Manga Rating System

I have used tons of different rating systems over the course of the last decade I've been writing reviews, so I thought I'd go back to a pretty standard and stripped down one for manga. As this is a form of entertainment that I'm incredibly new to, I wouldn't have the confidence to go into a great amount of detail on my reasons for the ratings I'm giving, so having more than just a few base ratings would be a little presumptuous and difficult for me. That being said, I do like keeping my enjoyment and perceived quality within fairly loose placements, because opinions change and I don't want to have to justify a rating down the road that wouldn't hold up after a little while. Also, I generally give positive ratings, so I've kind of compressed all the bad into one or two stars, with the other 3 possible scores being all varying levels of good/great. So let's get into the details.

Manga review: Uzumaki

'Uzumaki' by Junji Ito

3 volumes, 19 chapters 

1998-1999

The first manga I read, and a pretty disturbing and ultimately unforgettable experience for more than just that reason alone. The story is more or less conceptual in its entirety and lacking any real characters or depth, but this isn't a manga that hinges on likability or long-winded story arcs. All packed into a couple hundred pages (and easily found in a single collected book-form), Junji Ito is excellent at making you terrified to turn the page but incapable of resisting finding out what horrible thing will happen next. The artwork is just the right level of detailed, with a majority of the emphasis placed on the full-page spreads and the individual shocking moments that have since become legendary within horror manga. This isn't the most amazing looking thing I've read, but it holds up due to the surreal and insanely inventive illustrations and ideas. 

Manga time

 As people who've spent a decent amount of time reading the stupid crap I write on this site might be well aware of, I have a pretty wide variety of interests when it comes to media. Though I never got into comics and I've never written about my few brief spells of reading traditional books, reading has always been on a bit of a backburner for me; something I intended to get into after I'd exhausted all other entertainment options. But then after trying to get my wife into watching anime, and realizing we'd  had Uzumaki by Junji Ito on our shelf for close to 2 years, it seemed like the right time to give manga a try. And while I haven't loved everything I've read, I'm absolutely loving it.