Review 5: Naruto

   So since I am incredibly lazy, time to review another of the big three shonen manga. Once again the video is of one of the opening songs for the anime, this one is the first shippuden opening (thanks to youtube for that video by the way). And I'll try to make this a quick review, so the summary will be VERY summarized and you'll probably find it's better than it sounds.

   So for those who haven't read the series, it is about an orphan ninja boy with a demon sealed inside of him searching for friends (then trying to save them) and trying to bring world peace.

   I liked the art, and I also liked the story until Kishimoto killed off all of the characters I found interesting (the akatsuki [main bad guys of shippuden]) and gave most of the other characters I liked minor roles in order to focus on Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke wangsting over each other. It was all peachy up until that point. After Sasuke runs away Naruto gets all whiney and it kind of seems like he has a bit of an obsession for Sasuke, and Sakura gets all whiney about Sasuke running away and about Naruto being whiney, and then we get to Sasuke. I really didn't understand this part. His brother (who he hates for killing the entire rest of his family) dies, and then some old guy who Sasuke is related to tells Sasuke that his brother killed his family for the good of the village because he loved the village so much. So Sasuke decides to destroy the village. If someone would please explain how on earth he came up with that solution, that'd be great. And then they all go into a war against the seeminly invincible old guy. Oh boy. And that's about where I stopped caring enough to read the new chapter every week.

   So in conclusion, it was a really good action/adventure-y manga until it started getting all dragged out and whiney and mildly repetetive. I certainly hope that One Piece isn't destined for the fate of the other two big three shonen manga...

Review 4: Beauty Pop

   Next up for a review is, obviously, Beauty Pop. The first shoujo review! Hooray! I'm going to attempt to keep this short. Like that'll happen.

   Beauty Pop is a shoujo manga about a girl who is a hair cutting genius (better than it sounds) who in the beginning doesn't want to pursue a career in hairstyling, but through various means (father, rival, friends) ends up getting dragged into hairstyling more and more, and ends up joining a group of beauticians to try to create the number one salon in Japan. Or something like that. Once again, a lot better than it sounds.

   As with all the rest of the manga I've reviewed on here, I really enjoyed this manga. It is mainly a comedy, which I enjoy (I mainly like lighter, funny reads), and it actually stayed that way. Most shoujos that are supposed to be 'romantic comedies' end up losing the comedy part after about three to five volumes--max. Beauty Pop stayed pretty funny for quite a while, but it also had a hit of drama, as expected of a shoujo. It was not dragged out, and had what I thought was a happy ending. The art was good, not stellar, but not annoying or hard to interpret what's happening, and both the art and plot actually made sense. Which for shoujos is  saying more than you'd think (not pointing any fingers...). All in all, if you enjoy romantic comedies and are tired of shoujos with this label losing the 'comedy' part fairly quickly and then dragging on forever, then give Beauty Pop a read. It actually ends in less than 10 volumes (I think.). As I said, I am certainly sick of both of the afore mentioned things happening, and I liked this manga.

   And I think this is the shortest post since the introductory one. Anyways, thanks to http://d28hgpri8am2if.cloudfront.net/book_images/cvr9781421505756_9781421505756.jpg for the picture.

Review 3: D.Gray-Man

   Another shonen manga review. I'm going to warn everyone now, I don't know how long this is going to be. Probably pretty long. Again. Well, without further ado, let's get started.

   I just finished reading the fifth volume of D.Gray-Man, so I'm really not that far along. The series is about an exorcist, Allen Walker, who kills demons, Akuma. The Akuma are really souls of dead people fused to machines, they're usually created by desperate loved ones of the deceased with the help of the Millenium Earl (he's the guy who makes the machine parts of the Akuma and fuses the souls to them. He's also the main antagonist and is ALSO trying to destroy the world. He has a very large smile, a tophat, and a talking umbrella. He's a pretty cool guy). Back to the point, these Akuma, once created, then kill other people and wear their skin, as to blend in with the humans. Allen has an anti-Akuma weapon in his hand, and also has a curse on his eye to be able to see the souls of Akuma. Allen is a member of the Black Order, a league of excorcists and other people who are trying to prevent the Millenium Earl and those in cahoots with him from destroying the world. And now to the review part.

   As with the last two series, I really enjoyed this one also. It is quite a bit darker than what I've read of Fairy Tail and One Piece, both in artwork and plot. I really like the artwork, it is a little bit more advanced, and I must say that the artist seems to go to great lengths for details. However, the artwork isn't crowded or over detailed, as most of the detail comes in in the Akuma, the machinery and the merging of the machinery with flesh. And that sounds weird. The artist uses a lot more darker tones and blacks that really help set the atmosphere for the story, which really adds to the whole thing. The plot so far seems fairly mysterious and complicated, but it really keeps you reading to find out the motives of the characters and their 'shrouded-in-mystery' type pasts. Another part that I really found refreshing was the main character. Instead of the usual shonen 'rude insensitive idiot' character, Allen is well mannered and polite, and in general a nice guy. A nice change. Even though I love the idiot heroes, I do like Allen as a main character also. A few rambunctious idiots are introduced to the story later on, so if thats what floats your boat then don't worry, they're there.

   To sum up, D.Gray-Man is a good read if you like action, and it does have a little humour at the not so serious moments, and some to break up the quite serious moments. All in all I would recommend it, but VIZ calls it an 'advanced read' so if you only like the happy-happy-bright-bright stuff or mostly comedy then it might not be for you. Oh dear. And I thought this review might be short.

   Also, thanks to http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51EGTHECE9L._SL500_AA300_.jpg for the picture.

  

Review 2: Fairy Tail

   Since I'm reviewing more the manga and not the anime, I couldn't find a particualry relevant video, so I put in the first opening for the Fairy Tail anime. Also, I've only read the first 30 chapters or so, so I won't put a big long summary because I have only read a little bit. And yes, hooray, hopefully this one won't be as long as the last one.

   This shonen series is about a mage girl, Lucy, who, after meeting another mage, Natsu, joins a mage guild, Fairy Tail. There are many different guilds. The guilds work by taking requests, and offering the requests to the mages in the guild. The requests are tasks that someone wants done and usually have a monetary reward. Lucy, Natsu, Natsu's cat Happy, and two other mages that Natsu if familiar with usually end up working on requests as a team. The whole Fairy Tail guild are a bunch of good hearted troublemakers, and usually by the time the request is completed at least one building if not more have been somehow destroyed. I haven't gotten to any major plot arcs yet in the series, and so far the series seems to be about Lucy, Natsu, and Happy's adventures.

   I have really enjoyed what I've read from this series. The series reminds me a lot of One Piece, which I also really liked, so that could have something to do with it. The art style is simple but still has enough detail to make it interesting. As with One Piece, I love the characters and the variety between them. The story, from what I've read, seems fairly humorous and happy, but (once again like One Piece) can be serious when it needs to. The pages are easy to read and are nice and neat, as well as all of the panels are in a logical order.

   If you are looking for a new shonen series and liked One Piece, then this is probably a good series for you. And if you've never read One Piece and have no idea why I'm talking about it so much, then if you'd like a humorous action/adventure manga, then read this. (or read One Piece. Or read  both). The only warning, it is around 230 chapters long, so if you're looking for a quick read, you may want to look elsewhere. (and in that case, don't read One Piece either. It's even longer.)

   Thanks to youtube for the video, and http://www.thatanimeblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/fairy_title.jpg for the picture. And on another note, how on earth did this end up being so long?

Review 1: One Piece

   This first review is for, as you can see, One Piece. It's my favorite of the big three shonen manga, so I'll start with this one. I've read from Chapter 1 to Chapter 587 (the latest chapter in monthly Shonen Jump Magazine). Since this is a fairly long series, I'll try to keep the summary fairly short. And if you think this is long, remember that I'm attempting to summarize around 56 volumes at once here. Also, caution, there will probably be spoilers. So don't say I didn't tell you.

    The story is set in a great pirating age in a fictional universe. This world has 'devil fruits', mysterious fruits that if eaten grant a fabulous power-at the cost of sinking like a sack of bricks when in any significant amount of water. The main character, Luffy D. Monkey (or in the original Japanese version, Monkey D. Luffy) has eaten the Gum-Gum Fruit which pretty much makes him into rubber.

   Luffy sets out on a quest to find a legendary treasure, the 'One Piece' and on his way gathers a crew including a theif, a swordsman, a sharp-shooter, a reindeer-man, a cyborg, a skeleton, and an archeologist. The first few chapters of the story is Luffy gathering the original crew members and having various adventures on different islands, as well as setting up the first 'arc', the Baroque Works arc.

   The Baroque Works arc is about the Straw Hats saving a desert island from a company plotting to start a civil war, blow up the square, and find the blueprint for the most destructive weapon in the world.

   The next arc is the Skypiea arc in which the Straw Hats prove a legend about a cloud island true and, of course, get caught up in a tribal war and a corrupt god who, once again, wants to destroy the entire island. Seeing a theme here?

   The next arc is the Water Seven/Enies Lobby arc in which, in a VERY summarized version, lose their ship, lose a few million berries, lose Usopp, lose Robin, get accused of an assassination attempt on a mayor, find the assassins, chase the assassins (who have Robin), regain Usopp, save Robin, get a new ship, and a new crewmate, and in doing so get on an even worse side of the Navy.

   Next the crew goes to Thriller Bark, a giant zombie infested boat and gain a skeletal crew mate. Enough said.

   The 'Sabaody arc' (if anyone knows how to properly pronounce that then I admire you) is just the crew trying to get to the other side of the Grand Line or some such and then the crew getting in trouble with the world nobles and getting split up across the Grand Line by Kuma.

   The Sabaody arc and the Impel Down and Whitebeard War arc all kind of merge together, even more than the rest, so this is a mushed up summary. In short, Luffy finds out his brother is in prison waiting to be executed and goes to rescue him. His brother, Ace, leaves the prison to go to his execution before Luffy can rescue him, so Luffy and a few pirates who used to be quite famous and know Luffy's father accompany him to the execution to rescue Ace. The execution turns into an all out war between Whitebeard, Luffy, some other pirates, and the Navy. Whitebeard and Ace both die, and Luffy somehow escapes, but his crew is still scattered among the Grand Line, and he is in a state of despair...

   So now on to the reviewing part now that I've done the summary. I really enjoyed reading One Piece (and continue to enjoy it). I liked the happy-go-lucky main character, and the lightness of the story that could have been quite a wangsty one if written differently. I also enjoyed some of the humor, especially all of the puns. Seriously, there was one whole page that every speech bubble contained a bad pun. I also liked the art a lot. It was simple and a bit more on the cartoony side, but everything is drawn very well. The art is clean and there isn't too many dark tones and blacks. Also, Oda seems to be able to draw any type of character, which keeps things interesting when he has that many. The layout of panels also seems very clear to me, and rarely are the panels confusing/too empty/too full unless they are intended to be. The plot line gets a little repetetive, but the always new and fresh characters and scenery (and puns) keep it interesting. Although the series seems to be a ways from over, it does seem as though Oda has an ending in mind, and doesn't plan on dragging it out any longer after he's reached that point unlike some series seem to do (ah hem, Bleach).

   So, if you've already read One Piece, hope you share my views. If not and you're looking for a new shonen to read, I'd recommend it. Let's hope the next review is significantly shorter. Although I seem to have a problem with shutting my trap.

  Also, thanks to http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51b-zKwpWyL._SL500_AA300_.jpg for the picture.

Introduction

As the title implies, this blog will be a bunch of manga reviews. Hope you enjoy.