Sen wa, Boku o Egaku

[Mimik]

I gave it a shot and it’s really just not my thing. Like what another guy said, it’s way too pretentious about sumi-e. Yes, there’s more to the craft than just pretty paintings of flowers. But it’s really not that deep, there’s no soul-searching or ultra-master-painter techniques.

The story is awful, the main characters are boring, overused stereotypes and the dragged out plot (even with forced conflict) is going nowhere. I don’t understand why this is getting so much praise and has such a high rating when it brings nothing new to the table, and is more boring than the usual 7-8 rating shounen trite.

The translators did an okay job, but their efforts can only go as far as the source material lets them.

 

[Ank]

Yes its sounds forced to make sumi-e look great, which probably is awesome to anyone interested in art or in sumi-e itself. As every discipline, its deep and it goes beyond what the non experienced eyes see...
but this doesnt make it a bad manga.

Its highly rated by readers because the manga is a good read. I am not interested in the subject, yet I got hooked after reading 1 chapter. The main theme may not be considered good for everyone, but the mangaka is definitely a pro at making his work a good read.

 

[DanTheMan6383]

I don't think it's any more pretentious than Kono Oto Tomare or any other artistic manga out there. Sure, it goes a bit too deep, but the meaning of art is individualistic. An 8.5 rating is accurate to me.

 

[phoenixtear]

this is no second to masterpiece..the art is good,story is good..its about the basics of Sumi-e paintings,sigh* they say this is boring because they dont understand what ART is,they are the type of people who are engrossed to judge others while being a "coal in gold mine"...

 

[Rokh]

Lot of people in these comments mistaking subtlety for pretension. This manga manages to be a fun read while also feeling enjoyable and fresh by not deviating too far from tropes we expect of manga while exploring what makes sumi-e painting unique in an approachable way.

 

[Dondin]

Nooo!! I need moree.. and i dont care bout what people said. I just love this

 

[Comadrin]

I really love this manga. Sumi-e is a discipline of art that I'm a little bit familiar with, as I've been collecting it for nearly forty years. My parents started going to a Japanese cultural festival in Concord, California due to their love for taiko drumming. There was a gentleman named Yoshitsugu Yoshi who always gave a sumi-e demonstration. I ended up buying a framed painting of his of chrysanthemums. The following year, after I was married, my wife ended up winning a raffle for one of his paintings (of iris) at the festival. She also got a business card for his gallery in the Japanese Trade Center in San Francisco. We were both in the military by then, and only made it to the SF Bay Area once a year when visiting family, but we always made it a habit to go to the Trade Center to visit Yoshi Sensei (and buy paintings), as well as get my father a large selection from the wonderful lady who ran the wagashi shop there (he really loved things Japanese aside from just taiko). We, and a good part of our family, ended up with quite a collection of his works.

 

[korn7809]

First I'll say I like this manga for the most part. The part I and many others don't like is the dialog about the art style specificly in this is pretentious as hell. How people talk about something and not the thing itself can be pretentious. You see it all the time with books, movies, videogames and other things. I don't find anything special about paintings but other people seem to have a need to find a deeper meaning in it for themself and you know what, that is fine but I don't want to hear you talk about it.

 

[tedy2004]

First of all, the start of the novel was so unexpected, when i say it like that i really mean it unexpected badly. An old man comes at you and introduces you paintings then you realize you have very very "good eyes" at describing some paintings Sumi-e. That's all I needed for the story to end for me.

 

[Betaotomo]

Yep one of the best manga I’ve ever read......love every aspect

 

[migh]

is the romance aspect secondary cause most sites don't have that tag for this manga

 

[mclarke2]

Hmm the romance tag only starts to take place after 28th page only heart moving moment between the two 😁 I want more

 

[jdexo1]

i swear, this manga puts me in a weird mood every time

 

[zokoi19]

gosh this manga is really amazing. It's introspective and thought-provoking, for me at least.

I'm also pretty sure the romance genre is misplaced.

 

[Hurgh]

I didn't really see more than a romantic subplot tbh. Not that it wasn't good for other reasons but still. If you replaced the pretty girl with a guy it wouldn't be unusual if everyone behaved the same way

 

[Ferry]

Remove the romance tag.

 

[Pokari]

Three people objecting to the romance tag in a row, huh? Well, okay, it's gone now.

I wish Mangadex would move back to fully crowd-sourced tag editing. :/

 

[Starbright]

Ehh the romance tag shouldnt be removed theres no payoff but chiaki clearly likes the main guy

Also throughout the series they keep having heartfelt moments exclusive to them the whole series revolves around them

I'm disappointed aswell the romantic build up lead to nothing but more so disappointed how plot wise nothing really happened

This was linearly about him becoming an artist with hardly an meaningful or impactful moments in it

A shame because I liked the main characters and plot about getting over through trauma through painting wish there was more of a character journey and impactful moments of growth, also with a series about art liked character art for this series probably the biggest selling point in the series

 

[ShizukaRen]

Weirdly enough I was crying the whole time when they announced Aoyoma's award. The journey they've been through 😭😭. Thank you so much to the group who made it possible for readers like us to read such moving story. A slice of life indeed.

 

[kamenriderxile]

Thank you it was a wonderful read😊