Manga

All posts tagged Manga

Record of Ragnarok: Volume One

Posted by cat2002116 on March 20, 2024
Posted in: Books, Fantasy, Fighting, Manga, Reviews. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

So, as indicated in the last review I posted, I really like books based on mythology and gods…so when I saw this one on my birthday, I was immediately interested in reading it.

I really like the whole concept of humanity having to fight in battles for its survival. Of course, the idea itself isn’t really all that unique – Mortal Kombat, anyone? But this book gave me a bit more of an insight into the gods who wanted to destroy humanity, so there’s that.

I was a bit surprised that none of the gods spoke up in defence of humanity. I know the vote was meant to be a unanimous one, but it was a surprise that none of the gods cared about humanity.

I really liked being able to see Brunhilde. She was an interesting character, and I would have liked a bit more detail about her time living among humans. I assume that none of the other Valkyries lived as humans, so I would have liked a bit more detail about why they all wanted to save humans, not just Brunhilde.

I thought it was really good to see the different gods, although a lot of them were more of a ‘blink and you miss them’ appearance. I did like the brief interaction between Zeus and Hermes…but I have to say that while Zeus appeared very similar to how I would picture him, Hermes didn’t really meet the mental image I had of him. And really, neither did Thor. Gorgeous artwork, but the gods from other pantheons were clearly coloured by the way characters are drawn in Japanese manga.

I didn’t know anything about Lu Bu’s character, but I really liked the fact that he and Thor were able to respect each other as warriors. And it was interesting to see how Lu Bu’s legend was different from the reality.

I did feel like there was a lot of tension in the battle between Lu Bu and Thor. It was really good that there was a way found to allow the weapon of a human to stand against that of a god. However, given that it seems it takes a sacrifice to make that weapon, it’s kind of sad that, presumably, each battle will require that same sacrifice to make a weapon.

This book ends on something like a cliffhanger, along with the list of gods and humans who will be fighting each other. I’m definitely interested in reading further books in this series in the future!

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – To the Hashira Training

Posted by cat2002116 on February 25, 2024
Posted in: Anime, Fantasy, Movies, Reviews. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment


So, I did go and see the other two Demon Slayer movies at the cinema. I really enjoyed both of them, so when I realised there was a third movie coming out at the cinema, I was immediately interested in seeing this movie.

Very similar to the second movie, this one started right in the middle of the action, with Tanjiro and Nezuko pursuing a demon that seemed to have been threatening the village Tanjiro had reached in the second film. I was a bit confused about what was going on, but it was really easy to care about Tanjiro and what he was trying to do. In the second movie, I really liked seeing more of Zenitsu and his abilities, and while he didn’t really appear much in this film, I liked that the advice he gave helped Tanjiro to focus his energy, despite being wounded and fatigued.

In the previous movies, it was made very clear that Tanjiro’s main goal in joining the demon slayers is to save his sister and make Nezuko human again. For that reason, the scene where Nezuko forces Tanjiro away from protecting her to protect the villagers, is particularly heart-wrenching. After all, it’s made extremely clear that demons can’t survive in daylight, and the sun burns Nezuko’s skin even before it’s fully in the sky.

I did find the villagers weraring the masks to be extremely weird and confusing. For a bit of the film, I actually assumed the masks were their faces; which made no sense, given that every other character had ‘normal’ faces.

I liked being able to see more of the wider world of the Demon Slayers, especially when it came to seeing more of the hashira. I really liked seeing both Obanai and Sanemi (the serpent and wind hashari respectively) fighting alongside each other to rescue a human woman from a demon, as it was really good to see how their abilities worked.

I also really liked both Mitsuri and Muichiro, especially when it came to them discussing how they each came to be marked. I really enjoyed how calmly and dispassionately Muichiro discussed his marking, as opposed to how excited and over the top Mitsuri became while talking about it. I would have liked to know exactly what being marked meant, though, as the movie deliberately cuts off that explanation…so I can only assume that it’s something bad. Also, it seems that Tanjiro’s mark is permanent…while the others’ marks don’t seem to last.

On the whole, I really did enjoy this addition to the Demon Slayer franchise. I liked seeing Nezuko being able to talk, even if she is copying what others say to her and has to be taught to speak…much like a child. I’m hoping that there will be a fourth movie out in this series very soon, as I would definitely watch it!

I do think this movie doesn’t really stand on its own, so you probably have to be at least a bit familiar with the anime before watching this movie. But if you are, this is definitely worth watching!

Grand Guignol Orchestra

Posted by cat2002116 on November 29, 2023
Posted in: Books, Horror, Manga, Reviews. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment


I really love manga books. I haven’t read any in a while, but after I got sent three out of five books in a series as part of a Yuletide book exchance, I was immediately excited to read them…and I have to say that these books did not disappoint.

The idea of zombies and a zombie virus being spread through the infected biting/consuming healthy people isn’t a new one, but I thought the idea of them becoming like dolls was a really interesting one…as was the fact that there’s an orchestra who travels around the country, playing music and fighting the zombies.

The first book did a really good job of introducing me to the world and the main characters. I have to be honest, I also assumed Lucille was a woman at first as well! I enjoyed seeing the relationship that developed through the first three books in this series, although by the time I finished book three, I really didn’t know what to make of Lucille or Gwindel. Kohaku actually felt like the character with the least to hide…although I’m sure there’ll be more revealed in the last two books about his past, especially as it’s made clear that the orchestra is made up of criminals.

I found it really interesting to learn more about Lucille’s past and see hints of his relationships with his sister and his cousin. Compared to her original appearance, I was really surprised by how Cordy looked and acted when she was the Queen. I’m not really sure what kind of thing could have changed her personality so drastically, but it definitely seemed like she had no care or compassion left, even for her brother or her cousin.

When I saw the covers for the first time, I was immediately struck by how gorgeous the artwork was, and while the artwork in the book wasn’t coloured, I still thought it looked really pretty…especially when it came to the design of characters like Lucille.

The first book had a really emotional scene right at the end of the first chapter, where the guignols received their minds back…however temporarily. It was really sad to see the temporary reunion between the children and their parents, as well as between Vivian and Sid, since it was made very clear that the guignols would still end up dying.

In book three, I liked learning about Gwindel’s past…although it was kind of sad to see. After all, his daughter fell victim to the disease…and it definitely gave him more depth as a character.

On the whole, I did enjoy reading these three books in the series. And I’d be interested in reading the next two books in this series in the future.

Alice in Borderland Volume 1

Posted by cat2002116 on November 5, 2023
Posted in: Books, Manga, Reviews, Science Fiction. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment


All right, so…I watched the TV series of Alice in Borderland. I binge-watched it, actually, because it was so good. So when I went into the Forbidden Planet store in Southampton, I didn’t really have a choice but to buy the first in the manga series. (That’s not exactly true. I did have a choice. I just ended up giving into that part of me that really just wanted to buy the book).

So, obviously, I was already aware of what was going to happen in Borderland, when Arisu, Chota and Karube found themselves in that world. But I still found it interesting to see the manga’s version of them appearing there. The fireworks held a much higher significance than they seemed to in the TV series…and it made me wonder just what the fireworks signified in the manga version.

I found the first game they ended up playing to be quite interesting. I didn’t quite understand the whole fortune reading thing, but it was obvious that the worse fortune they drew, the harder a question they would receive. And, of course, the final question required an almost impossible answer of how big is the Earth’s population. Considering that burning arrows had been shot at the group every time a question was answered wrongly, that threat made the game feel so much more intense. And Arisu figuring out the answer to the actual game, even if he didn’t know the answer to his question, worked really well, as the clues he picked up on made sense as soon as he put voice to what he’d realised.

I did find that the artwork for Chota’s character made him seem very juvenile…almost childishly so. He also fit a stereotype that I often see in Japanese manga: that of a perverted man (though it’s normally an older man) more interested in chasing after women than anything else. Honestly, out of the three of them (Arisu, Chota and Karube), I felt he did come across as the weaker character (sorry, Chota).

The second part of this manga was the game of Tag…which the TV series had clearly followed from this book. I enjoyed the inclusion of a familiar character, who was my favourite in the series. And it was particularly interesting to see his gameplan, in comparison to the rest of those caught in the game. And it was great to see Usagi appear in the book, too, even though she and Arisu didn’t have that much interaction.

I would like to read the next books in this series, as I’m really interesting to see how the characters were first written and how they compare to their TV counterparts. Plus, the different medium will probably allow me to learn more about the characters than I was able to see in the series.