Manga Review: Ability Shop

Title: Ability Shop
Author: Tashiro Tetsuya
Release: Oneshot
Status: Finished
Genre: Shonen
Art: B
Originality: A
Story: B
Characters: B
Humor: B
Action: B

Impression: This is a oneshot about a guy who is basically a loser archetype character who has no real talent or defining qualities who one day walks into this shop where he meets a strange girl who offers him any ability he wants in exchange for some of his lifespan. He takes up the girl’s offer and buys many abilities in exchange for years off life in order to impress his schoolmates and the girl he likes. It amounts to nothing in his goal to get her to like him as irony hits him in a devastating blow making his efforts pointless. In the end the guy learns an Aesop after overdoing things and a reset button gets pressed. While I would have loved to have a story like this serialized, I can’t help but dislike the fact that the author chose to end it in such a clichéd manner. If it does get serialized I will look forward to it since it seemed like the author could have worked in some more seinen elements into the story like he did with the issue of effort and talent.