Category Archives: Manga Monday
Manga Monday: Clay Lord Master of Golems
Okay. Not that Lord of the Golems, but hey. A boy can dream!
(I do not own the rights to any pictures used in this blog. All rights reserved to their respective owner)
Clay Lord is written and drawn by Jun Suzumoto. It began it’s publication back in 2013 before coming stateside a few years later. It is published through Seven Seas Entertainment, at least here the States.
Spoilers: Just spoilers for the first issue and not the overall manga.
Plot: The plot is fairly unique from what I’ve seen. People began making golems out of dirt, clay, mud, and tools. The main character, Young Master Clay, is special. He carries with him a very exceptional and potent bloodline. It allows him to make very awesome golems with little resources. The roles of the golems have evolved over time. Some put in manual labor while others offer companionship. The overall plot of the manga takes some time to eventually build up. Clay is the last decedent of the Earthgaia bloodline. His blood is worth more than gold. A character even goes as far as to call it an elixir. Clay is stolen by a black market dealer. However, the plot moving forward is a little up in the air since the conflict has been resolved and the story is currently in a flashback.
Character: We will be going over Clay while lumping his three golem companions together.
Clay- Clay is pretty interesting. He is babied and protected by his golems. I have a mother who can be this way at times, so his reactions fit mine sometimes. That’s an aspect I think readers can relate to. There’s a scene where Clay mentions being tired, so the golems break down the door carrying the bed over their heads. As I said earlier, thanks to his blood he makes some super cool golems already! Clay was abandoned in life early. His two older brothers (and that’s the only family we hear about) die while Clay is still a child. For him, these golems are his only family. Even though they drive him up the wall, he loves them because they are the only family he’s ever know. Speaking of the golems, I suppose its time to introduce them!
Kurogane, Shirogane, and Rose- We will start with Kurogane. Kurogane is the one on the right hand side that looks like a psychopath. He is loyal, determined, and pretty ruthless. He is the handyman who isnt afraid to get his hands dirty (Golem puns!). He adds a nice dynamic that I enjoy. If you like a psycho muscle man who is funny, you will like him forsure. Shirogane is basically the polar opposite in that he is not violent. Shirogane is like your parent who is determined to help you out (cook, clean, and like I said bring your bed to you!), while Kurogane is like your parent going off the deep end. Shirogane adds a nice loving touch which is appreciated in these styles of manga.
Lastly, Rose- I could not find any pictures of just Rose, so refer back to previous group photos. She cannot speak, yet she has the power to exude calmness. She presents a stare that emits a clarity so commandingthe others cannot help but feel confident. She is also powerful, loyal and not someone you’d want to mess with. It may be easy to overlook her, but she’s the glue(dirt?) that holds the gang together.
World: The world is not too fleshed out, but I also do not know how in detailed it will get. They cover the golem makers and describe the unique relationship present between molder and golem. There’s also a black market. Not sure if that will come up again, but it is there.
Recap:
Action: There is action, but it is not the driving point.
Romance: No. I don’t think Clay is into that kind of… stuff.
Plot: Still developing, but has potential.
Characters: To me, this is the selling point. If you like the potential of the described characters, I’d pick it up.
The World: Still relatively unexplored, but enough to get your interest.
Humor: Yes. It is funny.
Verdict: Displaying that you have potential is both a blessing and a curse. It definitely has me wanting more, but in the same take I don’t feel like I read enough to judge it.
Score: 7.5 out of 10. Clay Lord was very enjoyable. I bought it for 4 dollars! A manga for 4 U.S. dollars is a steal. One of my local stores has more and they are on sale as well so I will definitely be picking up more issues and reviewing more of it later. If it keeps building on the momentum it will definitely be worth it.
As always, thanks for reading!
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Manga Monday(On a Tuesday!) ReLife Vol 1
I really wanted to get this up yesterday but school work was too taxing. I dont want to have to wait til next week, so I’m doing it today!
I read ReLife by So Yayoi and published by Earth Star Entertainment.
Right off the bat, I really enjoyed this and I’m happy to be reviewing it so be sure to check it out afterwards.
Okay here we go!
Spoilers- Meh. They hint at some future stuff we will discuss but nothing major.
Plot- So I checked this manga out because it seemed like a change of pace. I had just done One Punch Man(Check out my review here!) and I wanted something a little more deeper than OPM. Arata is a 27 year old loser. He does not have a job, his family has little faith in him, and he’s fallen out of the loop with friends. Honestly, this is pretty much how I felt a few weeks ago, so it was very easy to put myself in his shoes. Anyway, he is selected for the ReLife program. This program leaves him 27 but gives him the appearance of a 17 year old. I thought this program was going to put him in another body or something extreme, but alas it gives him a second chance at high school. Why is this important? Arata cannot find a job, and ReLife offers to help him once his one year trial is complete. This is his story in the life of a high school body once again.
Characters- Oh boy! Normally I can only talk about one or two characters, but there’s actually a few characters in here that we get a decent understanding of who they are.
Arata- For starters, our main character. He was denied another job and now his family is no longer going to support him. He tries really hard not to connect with any of the high school students, but due to his overwhelming compassion for others and his inability to stay low-key, he ends up having several interaction with the students. He is not very good at this being younger and adjusting to school. One of the many things he fails to recall is that he can’t smoke. Not only is he now technically 17, he’s also on school grounds. It’s quite humorous how the students and teachers interact with his hmm, “forgetfulness”.
Ryo- One of the funniest character’s to a manga I’ve ever read. He is the ReLife agent who offered Arata the pills to change him. He is also Arata’s overseer. He takes the pills with him. Ryo knows how to get inside of Arata’s head and push his buttons. He is always making jokes about how dumb Arata is, or joking about Arata falling in love with the students, and is just always making Arata feel embarrassed. This interaction between the two main character’s really makes this a special manga to me. Ryo genuinely is interested in Arata as a person and is truly captivated by Arata’s interaction with his classmates. This makes the dialogue exchange between the two so honest and so welcomed. Not to mention, it’s absolutely hilarious.
Hishiro- Hishiro is the silent type. Noted as not smiling too much or ever having friends, she normally keeps to herself. She has been class president every year beforehand and looks to keep that title headed into this year. She takes a liking to Arata(or so it is lead on to believe). Which is a concept I debated on how I felt for a long time. Ryo heavily suggest Arata give her a chance. Arata’s response is no because she is ten years younger than him, despite him looking like a 17 year old. Which i agree with Arata. He still has the mind of a 27 year old. But every since they begun “talking” Arata seems more happy and lively. There’s a scene where they flirt over business emails(Yeah, email). Which ends in Arata laughing so hard. This scene is really well done, because it’s two characters who do not fit in too well with their peers, but in this moment they are letting their walls done for each other.
Rena/Oga/And the rest of the bunch- She is another female student in Arata’s grade. She is eyeing the class president spot but first must dethrone Hishiro. She finds Arata as a disturbance due to him getting busted with cigarettes and not having a pencil, but she does lend him one. Oga so far as come off as a funny smooth talker. I believe he’s only had one scene, but I very much enjoyed his personality while he was there. Ms. Amatsu is here to make Arata look bad. She is a 25 year old who is already doing more with her life than Arata. She also busted him with the cigarettes and forces him to write an essay. The last character introduced was Honoka. I believe little has been revealed about her so far, but I’m sure we will see how she ties into the loop soon.
The World- This category does not so much matter with mangas like this. It’s your every day earth much like ours.
Recap-
Action-None.
Romance- I do not think it’s come right out and said anything. If I had to guess, Arata could hook up with Hishiro. Rena and Oga might be a thing. They appear to flirt a bit.
Plot- It feels like it’s been done before(reminds me of Case Closed which is never a bad thing). But I like the spin of seeing him adjust to high school life
Characters- Such a lovely batch of characters.
The World- Bland. But it doesnt have to be anything more than what it is.
Humor- One of the funniest manga’s I’ve ever read.
Verdict- Hilariously well done. It does not have action, which can be good. It does not rely on effects or being over the top like One Punch Man. The characters will have you in stitches. Easily one of the best manga’s I’ve read.
Score- 9.5 out of 10. Yeah. I love this manga. I did not know it existed two days ago, but much like how I fell for Food Wars, I’ve fallen for ReLife. You should too! Volume One ended hinting at the last subject before Arata who did not do so well, Volume 1 and 2 are available free on Crunchyroll, Volume 5 is coming out next week, and there is an anime coming out next month! What are you waiting for! You have no reason not to give it a try!
Manga Monday: One Punch Man Volume 1 Review
One Punch Man is written by One and illustrated by Yusuke Murata. It is published through Shonen Jump and distributed through Viz Media. It originally was a web based manga before the team brought it to paperback in 2012. It is famous for the anime that grew very popular last season(Which I managed to stay spoiler free from so far.
Spoilers: Meh, not really any huge ones.
Plot: Saitama was a man who had lost the will to live three years before the very first panel. In the first chapter he fights a piccolo looking character who is a manifest of earth sent to kill all humans for polluting. Yeah, manga takes a very “Defend Earth” stance early and does not really let it go through out the volume. Chapter two gives us back story about Saitama when he was a dead beat who killed a mutated crab(Yet again from pollution like some Fallout stuff). This is when we learn it’s been three years since he decided to train to carry on the Baldy Balds tradition(I love you if you get this reference). Early on this feels very western world comic style. By that I mean no apparent cohesive plot like tradition mangas. Most of the early chapters just feel like days-in-the-life kinda things where he goes around easily defeating villains. Combine that with almost a deconstruction of Shonen manga’s main characters and you have an entertainingly funny, but boring action comic. The volume does end on a high note as they introduce what I presume to be the bad guy organization.
Characters: Saitama and Genos seem to be our two main characters so i’ll focus on them
Saitama- Saitama could not get a job to save his life. He even commented he failed 3 or 4 interviews that day alone. When a mutated crab tries to kill a little boy, Saitama rushes to the rescue and discovers he wants to be a hero. For fun and all. Saitama is pretty much how you would expect Goku or Luffy to to fight. Saitama is so overpowered it’s crazy. Goku is crazy stronger than anybody in Dragon Ball but still struggles against folks he should not. Saitama, on the other hand, obliterates the opposition. Logically, this how I imagine most fights going. One Punch Man shows how, while very funny, just how dull these worlds would be. The cool part about him though is that he seeks a rival as strong as him and how he feels empty without the competition. The sad part, I do not think he will find that rival anytime soon.
Genos- Genos is a pretty cool character. He is an cyborg but is fully capable of emotions. He is seeking revenge and hoping Saitama can help train him(Sandy would be disappointed to learn this). He once was a young boy in a small town. A cyborg went crazy and killed everyone in the town except him(Like a synth. Man, I have Fallout on the brain). Anyway, a doctor for justice preformed a procedure on him to turn Genos into a cyborg that seeks justice.
The World: One of the first mangas I really get to talk about the world. The world is overrun by monsters and villains. Saitama hopes that by donning his cap(For fun) he would cut down on the monstrous behavior. He’s wrong. Most of the villains seem to be manifestations of science or the earth herself. Pretty cool world, scary to live in though.
Recap:
Action: One punch worth
Romance: None at the moment.
Plot: It’s there.
Characters: We’ve really only done surface level scratching
The World: I feel this is going to be explored a little more. Cool for the time being though
Humor: The series does this right. It’s pretty funny.
Verdict: Seems the chapters are more western style than tradition mangas for now. It’s a funny read but it’s very fast pace.
Score: 6.5 out 10. One Punch Man is hard to buy into after just one volume. It’s a satire and deconstruction of a genre I’m just not sure how well it translates into manga form. The best part from the mangas One Punch Man seems to be inspired by is the rivalry between main characters and villains, think Naruto and Sasuke. One Punch Man does not have that, but it does have potential. A solid start, a good enough middle, and cliff hanger ending makes me at least want to give volume 2 a try(which I will when I can).
Manga Monday! A Silent Voice
Remember how I said Manga Monday would be Neon Genesis? Yeah, slight change of plans. I read A Silent Voice Vol 1 today and decided that is what we will talk about today.
A Silent Voice was written by Yoshitoki Oima and published by Kodansha. It started as a One-Shot back 2011, and has since been serialized. The series ran from 2013 to 2014 collecting seven volumes.
Spoilers: There will be slight Vol 1 spoilers. I do not know how the rest of the series pans out, so I dont know if this spoilers will “give it all away”, but they shouldnt.
Plot: Shoya Ishida is your typical preteen: dumb, reckless, and just all around clueless. He calls himself a daredevil and does stunts with reckless abandon all in the name of winning his war with Boredom. His best buddies grow up and tire of his behavior (they are now in middle school for crying out loud!) Finding himself slowly but surely losing his war, he must think of new ways to defeat his foe without his friends. Enter new girl. Shoko Nshimiya. A deaf transfer student. Shoya gets the idea that he must make her life miserable, and so he does. The rest of the manga plays out as Shoya tries desperately to convey to a deaf girl she is not liked. I want spoil if he is successful.
Characters: This manga has a lot of characters getting introduced quite early in the beginning chapters, but were focusing on two. Shoya and Shoko.
Shoya: As mentioned, his character is relentlessly mean and absent hearted and metaphorically blind. He can be funny and entertaining at times, but at most he is super stubborn and stuck in his hateful ways despite his teacher and parent’s endless attempts to get him to quit. He is also extremely unaware to the situation and what is truly going on at the school and classroom around him.
Shoko: The infinitely cooler one. She is deaf and uses a notebook to communicate to her classmates. She eagerly tries to make friends in spite of Shoya trying to convince everyone she is borderline the devil. One of the ironic moments of her campaign is an exchange between her and her mom and their hair dresser(Shoya’s mom) where Shoko adamantly denies her mom’s wishes to cut her hair like a boy. Her mom believes that will help her stop getting bullied? Anyway, Shoya’s mom refuses to cut because Shoko doesn’t want it. cut Shoko’s mom says “I do not need your opinion or Shoto’s”. This scene is powerful to me, because it shows, in a way, Shoko s getting bullied by her mom. Her mom makes her voice even more mute than it was. The image is super powerful to me. I really respect Shoko’s character because she is tenacious through and through. I cant help but think that her decision at the end of the manga was really her moms idea.
The World: Not much is made about the world. There is no treasure at the end of the sea, or no dragon balls hiding in the corners of the world. Most of the manga takes place at school or at his house. The rest of the world seems to not exist outside of Shoya and Shoko’s interactions.
Recap:
Action: Barely any.
Romance: I feel like a relationship could be blooming here. It is hard to tell based off the ending of this volume though.
Plot: Shoya is all over the place, but the plot is easy enough to follow.
Characters: Pretty meaty characters for an opening volume. You love and you hate em.
The World: Could be fleshed out more, but I am not entirely sure what that would add to the manga as a whole
Humor: Solid, when used.
Verdict: Good read. It switches scene rapidly, keep that in mind. Altogether, great read if you can sit through poor little Shoto getting bullied for hundreds of pages.
Score: 7 out 10. Mostly because it seems like it has a hard time staying focused. Maybe it’s the authors intent because Shoya is all over the place. Otherwise, it’s a wonderful opening act.
Final Note (There will be spoilers in this part!)
The scene where Shoya arrives at school to learn his classmates had been writing on this desk all a long was a huge scene and maybe one of my favorites in any manga. I teared up a bit, because it makes you reflect on how mean Shoya was, but how Shoto defended him til the very end. A+ to this scene
Check the manga out yourself by purchasing it here
Check out other Manga Monday’s Here
MANGA MONDAY: Noragami Vol 1!
Noragami was made by Adachitoka and published through Kodansha Comics. It debuted in 2010 and did not come stateside until 2014.
Spoilers: Minor
Plot: Noragami tells the story of Yato, the shrine-less god, on the hunt to gain fame, and Iki’s struggle as a half human, half ayakashi. Something I noticed was that each of the three chapters seemed to have a new main character. Chapter 1 centers around Mutsumi. Chapter 2 centers around Yato. and Chapter 3 centers around Iki. The whole premise of the manga is that Yato is on the bottom of the food chain as far as gods go. He also has no people skills(Which could say a lot about why he has no followers). His Shinki, or divine weapon of the gods, leaves him due to his lack of compassion. The rest of Vol 1 is about his hunt for a new shinki. Iki wants Yato to fix her problem(See characters for more details). They end up fighting an ayakashi, creatures living on the middle shore. The shores are basically this story’s version of the human realm and the afterlife. Naturally, the middle shore is out of sight of humans and the creatures are not quite as strong as gods and such. In chapter 3, we meet Yuki, so I have reason to believe he will be the subject of chapter 4 in the next volume.
Characters: For now, I will only talk about the two main characters. Yato and Iki
Yato- People Skills? Nope. Compassion? Nope. Southern Charm? Nope. Shinki? Maybe. He does not have that much going for him. Even as a god he mentions an ayakashi would not even acknowledge him as a superior without his shinki. He is not the most flawed character ever, but he definitely has a ton of room to grow. That does make it interesting to see what he will end up like.
Iki- She does make the manga more interesting. She was hit by a bus. No no, this does not take an awesome Yu Yu Hakusho turn. Instead, she comes back alive without having to save her body. She is now a form of ayakashi. Randomly, she will pass out and go into a spirit form. Her spirit form has a tail. No no, this does not take an even more awesomer Dragon Ball turn. Instead, if her tail is cut, she will no longer be able to return to her human form. Essentially, this makes her a liability in combat.
Cannot wait to see these two grow.
World: Okay. So, if you are into spirits, afterlife, gods and demons, you’ll probably like this world. I am really not sure if other gods will come in or what(I do not look up spoilers or any information. Most of my reads are blind reads of books that catch my eye). But there is definitely one god floating around, Yato. Ayakashis are here too. They do not do too much from what I’ve gathered. In chapter 1, the negative stress of all the students creates a huge ayakashi that encourages the kids to bully Mutsumi. In chapter 3, one challenges Yato and they fight. The themes do incorporate supernatural mythology. I am into it.
Recap: A good story that does not try to confide itself to one genre like action or romance, but blends a lot of genres into a supernatural world.
Action: Used sparingly.
Romance: No romance or love plot lines jumped out to me so far.
Plot: Very solid. Is a good telling of gods, demons, and other supernatural matters.
Characters: Yato does not stick out to me as much as other main characters, but he is still enjoyable to say the least
The World: Standard human world with supernatural elements thrown in.
Humor: Nowhere near the funniest of mangas I’ve ever read. With that said, it still has hilarious parts thrown in. So yeah, it is good for a few laughs, for sure.
Verdict: You can recommend this book to a lot of people. There is action, but it doesnt lean on it, there is comedy and most of it is clean if I remember right. It is a solid read.
Score: 7.5 out 10. Even with all the good things I’ve said. This is volume 1 and you can tell this is just the beginning. It is a positive read with a lot of strong points, and it sets up the world right. It explains to the audience what the demons are like, what the gods are like, so on and so forth. I expect volume 2 to be even better.
Buy it here: Buy Noragami Vol 1
MANGA MONDAY! BLUE EXORCIST VOL 1
Today on I am reviewing Blue Exorcist Vol 1 by Kazue Kato released through Shonen Jump Advance and Viz Media and started in 2009. Blue Exorcist made it stateside in 2011.
Spoilers– Only spoilers that set up the plot(nothing in the long run)
Plot– Rin Okumura is living at his father’s monastery. Suddenly, his demon form awakens when a gang of other demons attack him. His father, Fujimoto, rescues him and informs him he is actually the child of a human woman and none other than Satan. Satan takes control of Fujmoto and Rin runs away from the monastery. Once he runs away, he meets Mephisto(Mister Faust). Mephisto enrolls him into True Cross Academy. It’s here his adventure as an exorcist begins!
Characters– The characters are wonderful. Rin and his twin brother Yukio work really well together. Yukio is very smart and a great exorcist, whereas Rin is lazy, but is very driven to protect those he cares for. Mephisto does not really shine too much. He is in a minimum amount of scenes, but is well respected and talented. He also runs True Cross Academy. Father Fujimoto is a great character. I only wish he could have seen more action than one chapter, but he is the ignition for Rin.
World– The world has demons all around it. Most of the demons need to trick humans to roam the Earth. The exorcist are their counterpart. Rin is the first exorcist to also be a demon, or as he says “I am not a demon, but im not exactly human either”. The world will be filled with epic battles between the demons and the exorcists. Pretty exciting!
Verdict: Solid action, good humor, enjoyable characters. My only complaint is I dont have Volume 2 to keep reading. Guess I’ll have to change that soon!
Score– 8.5 out of 10. Not quite as good as The Seven Deadly Sins, but still very awesome. I read it one sitting. I definitely recommend it.
Havent read it yet? What are you waiting for? Buy Blue Exorcist Vol 1!
Looking for more Manga Monday? Check out More Manga Monday!
MANGA MONDAY! The Seven Deadly Sins Vol 1
The Seven Deadly Sins is written and drawn by Nakaba Suzuki and runs through Kodansha Comics. It started its journey back in 2012.
Spoilers: Slight. This is just Volume 1 after all.
Plot: In a land named Britannia, a pretty little Kingdom gets flipped on its head when the royal military plans to overthrow its King. Elizabeth, daughter of King, flees in search of finding the legendary Seven Deadly Sins. She stumbles into a bar ran by a young boy named Meliodas and his trusty pig, Hawk. After some panels, she realizes this little boy is apart of The Seven Deadly Sins. He explains to her, they use to be a special task force for king but the Holy Knights frame the Sins for a crime and they are banished. Meliodas does not remember much and somewhere down the line gets turned into a kid. Meliodas, Hawk, and Elizabeth set out to find the remaining six. Vol 1 ends with them running into Diane, the sin of envy.
The World: The first three of the five chapters mainly center around Meliodas’s bar. Later on, they do venture to the village of Vanya where their people are being oppressed by the Holy Knights, and to the woods of the sleeping sin infested with prankster goblins. The world has not really been all explored yet but the hunt has just started as well.
Characters: Maybe I just have Dragon Ball on the brain because I have been reading so much of it, but Meliodas and Elizabeth are striking modern day versions of Kid Goku and Bulma. Meliodas is a tad bit more self-aware than Goku was at the time of Dragon ball, but they are both happy-go-lucky, super overpowered kids. They also both protect the female lead. Elizabeth is a slightly more classy version of Bulma. Both start out on a quest to find the legendary seven, enter something cool here, and end up making friends with really strong young boys. Hawk is a slightly funnier Oolong. Hawk’s timing and interactions with Meliodas seem funnier to me than Oolong did with Goku. With all that being said, the three of them do stand out in their own way and are absolutely great. Ill get into the other sins like Diane and the higher up Holy Knights like Kyle when more becomes known about them.
Recap: The plot is very action adventure like and it might not be breaking any boundaries, but it is enough to kick start this awesome journey.
Action– Has not been as much as you’d expect, but it is very solid when there is action
Romance– Very little. Diane is obsessed with Meliodas. If they play out like Kid Goku and Bulma than clearly nothing will happen( I have not read ahead so I do not know what will become of them) but Meliodas and Elizabeth have a better chance of falling in love than Goku and Bulma ever did.
Plot: As mentioned, it is solid enough to get the adventure going.
Characters: So far are wonderful. Hawk is Hilarious
The World: Has been pretty cool so far, has room to fully grow
Humor: The best part without a doubt.. The Seven Deadly Sins is very, very funny.
Verdict: The first Manga I bought that I had no idea about. My girlfriend just picked it up at random, I believe, and I read the back and just went with it. And I do not regret it for a second. It reminds me of modern day DBZ, with less martial arts and more mid-evil fantasy aspects. I basically read it in one sitting.
Score: 9.05 out of 10! Fantastic. At least read Vol 1. I think Barnes and Nobles or Books-a-Million carry it. If you can not find it there, Crunchyroll has the whole series so far I believe.
Get your copy now. Seven Deadly Sins Vol 1!
Manga Monday- Deadman Wonderland Vol1 Review
I went to the book store last week and picked out a few mangas. The first one was Deadman Wonderland Vol 1. This book is written by Jinsei Kataoka and illustrated by Kazuma Kondou. Vol 1 was released in Japan in 2007 and came to the states in 2010.
Plot: Ten years ago an earthquake hit japan and sank about one third of the mainland. There is only one prison left in area and it is know as Deadman Wonderland, a very fitting title. The main story starts with Ganta, the main character, in school with his friends. Ganta looks out to see a figure and then suddenly the figure appears in the room. The figure, named the Red Man, kills everyone except Ganta. He shoots him with a red crystal. When Ganta looks around he smells blood and sees everyone of his classmates dead. He is the sole surviver. He than is sentenced to Deadman Wonderland on Death Row. Which we find, technically everyone there is on death row but I will explain that later. Upon arriving to the prison Ganta slowly learns the twisted rules DW has. He also learns that he must compete in intense life or death challenges to earn CPs, the currency here. He meets too fellow Deadmen, Shiro and Yo. There is a link between Shiro and Ganta. They were friends when they were little, but outside of maybe two brief flashbacks, this substory line has not been developed yet. The red crystal seems to give Ganta powers to launch projectiles when he feels his life is endanger.
Setting: The setting so far has been my favorite part of the series. The prison uses the money it raises to help rebuild Japan. All the prisoners have a lethal poison in them which they must eat a piece of candy to neutralize. The candy has the antidote in it. The candy is sold at high prices throughout the prison. So if they want to live, they must compete in challenges to earn CP. Ganta gets a taste of one of the events, the dog race, which forces the players to try to make it to the end of the race alive. I am really looking forward to learning all the ends and out of the prisons as well as seeing all the challenges it holds.
Characters: I like most of the characters so far. Ganta is pretty cool and is only getting cooler as the series goes on. Shiro is a nice mystery that I cant wait to see explored. Yo is not my favorite character and hasnt done too much, but Vol 1 ends with me believing he will play a much bigger role for later Vols. Some other characters worth mentioning are Makina, a the chief guard of DW, she is pretty legit.
Score: I am giving vol 1 an 8. It did what I want a manga to do, not make me want to put it down. You will really pull for Ganta who is making the best of his situation and you will be dying to learn more about the characters and the prison itself. It definitely has me ready to go buy vol 2. I recommend giving it a try and seeing if you like it too.
Da_Hubbz 