noemillimetre's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
4.0
raxor's review
3.0
3.75 stars
feels weirdly nostalgic despite my inability to relate to much of the specifically Japanese references. a solid start introducing memorable, unique characters right off the bat. excited to see if it will come anywhere as close to Monster but I have high hopes!!
feels weirdly nostalgic despite my inability to relate to much of the specifically Japanese references. a solid start introducing memorable, unique characters right off the bat. excited to see if it will come anywhere as close to Monster but I have high hopes!!
frasersimons's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Of the manga I’ve been trying lately, this is the best written and well drawn, by far. Think kids-on-bikes with a mystery component that brings the kids together in the future, when they’re grown up and their lives aren’t what they expected. The alternating timeline is well done, the first few pages have another mystery component on top of that, but isn’t returned to in this volume, and all the characters and dialogue are clearly well thought out, mapped, and executed methodically,
This comes at the price of a very granular plot, however. With the story being a very slow burn, which seems to be normal for manga. There is, of course, lots of vacillating tones, from very serious to the hyper expressions and “freaking out” faces for comedic effect. This kind of humour never works for me, but especially in something so serious, it feels particularly odd.
Still, more than enough to keep me reading. So far, the most promising of the lists of best manga I’ve sampled.
This comes at the price of a very granular plot, however. With the story being a very slow burn, which seems to be normal for manga. There is, of course, lots of vacillating tones, from very serious to the hyper expressions and “freaking out” faces for comedic effect. This kind of humour never works for me, but especially in something so serious, it feels particularly odd.
Still, more than enough to keep me reading. So far, the most promising of the lists of best manga I’ve sampled.
crookedtreehouse's review
4.0
This first volume of Urasawa's mysterious maybe sci-fi manga focuses on a group of childhood friends who've grown up, kept somewhat in touch, but have their own separate lives and maybe a bit of animosity between them. When one of the childhood friends ends up killing themselves, a particular symbol starts to show up wherever the protagonist, Kenji, looks. He's convinced they need to discover what the symbol is for, and unite his friends to solve the mystery.
It's not too dissimilar a conceit to [a:Stephen King|3389|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1362814142p2/3389.jpg]'s [b:It|830502|It|Stephen King|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1334416842l/830502._SY75_.jpg|150259], but similarities end there.
The story jumps around from childhood adventures in the late 60s, to their college years in the late 70s, and their lives in the late 90s. While the 1997 storyline appears to be going chronologically, the late 60s storyline jumps around, and there is only one scene so far set in the 1970s, and so far, it seems to be the least relevant part of the story.
As the 1997 storyline advances, we realize the group of friends that we've focused on, initially three men, extended to six, are just part of a "secret society" of friends that grew up together. It appears one of them is the leader of some sort of cult that plans to bring about an apocalypse and take down other relgiious groups. To what ends, we don't know.
At some point in the 2010s someone recommended [b:Monster: Perfect Edition, Vol. 1|18775119|Monster Perfect Edition, Vol. 1|Naoki Urasawa|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1670519515l/18775119._SX50_.jpg|13882777] to me, and I couldn't find all the volumes, so I decided to pick this up without having anyidea what the story was. Several volumes sat on my manga shelves for years, as I was missing volume two. It arrived in the mail last week, so I've decided the time had come to see if this was woth the read through. I'm happy to say that I do Really Enjoy this so far. The mystery portion and the reliance on flashbacks has me a little worried, as this came out during the split narrative boom of the late 90s, between Pulp Fiction and Lost, and many of the split narrative stories began with promise before petering out.
If you're looking for an Entry Level manga, this might be a good one. For some reason, I see the split narrative as being a Very American storytelling device (this may be incorrect), and I find the characters' dialog and motivations to be extremely relatable. I'm picking up volume two to read as soon as I post this entry.
It's not too dissimilar a conceit to [a:Stephen King|3389|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1362814142p2/3389.jpg]'s [b:It|830502|It|Stephen King|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1334416842l/830502._SY75_.jpg|150259], but similarities end there.
The story jumps around from childhood adventures in the late 60s, to their college years in the late 70s, and their lives in the late 90s. While the 1997 storyline appears to be going chronologically, the late 60s storyline jumps around, and there is only one scene so far set in the 1970s, and so far, it seems to be the least relevant part of the story.
As the 1997 storyline advances, we realize the group of friends that we've focused on, initially three men, extended to six, are just part of a "secret society" of friends that grew up together. It appears one of them is the leader of some sort of cult that plans to bring about an apocalypse and take down other relgiious groups. To what ends, we don't know.
At some point in the 2010s someone recommended [b:Monster: Perfect Edition, Vol. 1|18775119|Monster Perfect Edition, Vol. 1|Naoki Urasawa|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1670519515l/18775119._SX50_.jpg|13882777] to me, and I couldn't find all the volumes, so I decided to pick this up without having anyidea what the story was. Several volumes sat on my manga shelves for years, as I was missing volume two. It arrived in the mail last week, so I've decided the time had come to see if this was woth the read through. I'm happy to say that I do Really Enjoy this so far. The mystery portion and the reliance on flashbacks has me a little worried, as this came out during the split narrative boom of the late 90s, between Pulp Fiction and Lost, and many of the split narrative stories began with promise before petering out.
If you're looking for an Entry Level manga, this might be a good one. For some reason, I see the split narrative as being a Very American storytelling device (this may be incorrect), and I find the characters' dialog and motivations to be extremely relatable. I'm picking up volume two to read as soon as I post this entry.
imizabel's review
4.0
Un super 1er tome ! C'est introductif mais en même temps on rentre bien en immersion dans l'histoire. C'est très prometteur pour la suite car j'arrive à m'attacher aux personnages et j'ai envie de savoir ce qui va se passer après.
jacinthe_l's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
joanarcherknight's review
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
kazwrecked's review
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0