One of the Good Ones: Silver Diamond

Synopsis

Sawa Rakan was a somewhat regular young man who lived alone and attended to a lush garden of plants. One day he discovers a foreign man and deadly creatures crashing into his garden. When it is discovered that Rakan gives a certain effect to the plants.weapons that the foreigner bears, he is brought into a whole new world.

The Good

When it comes to series that holds the label of shounen ai and fantasy, it is either a hit or miss for many readers. For this series, there are points where the manga works but at the same time there are points when there is a miss. One of the main points that makes the series a hit is the development of the relationship of the main characters, though subtle it may be it is there and endearing as well.

The art is also another hit though some of it may be generic, the designs of the plants, and the general world scape that they travel was well established. Little details such as the designs of the plants to the props and the costumes of the characters all work well together in making the series’ style something of its own. What really makes the series unique to its own is how it handled the concept of travelling to another work and the hero being a “chosen one.”

Overall, the backgrounds and designs of the series’ art worked out rather well and the plot was fleshed out rather well in terms of character building and world building. Nothing was too much nor too little and basically has the story leaving  rather satisfactory impression on the reader.

The Bad

When finishing with the series, the first thing to notice that makes a miss for it is how the conflict seems to have been easily tied after everything was laid out. Looking at the series as a whole there are some holes to it that could have been put aside but nonetheless are there. Especially with how much layering there was placed with the amount of villains and threats placed against the main characters.

Because of this there are some questionable points to the plo that end up being tied up rather abruptly and little context explained in terms of background though the reasoning and basic framework of how it ended was well established.Then there is also the art which has some rough patches to it along with a generic way to it that doesn’t stand out much other than with its backgrounds, plants and general world scape.

So to sum the less than stellar points of the series: the ending had some rather quickly finished knots which left for some holes that many may not notice but are there. Some other characters could have worked out better in development and when looking at the art, not much excitement is found.

Conclusion

Interesting and satisfactory are the keywords to use when reading the series as it brings an interesting plot with a well done twist to the usual “travelling to another world concept” and well established characters towards the end though vague some may points may be. The art while overall general has some good detail to it in costumes, details and background. Simply put, if you’re looking for a series that actually makes a different turn in travelling to another world and the hero concept mixed in with a bit of comedy and interesting relationships, then this is the story.

Rating: 7/10