Crimson Shell
by Mochizuki Jun
The Crimson Bullet Association all have a common goal. Protect the people and save the victims that have been influenced by the disease of the Black Rose. Claudia, their star member, is not only an excellent fighter but has a special secret. Within her, resides the seed of the Scarlet Rose! What trouble can be brought by her? Will she be able to survive the painful betrayal of the person that holds her heart? (Baka-Updates)
Titles with the word "crimson" usually attract me~ And the art style reminded me of Pandora Hearts. When I saw the name of the mangaka . . . ah . . no wonder. It's by the same mangaka. It looks like this one was completed before Pandora Hearts started, and it's just one volume. Well, being a Pandora Hearts fan, I got interested to read this~
After reading the scanlated chapters out so far, it appears to me that several of the Pandora Hearts characters are like recycled versions of those from Crimson Shell. Claudia and Alice are freakin' similar, not only in appearance, but even in personality! The R-something guy and Oscar Bezarius are like long lost twins. Well, I guess some mangaka really tend to make the characters of their new manga similar to their old ones . . . but please, not extremely similar. It just seems that the mangaka is lacking character design creativity . . .
But I'm happy that Pandora Hearts had improved on a lot of things that I don't find satisfying in Crimson Shell. From story to characters to art and so on, Pandora Hearts had been much much better!
Honestly, the only thing I liked about Crimson Shell are the character death, the betrayal twist in the end of the first chapter . . . and the connection between Claudia and her Thorn. The first two really shocked me while the third one seemed twisted~ And okay, I also like the jolly trio in the second chapter (or, two rather, since only the 2 are the hyper ones) . . . only because they're being cute. But the stuff they say and did . . . was kinda . . . duuuuhh . . . I dunno how to explain.
This manga had potential . . and had some interesting twists . . . but it made me feel that it's forcing itself to be very tragic. It's like the characters are begging you to cry for them or pity them, no matter how pathetically they do it. Or maybe the drama here doesn't just affect me much . . .
Also, fast paced is okay, but too fast paced kinda sucks for me. So many events had happened in such a short period of time. Many new characters show up . . . and their appearances felt random, only to some of them. Some stuff that some characters say also felt random. Or maybe it only felt that way to me . . .
Anyway, in other words, I didn't appreciate the flow and development in this series. There had been interesting and fun stuff, but they have not been enough to make up for the things that didn't make me pleased in this manga. But, maybe it's really just me.
If you want a Mochizuki Jun manga, go for Pandora Hearts. It's better in so many things compare to this one.
I don't think I'll be following this as soon as there's a new release, unless people say that there's something really cool in the new chapters or I'm extremely bored. But I'll be reading all chapters once it's fully scanlated. It's still a work of the mangaka of Pandora Hearts, which is one of my top favorite manga, after all~
But I'm happy that Pandora Hearts had improved on a lot of things that I don't find satisfying in Crimson Shell. From story to characters to art and so on, Pandora Hearts had been much much better!
Honestly, the only thing I liked about Crimson Shell are the character death, the betrayal twist in the end of the first chapter . . . and the connection between Claudia and her Thorn. The first two really shocked me while the third one seemed twisted~ And okay, I also like the jolly trio in the second chapter (or, two rather, since only the 2 are the hyper ones) . . . only because they're being cute. But the stuff they say and did . . . was kinda . . . duuuuhh . . . I dunno how to explain.
This manga had potential . . and had some interesting twists . . . but it made me feel that it's forcing itself to be very tragic. It's like the characters are begging you to cry for them or pity them, no matter how pathetically they do it. Or maybe the drama here doesn't just affect me much . . .
Also, fast paced is okay, but too fast paced kinda sucks for me. So many events had happened in such a short period of time. Many new characters show up . . . and their appearances felt random, only to some of them. Some stuff that some characters say also felt random. Or maybe it only felt that way to me . . .
Anyway, in other words, I didn't appreciate the flow and development in this series. There had been interesting and fun stuff, but they have not been enough to make up for the things that didn't make me pleased in this manga. But, maybe it's really just me.
If you want a Mochizuki Jun manga, go for Pandora Hearts. It's better in so many things compare to this one.
I don't think I'll be following this as soon as there's a new release, unless people say that there's something really cool in the new chapters or I'm extremely bored. But I'll be reading all chapters once it's fully scanlated. It's still a work of the mangaka of Pandora Hearts, which is one of my top favorite manga, after all~
 Sapphire Pyro | READ: 2 chapters out of 2 scanlated chapters of a 1 volume complete manga VERDICT: On-Hold (will wait until it's completely scanlated before continuing) |
| It's by the mangaka of Pandora Hearts! I just had to check it out~ I didn't like it much though. Pandora Hearts is just much much better . . . but am still gonna finish it~ | |
