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May 1, 2026
Usually I'll leave the score at the end, but I'll start with this. i gave this a 9/10, and really wish I could give this a 10... but I can't for a big reason... and it's the one thing I'll discuss.
But this reason may be considered a "spoilers".. Note, this is not what happens, but rather how the manga goes, and I think it's CRITICAL to understand this part to decide if this is the manga for you. The simple version of this is, how the manga starts is NOT how the manga actually is.
With that said, the big thing
...
to understand about this manga and the one piece that keeps me from giving it a 10/10 is... The manga you start with is not the manga you actually get. The manga starts in a rather awesome action scene of war with the Norse beating the snot out of an opponent in an epic battle, that could be on par with any action manga. In fact this continues for about 50 chapters. 1/4th of this manga is an epic battle manga, with so much action fans will love it.
And that's not what this manga is about. There will be a LITTLE action after that point, but that is not the story told here. I won't spoil the what or the why, but this is not the manga you start with.
That being said, the story is excellent, the experience was wonderful, the characters clearly grow quite a bit, the world is vibrant, the conflicts are interesting, and there's a excellent journey, with great characters.
But man there is a little part of me that wishes that first 50 chapters could have stuck around... though there's enough mangas that do that, we didn't need another. (Though ... I wish *Spoiler* happened instead)
Is this a masterpiece? Yes, but it's a masterpiece that almost tricks the reader... yet that's also why it is so strong.
That's all I'll say, I want you to discover on your own, because this was an incredible read.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jan 10, 2026
This was more gundam with most of the same positives and negatives. A heavy focus on "Space wizards" which is it's weakest part. However the positive is FAR more mobile suits including the absolutely awesome Qubeley. Since so much of this series focused on Cyber newtypes, and yet the anime is SO afraid to define what a new type is because they might want to change that definition later to give some new space power... that is a little annoying.
But I'll give it a point higher for one important reason... In the original series Earth federation good, Zeon Bad...
...
But in the new series it's flipped on it's heads Titans (An offshoot of Earth Federation) bad, AEUG (A not quite Zeon rebel force) is good. I hate black and white material and this at least leads the ability to say neither the Federation or Zeon is fully in the right or wrong, even though... AEUG is good, Titans bad here too... though it's a big more nuanced than the original.
I'd give it more credit but Kamille's our main character big trait for a while was "I Don't like being called a girl! I'm a boy" ... bruh. This does fade away but ..it's just such a stupid plot point. Also Kamille just kind of runs around a military base steals a suit, and then escapes with it like it's the most normal thing in the world.
However I will say how they show that there's no black and white, and the Titans really do suck in the first couple episodes... perfection.
Wish there was more development of Scirocco, but you can't have everything. Also there's this guy Quattro Bajeena who looks a lot like the villain in the first series. Odd, I'm sure that won't come up in the series... (He basically took the name "Quarter Vagina"... Love it)
So yeah.. 8/10, which Kamille wasn't a whiny runt at the beginning (or at least not just about his name). But the variety in the mobile suits is far better than the original.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jan 8, 2026
This is a good anime, but it's a flawed anime in 2025... The animation is old as hell, it feels like a saturday morning cartoon show at the beginning, and it's definitely a feeling that there's lighter production on this then there should be.
At the same time, I can't deny it's still a really solid series, with a few mis-steps. Amuro Ray the "Boy who pilots a gundam" feels really out of place, but what's odd is in the future series this is just normalized. I feel like more could have been made about his age, but really everyone is
...
just like "yup, 15 year fights and kills people, we good with that". I know the series does focus on it a couple times, but the point is that every single person who finds out about Amuro is just like "That's normal" when it's really not at this point in the series. (heck it's never really normal in-universe, but it's a staple of this franchise).
But the first two thirds of show are really solid and building, and I enjoyed them...
The thing is, there's a subject that pops up in the final third of the show that... I struggle with. It's the addition of the "Newtype" something that is almost never mentioned before, and only slightly alluded to why Amuro is a good pilot. It feels like someone watched Star Wars and was like "we need the force in our show." and unfortunately too, I think the franchise is worse off for it. Amuro's no longer a good pilot but now a "space wizard" with unknown powers because... like I said, it really feels like they saw Star Wars, tried to shoe horn that in with no additional thought about what a Newtype was, which then allowed them to add powers as they felt like it.
The other big issue I have is this is the beginning of the franchise, there's so many parts that needed to be fleshed out. The Core fighter in general isn't as interesting as the Gundam (duh) but then they keep giving the Gundam different "forms" like "G-Armor" which is awful, and everyone agrees it's basically a "Box for the gundam". Why does it exist? To sell a new toy. The later series definitely improve and focus on Gundam (you can sell a LOT of different gundam guys.) but there's a few things here where you're like "This is awful, and stupid, but it's here so they could sell...x" *Sigh* Like I said, a saturday morning Cartoon.
Well except maybe the message. Ok this isn't a spoiler, but it needs to be said.
What the series wants to say: War is bad and hurts everyone, from soldier, to civilian, and only breeds death and destructions.
What the series actually says: FUCKING COOL SPACE ROBOTS DUDE!!!!!!!
Yeah, I feel like the message of the series (and of the franchise in general) is absolutely lost when they have the coolest fucking space robots.
In general though I'd recommend this series ONLY if you're in for the long haul and want to see the entire franchise. I would recommend it fully, BUT I will also mention there is different/better versions of it. Gundam: The Origin manga handles most of this story better, plus fleshes out Char's Story (Which is available in the Origin's Anime). At the same time, there's nothing truly bad here.... Just something created in 1979, which feels like something created in the 80s... (Which I guess technically some of it was).
The problem is most of my points and complaints are not valid in 1982-1983, when this series was finished. But I'm forced to review this in 2025-2026, when I can see the legacy of the series, and also what it did with concepts and topics brought up in the show. Some they improved upon which makes the original look worse (the "Toyification"), some of it they never followed through with (Yes Newtypes are always a thing, no Newtypes never really feel like a fleshed out idea... and even the creator says so)
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jan 8, 2026
A very simple and solid series. Guy finds a Dangerous car to drive (the Devil Z). He buys it and drives it, and rather than having some supernatural story or anything else, it's mostly about.... people who drive and tune cars. This is a series that is excellent but also "nothing happens". Just new people have a love of a car, express it, discuss why they drive (or why they are leaving driving) and then ... they drive.
There's no big races... at least not structured races, there's no big events. There is a relationship in the series
...
but it's not done as a "triangle" it's simple "Girl loves car, Girl loves boy, boy loves car, boy loves girl too."
Like the typical "drama" of a shonen isn't necessarily here, it's just a manga from someone who clearly loves cars and tuning, about cars and tuning and... that's really all it needs to be.
There's a point near the end of the translated work when the manga goes "There's a new team on wagnan" and I was like "Oh a new competitor" but no.. they are talking about the three main characters and.... yeah that absolutely is true, but it happens so fluidly like real life, there's no big moment of "We're going to be a team".. it's just "there's three really great drivers who dominate often enough that... they are now considered a team" I don't really know how to explain that, but it's a good feeling when they story isn't trying to make major events happen to the main character, they just do.
An enjoyable read, sadly not everything is translated, but I enjoyed what there is, and I would glad read more if it existed.
Only given a 7 because I can't be super excited about any major points in the story, but I get such good vibes when thinking about this series.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jul 31, 2025
I really like a lot of this manga. It's a overly strong powerful character who doesn't constantly have training montages to fight. He's a silent hero, with power who... now get this.. KILLS people? I know wow crazy right?
Yes this was written before the "no murder" idea came to shonen, but still this feels so refreshing.
I would have given this series a 9 if it was the first and second arc... However... there's 245 chapters in there. I'd say this book reaches the peek around chapter 130... Maybe even is still good enough around 160.
...
But then someone decided to create a whole new land and... the pacing just tumbles to a complete standstill.
So it's an excellent manga that stumbles hard and becomes almost unreadable, I just had to struggle through the second half of this series, and that's a shame.
Should you read it? Yeah, but you also probably should stop and to be honest... well even if I said 130 chapters are excellent... there's also a point before that where you go from an exceptional manga to just excellent. Recommended, but stop early.. that's all I'll say.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jun 20, 2025
GTO is an epic manga, but you know Shonan Junai Gumi is just as good. Rather than follow Onizuka as a Great Teacher, we see Onizuka as a punk, a high schooler who hangs out with his pal Ryuji. Both of these characters are great, though the series does loose a step at a few points when Ryuji grows up a bit.
That being said, Onizuka and Ryuji, and honestly many characters are mega pervs... and oddly it works here. Onizuka hitting on a teacher, is different then Onizuka AS a teacher hitting on students. I think it's clear why.
...
Some story lines are a bit out there (Ayumi), and yet I also love them.
The one thing is this is just a comedy/street punks manga. While there's a decent amount of fighting, it's more done for dramatic reasons, and most of the fights are ... I was going to say ok, but truthfully they're bad. Onizuka gets hit, bleeding badly. He somehow gets up and beats the other guy with a few punches. Unlike Fist of the North Star where it's because Kenshiro knows ultimate martial arts. Onizuka, Ryuji and most of the rest of the characters are just strong because the story is that they're strong.
Basically I'm saying if you want some fighting manga, go elsewhere, ther'es Kinnikuman, Fist of the North Star, Hajime no Ippo, and Baki all just waiting for you. The combat here is serviceable most of the time, but it's not what this manga is designed for. This is a comedy with heavy dramatic elements.
And you know what? That's exactly what I came for.
Basically this is GTO, but with a more acceptable versions of pervy behavior... And honestly, GTO was still just as enjoyable as it is., so this is just that much better.
If you haven't read GTO, start with this one it was written first, and deserves a read. Then you can graduate to GTO, which is also epic as stated
I honestly forgot to write a review for this, and it's been a couple months, so that's what you get
Love this one, 8/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Feb 26, 2025
Maybe I'm a simple guy, but I've rather enjoyed Kakegurui, and just ate this series up.
Allow me to post my new and updated rubric when it comes to gambling Manga, that'll help you understand what I like and what I don't care about.
A. Are there interesting games? This is the most basic request, but essentially the bets have to be on SOMETHING interesting. Most of the gambling manga's end up going to a Rock Paper Scissors game, such as Kakegurui. But then use a twist on it (limited of each choice, random selection, poker). And in
...
fact Kakegurui does that twice, but both times they feel like there's a good "game".
B. Is there a variety of games? I liked Gamble Fish but honestly there was a bit too much Mahjong. Tobaku Datenroku Kaiji was a great manga, but 131 chapters on a SINGLE game? Jesus. (though that one was still good.) So really I want to see differing bets and games. Returning to the same theme once in a while and switching it up is a good thing, but I prefer a varity of games versus one game.
C. Does the manga move "quickly"? Again Kaiji is the counter argument to this (and they do excellent there) but sitting in a single game for 10+ chapters only works if the game keeps deepening. Liar's Game handles this well, where a long game keeps evolving.
So how does Kakegurui score? Well the games are extremely interesting, I enjoyed almost every single one. There's a LARGE variety of games, I mentioned the Rock Paper Scissors variants, but there's also a game where the question is who removes their finger first while cutting wires connected to a guillotine. As well various classic styles. They're all interesting games. However there has not been a Mahjong game which I have to admit is quite refreshing for a Japanese Manga.
And as for the quickly metric.. well, yes it does, but I think a big piece of that is the meaty chapters, there's about 40 pages per chapter, which is great, when coming from a bunch of Shonen manga which barely hit 15 pages. But there's always a new game around the corner, and usually a new interesting character....
Which I haven't mentioned for a good reason. Characters in Gambling mangas aren't that important. I look for a reason for people to gamble and in this case the characters give that. There's a large plot element about how the school is set up to gamble, ok check the box, and get gambling.
Admitedly, the characters are ... mixed. Yumeko has become a great character... 100 chapters after the beginning of the manga. I get why people call out her development because there hasn't been any, she's just the gambling personification, and that works, but it's not going to get too much praise.
Most of the other characters are a little simple, and I think that's intentional, because rather than focus on the character development, the focus is on the games and gambling. A few characters have clear traits. One gambling loves dangerous games with risk to their lives, a number of characters have a larger story arc between them (much later in the series, around chapter 60) but for the most part this is all done in service to one thing... gambling.
And ... that's why I enjoy Kakegurui, because I read it for the games. As long as character A and character B have a reason to gamble and are doing it with something interesting , I don't care. Kakegurui delivers on that.
PS. Also love the fact that the main character doesn't always win. There might be reasons she loses, but overall I'm glad to see a manga that allows the main characters to have the ability to both win and lose.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Feb 9, 2025
I ran into GTO the first time when I was a young man in the late 90s and 2000, and it became one of my favorite series, it was funny, and had a great main character. Basically everything about this series as enjoyable.
And then in 2024, I started reading GTO again. Oh boy.
Now listen, I have often defended art of all forms to say that looking at stuff in a 2024-2025 view is relatively incorrect. You can dislike something that doesn't fit with the morals of today, but to not acknowledge that people's opinions have changed and it
...
was acceptable at one time is disingenuous.
However I think we start here.... A major story in the start of this manga is Eikichi Onizuka decides to become a teacher because a High school student he helps out goes running back to the old and unattractive teacher that apparently she was living with, and possibly her current teacher. That could be over looked. Admittedly Onizuka is getting into teaching for the wrong reasons, but consenting adults and all that.
Only problem is Onizuka then gets put in charge of a Middle school... a middle school where he at a number of time decides to talk about waiting until they are "18" in just "four years"... Now none of these are directly related to a specific student (At least most of the time) .. But Egads....
Admittedly by the second half of the manga, Onizuka really doesn't seem to have these thoughts, but a number of other characters around him do and while they're not intended to be heroic protaganists, it's still damn creepy. Plus, a number of sexual situations are discussed, shown, and even a few times the girls in Onizuka's class show or distribute their panties (mostly to Onizuka)... so... yeah.
And yet this isn't the reason I have Mixed Feelings, and if you think I hate this manga, my final Rating will definitely surprise you.
With that huge potential negative out of the way, I can now say that I still found GTO to be one of the funniest, and cleverest mangas. Onizuka as a character may be a creep, but he's a lovable one. He's one who almost always will do the right thing whether he wants to or not, and has a really solid moral compass, at least most of the time. He finds himself, or places himself into horrible situations, and will always find a way to succeed.
He usually does this and yet still gets a laugh out of me, not a thought that something is clever, or a little chuckle, but a solid laugh, and this is not the first time I've read this manga, and it's still remains funny all the way through. That's not something I can even think of another manga that delivers that reliably.
The characters are interesting in GTO as well, and much of the book is about Onizuka having to win over someone who disagrees with his teaching, or just hates teaches on a base level, but each challenge is solved in a different way, and so many of them are done with a level of humor. There's rarely a deep heart felt moment, without some humor surrounding it. Readers also won't be able to guess how a number of these complex relationships work out because ... well Onizuka is something special.
But I will say that GTO is not a beginner friendly Manga, there's a lot in GTO that is "Japanese Culture" or even other mangas. Early on Onizuka wears a ton of different costumes or makes references to other mangas or animes. And while these might not be required knowledge, most of what makes GTO great is knowing the in-jokes and references. Knowing why X is said, and that's the one problem.
I love GTO because I grew up and read a bunch of 90s manga, I know most of the references because that's what is popular then. But in 2025, a lot of these references might be lost. If you focused on modern manga, enjoy yourself. But if you do venture back into classic series and classic anime, well GTO might work for you.
But then again, I will say you are going to have to push through a bit of questionable content still. It's never bad, but the story can be dark, have complex (dirty old men) characters, and even strange moments, but this could be nostalgia but 20 years after it's published I still find this to be one of the funniest mangas, I have read, and that's something I can't deny. It's an excellent manga, but that's a complicated meaning of excellent as well.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Dec 30, 2024
So I guess Kaiji is just a horrible person. But that makes him an interesting character.
This is the third series, and once again Kaiji is penniless and yet roped in a major high stakes game, which he will struggle to get out of.
What's different this time around is Tobaku Datenroku Kaiji focuses on a single game, rather than a series. It's impressive that for 131 chapters, this manga focuses on only a single game, and in fact a single day. Kaiji runs into his old friends who tell him about a underground casino owner who likes to
...
play large scale games, and cheats to ensure he wins, but with his friends Kaiji can beat him and earn a massive payday.
This leads Kaiji to start playing "17 steps" or "Minefield Mahjong" and yes, that means this manga is heavily focused on "Mahjong" Though a reader doesn't necessarily need to understand Mahjong to really get a good feeling for this manga, there's a lot of Mahjong terminology and focus that will probably enhance the experience.
Personally I'm not familiar enough with Mahjong but this manga did get me closer to that understanding and like I mentioned it works with out that full understanding as this is a specialized game.
The story here is oddly compelling considering the game, but also since it only focuses on a single gamble and a single night, it's surprising how well the entire manga flows and keeps ramping up the tension until it's almost out of control, and yet finds ways to really push the envelope even when the reader thinks it's over.
It's a very solid series, and in fact I think I might even say this is the best Kaiji manga yet, though I do think the others gave a more diverse set of games (you know... more than one game). Still I'm glad I read this one, and I'm probably going to be continuing this series as I'm curious where this will go next.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Dec 30, 2024
I picked this up because I enjoyed Liar's Game, and found an even better Manga here.
One Outs is about a pitcher, Tokuchi who plays a game of "One Outs" to gamble. If he gets an out he wins, and if the player can get a hit, the player wins. This is where the manga starts. It's an interesting premise, but before long Tokuchi is pulled into the major leagues through a situation and gets a unique contract.
Tokuchi is a gambler, so the contract he proposes is that he earns money for every out he gets, and every run he gives
...
up takes a decent chunk of money. The owner of the team being a gambler sees a major win if Tokuchi so he quickly agrees to the contract and that's pretty much the premise.
Tokuchi is set up in situations where the owner expects him to fail, and Tokuchi will work on solutions that will avoid losing too much. Admittedly Tokuchi is not perfect, and doesn't always win, but that's part of what makes this more interesting than a perfect gambler who can't lose.
In addition, Tokuchi isn't a typical protagonist. He's not necessarily a "good person", usually tricking people even his own team at times. But having a morally grey protagonist only makes the series more interesting because the reader is often left out of the major plans until it's revealed, though that definitely makes it a more exciting experience.
And of course there's a decent progression to the series, while the main contract could get stale, both Tokuchi and the owner work to modify it which only changes the rules and makes it more interesting as the stakes tend to go higher and higher.
I will mention, the series does end on a very solid note, and I enjoyed this manga from the first chapter until the final chapter. Like I said, I enjoyed Liar's Game (it's ending is a bit more muddled) But One Out is an excellent manga, with a lot of potential that pays off. I'd easily recommend this one.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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