0 no Soukoushi

Story: 7/10
A perfumer that plays the role of detective by using his amazing knowledge of scents and sense of smell, you have to admit this is at least an interesting premise. Unfortunately the mystery (the cases itself) is a little bit on the weak side, undermining a great protagonist.

Art: 8/10
Fantastic art-style. The characters look good and the scenes are clear on what's going on.

Characters: 8/10
Intriguing main character and interesting heroine. Overall these 2 are what carry the whole manga.

Overall (8/10) and conclusion:
Great characters and a innovative idea. I will be looking at the author's other works.

I love Kaori Yuki's Cain series and this could perhaps have developed into something similar - the characters look gorgeous and they're interesting as personalities - however I think the very fact it's only a single volume made me feel just slightly less invested in the characters/overall story.

Anais (the main female character) especially is fun - I love the way that she just does not let Kanade (the main male character) get away with anything! Without her there would have been a possibility that Kanade's character could have come across as a little over-serious and overblown - however she bursts the bubble of his tendency to get a little bit pompous and brings him down to earth! And he becomes much more likeable as a result.

I think to have really made a lasting impression on me the manga needed a stronger over-arching plot/mystery - which would be pretty impossible to achieve in such a short amount of space. However we *do* get some backstory, some lovely banter between Kanade and Anais, and some interesting, gothic-macabre short tales which remind me a little of some of the stories in Petshop of Horrors or XXXholic. If you're a fan of those mangas and of course if you like Angel Sanctuary and the Earl Cain series then chances are you'll find this an enjoyable read - what a shame it couldn't have been longer!

Overall, not an unpleasant read. I appreciated the unique angle - a perfume maker with a keen sense of smell (unintentionally) using his skill and olfactory senses to solve mysteries. I think that this could have gone a lot farther than 3 chapters and I am sad that it didn't. Honestly, even though while reading I was thinking "man, this is kind of stupid", I still quite enjoyed it.

The character development was non-existent, as to be expected in such a short story, but you get the sense that there are some interesting backgrounds that could have been explored had the work run longer.

The art was ok - there were a couple of pages that made me stop because something felt slightly off - a misplaced eye on a face, etc. - and the main character's (Kanade) art wasn't consistent.

In terms of the story, it just really doesn't go anywhere. It can't. It's 3 chapters long. There are so many things hinted at that will never be explained and that is incredibly annoying.

Would I recommend it? Surprisingly no, despite the fact that I basically liked it. The reason is simply because of the shortness of the work. No, you don't have to invest a lot of time into it, but beware that you are likely going to be left unsatisfied.

I started 0 no Soukoushi because the art and summery intriqued me and it turned out to be better than I thought. There was a lot of detail on perfumes and the plot was really interesting, so I could barely stop reading. The art was also very beautiful.

But the manga was too short and there were a few questions left unanswered.

0 no Soukoushi is, although quite short, a very interesting read that would keep anyone wanting more.

That author of "0 no Soukoushi" is Kaori Yuki, the first mangaka whose name I've remembered. Her style of art and story is so unique, that it cannot be mistaken with somebody's else.

This one is pretty good for people, who start their adventure's with Yuki-sensei work. The art is amazing like always - dark, stunning, marvellous, but not so gloomy as it can be in her other mangas. It's lighter, but not light and it's really big plus.

The same goes for story - we have some difficult cases and perfumer, who more or less unwillingly play the role of detective. The main hero and heroine are really nicely done. They aren't clones of billions manga characters, but people of flash and blood. The story wouldn't be so interesting if not for them. What's important, the reader can really like them, remember them and there isn't any dark in them. Yuki-sensei likes controversies, but she somewhat make that one easier for reader, and I really liked it. It's really a pity that this manga is so short.

The biggest both advantage and disadvantage is that it was made by Kaori Yuki. I'm great fan of her, but once again she repeated the same thing's which I didn't like. It's too short, many things aren't explained, they leave us with too many questions and sometimes the story is so complicated, that it becomes unrealistic. I still love it, but really - if she does something so crazy, she should make it longer.

The only thing I didn't like and it wasn't characteristic for Yuki-sensei, was that hero's sense of scent was praised this much in such a short manga, but it's wasn't really that annoying as I thought it would be.