Koudelka: Manga Review (2/11/2022)

 Koudelka is a story with great potential that just kind of falls short, mostly in part due to the pacing and the overall length of the manga. I like the ideas that it has going for it, I just feel as though the manga needed maybe 3 to 4 times the length in order to fully flesh them out. 

The story starts off as a simple "oh no mysterious girl has amnesia" story, but it quickly devolves more into sci-fi/fantasy tropes. Some parts of the story can feel a bit cliche, but I still had fun with those moments. What I do have a problem with is just how rushed everything was.

I'm no expert on this manga, but it feels as though it got axed straight from the start, which might contribute to the rushed pacing of the story overall. The author tries to contain so much, yet with only 15 chapters, each story arc probably only lasts 3-4 chapters, and things just sort of happen that you have to accept.

There are a lot of ideas and elements within the story that seem interesting, and the story actually does conclude in a satisfying way, which I found surprising considering how much actually happened in the story. At some points I felt as though things might get too expansive, but all things considered the author actually does tie in most things pretty well, which I thought was impressive.

Is this worth a read? I say yes, especially if you are a fan of that late 90s/early 2000s artstyle (think Trigun). It's only 15 chapters, and although the chapters are a bit lengthier than average (around 33 pages on average), this manga will only take about an hour to read.

If you want a very expansive and intricate story that sort of has a similar tone, try Pandora Hearts.
If you love the style of this manga, maybe try Trigun. 

Overall, I give this a 6/10. Solid and worth a read, but not worth going out of your way for.

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