...or perhaps just to caught up in reading mindless shonen tournament manga to realize the brilliance of this work. Iwaaki is absolutely brilliant in his pacing and everything in the series is nearly perfectly executed. There's always something interesting happening, and the manga is packed with so many intricate and subtle details (most of which you probably didn't even notice if you disliked this) that I find it hard to see how anyone could call this manga dull. Sure, the art style's kind of bland, but it serves the story extremely well. Iwaaki draws in a very realistic style, and with the exception of a few choice panels, it's almost always perfectly done.
And what's with all of these complaints about the ending? Abrubt and forced? Are you kidding me? Were we reading the same manga? Because, oh, I don't know, not only does he spend THE ENTIRE SERIES developing towards that ending, he wrapped up everything important while still managing to get the main message across perfectly. After I had finished the last chapter I spent about an hour thinking of how amazing it was.
It's also one of the only manga I've ever read where I've had an actual emotional attachment to the characters. The dialogue is priceless and manages to balance humor and urgency extremely well.
I think of it as a story that has everything I could ever want in a manga (likable characters, an interesting story, subtle philosophical undertones, violence, etc.) without ever overdoing any of its elements so as to seem cliche. Sure, there's ridiculous gore, but I don't feel as if it ever got in the way of the story so as to seem gratuitous or unnecessary (a manga which ryhmes with "Pantz" and seems to have ridiculously high ammounts of praise comes to mind).
Oh, another thing, this is also the only manga that I've read that can hold up to repeat readings without becoming boring or having any less impact on me.
All in all, this is definitely one of the best manga I've read. It might not seem like it but I seriously can't give it enough praise. If you haven't read it because you're sceptical, try it out. If you've completely ignored it because of it's "bland" art, then try reading it again with an OPEN MIND. If you have read it but disagree with me, read it again. You don't want to? I honestly don't care, this is my review e.g. my opinion.
If you do agree with me--hell, even if you don't agree with me--check out his other series Historie and Tanabata no Kuni. They're both excellently done in a fashion similar to Kiseijuu. Historie might even manga to steal it's title of my favorite manga if the quality manges to keep that high. Other manga you might want to check out include: Freesia or Homunculus. Hell, you might even want to pick up an actual book--no, manga isn't literature despite how close Kiseijuu comes--or do something useful with your lives you jerks.
P.S. Buy the Del Rey version of the series so the chances of more of his work getting released in English are increased, you dirty theiving bastards. You know who you are
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