Author: Yoshikazu Hamada
Chapters: 134+ and counting
8/10
Soo… took me some time after I first started watching anime to realize that the anime adaptation from their light novel/manga counterparts are often censored as f*ck, especially in the west (Japan doesn’t seem to give two sh*ts about censorship) which isn’t always bad, but it has its limits.
What were we talking about again? Ohh yesss I wanted to compare Tsugumomo to its manga… and by God is there a difference. And I don’t mean the story (the anime has made up maybe a quarter of the manga so far), but some of the cut content within the story.
It’s probably an unpopular opinion but I’m looking forward to a possible third and fourth, probably not enough content for a 5th season, but I’m afraid there’s so much explicit content in the manga that entire chunks will be taken out in the censored anime…. But hey Redo Healer is getting an anime adaptation and that’s explicit as f*ck.
It’s ecchi as hhhhhelllll. No actually it’s not far off to say it’s borderline hentai. Where the anime shows partial nudity and several bath scenes, there’s straight up characters in their birthday suits in almost every chapter of the manga (not to mention bath scenes everywhere… everywhere). And there’s a bit of foreplay (wtf?) more on that later.
The character development is decent in my honest opinion (fight me) and continues to grow with the manga (although it doesn’t feel much different in the anime, which is often not the case with many). Like the anime, Kazuya starts out weak and naive to the supernatural threat laid out before him, and he’s often taken care of by the spunky yet sadistic Kiriha, as well as humiliated and punished for being weak (more on this in a bit I swear to G@d).
Near where season 2 of the anime left off, Kazuya has reached most of his growth, becoming the typical badass most manga protagonists become, however what I especially like in Tsugumomo is that Kazuya continues to bump into obstacles which forces him to think critically and come up with a new way of overcoming them, from ever stronger adversaries to having to save the people he cares about. He grows ever more powerful; from the combat techniques with Kiriha, breathing/focusing, and an ever growing arsenal of tsugumomo at his disposal.
Kazuya’s relationship with Kiriha also develops and their roles seem to reverse. Where Kiriha was tasked to protect Kazuya with her life, Kazuya eventually learns to think for himself and ends up protecting her in several instances, to her objection of course, but she softens up to him and even grows deeper feelings for him beyond already having a deep connection with his mother.
I’m not sure if you could really put a label on Kazuya & Kiriha’s relationship… he’s her master but also her closest friend, ally, and lover. Where she used to punish him with punches & stomping his balls (kinky) for being clueless, she eventually rewards him with what we can heavily assume to be hand jobs… (*gulp*) no you heard that right, and there’s plenty of crumpled tissues in the frames as context clues. Oh and she teaches him how to finger her (*nervous sweating*), because these things work both ways (obviously). They sleep together all the time, but what’s funny is that because Kiriha is technically a silk obi, she’s literally been used as his blanket since his infancy so she’s used to it, but of course he’s weirded out at first seeing his robe become a physical being and expecting to sleep together.
The author is on another level. Yoshikazu Hamada is the man behind the manga. He has a Twitter, a website, a pixiv (never heard of it), etc etc where you can see his drawings, most being of the characters of Tsugumomo, and most being fan-art style and explicit… There’s a few really interesting footnotes he made at the end of some chapters (though I lost track of them…) where he basically says how much he likes drawing those ecchi scenes and hates taking breaks by drawing some of those very detailed action sequences.
Basically he’s a really horny dude. I’m not going to look too deep into it; there’s some real decent but also real unnecessary ecchi scenes sprawled throughout the series which I roll my eyes at and hesitate to rate the title higher.
But its the story he’s got going that I genuinely enjoy and its not slowing down yet, with 134+ chapter and counting, there’s a number of intriguing arcs that I don’t mind revisiting, like the Tsuzura Temple competition arc or the storybook arc as pictured below.
Tsugumomo has (somehow) managed to make me laugh, cry, cringe, smile, and anticipate what’ll happen in the story next. Its certainly not for everyone, but if you’re looking for a silly, action packed, supernatural adult story with actual plot, I do recommend checking this title out.
Thanks for reading!
By: The Shy Otaku