Reviews for Skeleton Double

Let me be honest: I think Skeleton Double is great. I'm genuinely surprised by its low rating here on MAL. So as an attempt to combat it, I'll now try to convince you why you should read it and give it a good rating Story: Probably the least impressive part of the whole thing, but interesting nonetheless. The skeleton and first few chapters might feel pretty basic, but, as te rest of Skeleton Double, it really feels grounded in reality of its fantasy world. I'll try to spoil as little as possible here, but there were no "why doesn't it work like this" It makes nosense, no person would do that" moments, often present in other mangas or anime. 8/10

Art: Art of Skeleton Double is pretty basic, but it carves its own niche in the manga landscape making it easily distinguishable from everything else. The action scenes are clear and comprehensive, characters look consistent, overall really well done. 8/10

Characters: I think this is where Skeleton Double shines the most. No character feels one-dimensional, they all behave as actual human beings would, with distinct motivations and reasoning for their action, which isn't really common in all the manga filled with fun but simple caricatures of human beings. 9/10

Enjoyment: This is probably the reason why Skeleton Double has a rating this low. Due to al the realism I described earlier, it really doesn't flow as fast as other stories, focused on more mindless fun. If you like the type of story it offers, then You'll love Skeleton Double, if you're in for a simple mindless action, then You will probably end up unpleasantly surprised. 9/10

Overall rating: I really love Skeleton Double. There aren't many stories like this, and if you're looking for something slower and more grounded while still being action-oriented, then this is the manga for you. If you just want fast action, I'd probably skip this one

Skeleton Double sucks. Oh, you want to know why? Sure, I'll let you in. (Minimal spoilers ahead) There are two major issues with Skelly Double. First, the ending is bad. It’s the classic "Shit, I've run out of chapters, let me just wrap this up". This probably isn't the mangaka's fault, but it still makes the manga worse. The bigger issue is the second. It's faux-dark, or for those who aren't pretentious, it fakes being a dark story. Skelly Double's aesthetic is dark, after all the main superpower is skeleton/blood based, but its essence isn't. Allied characters don't die, the main character is nevertruly challenged. Bad things might happen, but it’s never to our main cast (unless its in the character's backstory). For all its flaws, Jujutsu Kaisen is an example of story that is willing to be dark. Curses kill and destroy, and JJK's main character has to fight and survive their darkness. Sometimes he saves the day, sometimes he doesn't. But Skelly Double isn't committed to its darkness. Sure, a group of characters go on a mass killing, but none of the main cast suffer this. The bad guys can't kill a single good guy, just random civilians we've never met. Even when one of the baddies gets super charged by the plot maguffin, he's still so worthless he can't kill a single relevant character. Whats the point of having a dark aesthetic without actual darkness? If you wanted to make a hopeful shounen, you should've just made one.

Skeleton Double has interesting elements, but it fails to do anything meaningful with them. It never goes beyond its potential, and in the end it achieves nothing.