that came after, what triggered Hitari's transformation, was it Krad's will or Hitari showing weakness?
What exactly made Daisuke and Dark the same, because they were theifs or because one chose not to abandon the other?
What did Dark represent, carnal desire? he had the same personality through out history. I only say this because Dark was also was compared to his grand father saying they were the same also, along with his ancestors and this sameness isn't shared with Daisuke alone.
Anyway I feel like this still has its charm, if you're simply reading cause you miss the series than I can say you will at least get closure but I can't promise that it will be a smooth ride to get that closure.
Dec 10 2022
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