Reviews for Takeo-chan Bukkairoku

Personally, this is one of the best manga I've ever read. It's severely underrated and a great read, especially if you love slice of life and/or feel good mangas. Story: 9 The manga first introduces the protagonist, Takeo, and does a great job on setting up the characters and giving them their own special personality. The story revolves around Taeko and the Yokai who live in her house. The Yokai figure out in order to feed off her negative energy, which they use as food, they need to preform acts of kindness instead of scaring Takeo, but it proves to be difficult as Yokai are knownfor the mischievous antics. I would say the plot gets a bit repetitive though (Yokai does something that Takeo finds nice, eats her negative energy, repeat), though the mangaka finds a way to portray it differently every time.

Art: 9

The art is amazing in this work. The mangaka has an unique style that I can sort of describe as Scott Pilgrim meets anime and traditional Japanese artwork. It's really a nice touch and ties in with the story very well.

Character: 9

Character and the manga's originality is the first thing I got after reading the first chapter. I have really nothing seen quiet this heartwarming since.. ever.

As for the characters, they are written pretty well and it's hard to pick a favorite. Everyone has a different personality, so it's not like one of those animes where a lot of the characters seem the same.

Enjoyment: 10

I personally had a LOT of fun reading this series. It was my go to whenever I had free time, or even when I felt down. It instantly cheered me up with its lightheartedness, and not only that, but it was funny and really made me appreciate manga a lot better.

Overall: 9

If I could give this a 9.5, I would. The story, characters, and the art is great and if you decide to read this, you're really in for a treat. Everything is written so well, and you can especially see all the hard work the author has spent researching Yokai. I highly recommend this manga.

I like Youkai, folklore and mythology, and all of that contributed a lot to my experience. Honorable mention for my countryman Igpupiara, a monster of Brazilian folklore, who made his debut in volume 5. Takeo-chan starts off as a fun manga. A story about an unlucky little girl. At first it may seem like a simple plot, funny most of the time, without much depth, but even the simplest chapters have something more. The chapters evolve, grow and change tone along with the protagonist. While at first she is just a goofy character beset by unimaginable catastrophes resolved with good humor, the manga also presents itself asjust something goofy.

As she grows as a character and gains new personality traits, however, the writing of the manga also grows, having some key points that, for me, mark the moments when I liked Takeo-chan the most:

First in volume 2, when she mistakenly ends up in the Underworld, where she learns that thanking is just as important as apologizing. It is from here that youkai begin to have more relevance in the manga, as if, following the protagonist's story, we started to see them in other ways.

Second, in volume 3, when Takeo's grandmother dies. It's definitely the saddest point in the manga, but it's represented in such a light way that I was happy to see the old woman dead. And from here on Takeo became much more self-aware and the manga started to present situations in which she was the only focus and was able to act for herself and no longer just for others.

And third, in volumes 5 and 6, which contain some simpler stories outside the central plot (all relevant anyway). And this culminates at the end of volume 6, which for me is the most symbolic and meaningful part of the entire manga, with Takeo realizing that she is becoming an ordinary human. All the experiences she's had (and that we read about) have freed her from the despair and mischief that haunted her all her life. So it's normal that she was living more normal situations.

Takeo-chan has, for me, three big positives besides the story, which I've already guaranteed to unravel in the previous points:

The art, the ability to take completely random subjects to heart, and the variety.

-The art of elements such as water, fire, smoke, clouds and nature in general, especially in the backgrounds, in Ukiyo-e style, is simply beautiful. The manga makes masterful use of large panels and double pages. I made a folder of prints from the manga, of pages that I thought were amazing.

-The manga has chapters focused on specific subjects, such as cooking. And the way the author seems to have researched all these subjects in depth and puts relevant information, both in the dialogues and in the narration, makes each chapter unique and interesting, regardless of what is being treated.

-And the variety, both of subjects and characters, makes the story never monotonous or tiresome. Takeo-chan has at least one chapter for every taste. It has at least one character for every taste. The variety of characters ranges from a crossdresser Takuni who uses his scrotum as a picnic blanket to a sexually harassing Western vampire who has 83 wives (one being a man). And all are well written.

The ending is satisfying. Seeing such a well-told story end in such a pleasant way is a delightful.