Many thanks to Yen Press for providing a review copy
About the Mangaka
This was Mochizuki Jun’s debut series, he later went on to make Pandora Hearts.
About the Manga
I’m not to keen on this series really. While it was an interesting read, it’s crippled by the insanely fast pace, and the fact it’s only a single volume.
Right from the outset this series was a hard sell with me, even more so since I’d just finished reading a few other single and double volume series that left me cringing.
This one thankfully wasn’t based on an anime, and I at least didn’t feel compelled to compare the two.
I do like Jun’s art, though he hadn’t quite mastered drawing humans yet which means his characters have a weird look to them. However I do like the character concepts. The art of this volume is pretty good for a first attempt, in truth I’ve seen a lot worse.
The story was interesting, and I think if given time to breath it would of been a fairly decent story. Unfortunately due to it being only a single volume long it’s insanely fast paced. With events happening so fast its hard to really follow everything.
Also, due to speed of the volume there’s no time to gain any sort attachments to the characters. So when people start dying, I didn’t really feel anything. The same is true with the revelations of the volume, and the ending, I didn’t feel anything.
Usually I really get into my manga and for attachments with the characters, some I love, and some I hate. Yet I always feel something when events happen, this is lacking in this volume.
I’d really like to see Jun return and make a full series continuing the story. In which case this would be a prelude story.
Yen did their usually good job on this with this release. A nice and smooth translation that flows well and smoothly. No guttering issues, which I love. Yen Press really have improved on their guttering the past few months. And of course they leave the colour panel intact.
All told I can’t add this to my essential read list, but I do think it’s a worth while read if your wanting some thing short and violent with not a lot else in it.
Where to Buy
October 31, 2009 @ 02:50.
Um. This is a good review and everything, but I’m pretty certain Jun Mochizuki is actually female. There’s a lot of evidence over the internet for her being female – although I can see why one would question it. The name Jun usually male, from what I remember. However, she hasn’t ever hid her gender.
Jun definitely improves on the art though! Check out her current series – Pandora Hearts – it’s really beautiful.