Despite my usual tendency to read romcoms and psychological horror I must say I enjoyed this manga a lot. Let me sell you on it. Description Boys Run The Riot the title being the same in both english and japanese serializations is a manga released by the mangaka Keito Gaku in 2020. The story goes as follows: Ryo Watari is a teenage girl who feels like a boy and yet he cant tell anyone. Not his friends not his family not even the teachers. The only way Ryo manages to express himself is through graffiti and especially fashion. Its only once he meets Jin a transfer student from his school in a clothes shop that Ryo finds someone to share his passion with. Jin asks Ryo to start a fashion brand with him and the story can truly begin. One of the biggest selling points of this manga is definitely the artstyle which is a mostly realistic one especially when it comes to characters accompanied by backgrounds which almost feel like real pictures with filters. The other obvious quality of this manga are the characters and their designs. Each main character is thought out in depth when it comes to their feelings and motivations which is particularly obvious in Ryo but this being a fashion manga their design has not been neglected either. This is a pretty short manga with 37 actual chapters divided in 4 consecutive volumes. Thoughts Let me start by saying that I really enjoyed this series and its message. Dont get confused by the Drama tag as this isnt in my opinion a particularly sad story. Much more than making you cry it makes you reflect and cheer as it goes on. I initially bought the first volume off of the artstyle alone and was even a little discouraged by its size. Despite all the volumes being fairly thick though Ive blazed through them in a matter of a couple of days even going as far as reading two in a single day which is rare for me. The panels are beautiful and I especially enjoyed the ones revolving around graffiti since they were raw and realistic as well as masterfully crafted. My favourite panel is definitely the one depicting Ryos first graffiti we get to see. If youve read the manga then you know what I mean. If you havent I highly suggest to at least get that far. I only have one sort of actual complaint for this manga and that is All in all this Boys Run The Riot was an amazing ride and Im glad I chose to buy it even if I initially only did it for the artstyle. I do not regret my choice one bit and neither will you hopefully. Im giving this series a respectful 9/10 since giving it any less would be impossible for me placing this as one of my highest rated manga.
90 /100
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