Its a shame that Blank Slate is so short because theres a lot going for it here. First of all Kannos art has always been gorgeous. Although its obvious that she was still learning to write action her character designs are lovely and memorable and the action scenes are still sufficient enough to keep the story exciting. I particularly love her use of shadows and her wonderfully expressive eyes. That said good art isnt enough to make a story good. As she states herself in one of the authors notes the story just got too big and had to be greatly reduced and it leaves the storys events feeling quite generic and uninspired. Blank Slate is packed almost to bursting with ambitious concepts like the aftermath of war brainwashing revenge political revolutionand when you look at the length of her more successful works Otomen clocking in at 18 and Baraou at 17 its obvious why Blank Slate feels so weak in comparison none of these concepts are given time to build and breathe. Although the first chapter ends up being disconnected from the rest of the story I think it is much stronger than the full series and I almost wish we had gotten an episodic series featuring Zen. Zens personality is pretty straightforward hes cool effortlessly seductive and does whatever he pleases no matter who gets hurt. In the pilot chapter Zens backstorythe main driving force of the main storyis a total mystery and barely even addressed. But all this makes the pilot story much stronger because it puts us in the same position as the protagonist Russo. Just like Russo the reader is curious about Zen pulled in by his eroticism and careless violenceand ultimately both we and Russo are dropped like a plaything left wanting more but still satisfied to have been shown a part of his world. But Zens coolness actually works against him in the 2volume formathes almost too cool for the story. This is particularly obvious in the final fight where he breaks free from his brainwashing and decides to continue to live by his own ideals. If Zen had perhaps been given a few more volumes to soften as a character even just to face some real fear towards his amnesia and mental state it would have been immensely satisfying to see him break throughbut theres just no emotional payoff when weve only been given perhaps a handful of moments where Zen feels real weakness. Im biased here but I think Blank Slate could have worked very well as a BL manga or at least have leaned more into some of its erotic/romantic themes as theyre easily the most compelling part of the pilot chapter and something I know Kanno excels at. While Blank Slate isnt horribly bad I cant really say its all that good eitherbut I certainly dont regret reading it and if youre a fan of short stories like I am I definitely recommend you check out at least the first chapter and then go read some of Kannos newer work.