07-Ghost

A Manga by Yuki Amemiya & Yukino Ichihara

Genre: Action, Fantasy, Supernatural

# of books: Three volumes and waiting....

In a kingdom threaten by war it is only natural to desire the best solders. Barsburg Empire Military Academy produces the elite of elite by cultivating the rare and unique power of the "zaiphon"; which converts a "force" into different forms for combat depending on the students individual powers and personalities.

The story stems around a boy name Teito Klein, a slave raised to the position of military dog. We accompany him on his journey as he discovers his past life and the responsibilities it holds for him.

The story is incomplete so far but what I have read I have liked. Teito has a long road ahead of him as he searches out his past and discovers the secrets of the church of the 7 holy ghost. The storyline has a good feel and for the most part the graphics are drawn well. The only fault I find with it are the battle scenes--it is hard to tell the characters apart since they are blurred and jumbled. All the characters have the tendency to have the same facial structure so if you do not catch individual differences early on, you will find yourself looking back to make sure they are who you think they are. The story is somewhat predictable but I like the religion portion of the story, it has a good ideology behind it.

A good read but not a keeper.

Battle Royale

Written by Koushun Takami
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A Graphic Novel/Manga Series of 15 books. I am not going to review each book in the series individually, since I read all of them in one weekend...it was that good.

This series is not for the light hearted. It is full of violence, sex and tons of gore. The story line is a lot like lord of the flies, only more institutionalized. The story starts out how many typical manga tend to, a lot of happy go lucky teenagers going on a group trip. Only difference is this one has a nasty twist. The teenagers have the not so great luck to be drawn for the governments reality show called the "program". All 42 students are dropped on an island, given a duffle bag, with a random weapon which range from semi-automatic machine guns to acid and have to kill each other till there is only one left standing. Each student have been equipped with a collar which will explode if they try to take it off or escape from the island.

If you can handle the gore this is a must read just for the intense suspense and titillating anticipation to see who will best who each chapter. As the story develops with each chapter you get greater insight to the characters past and current mind set. You will find yourself selecting favorites out of the 42 characters. Rooting them on as they survive horror after horror, you will cry with them as they loose their friends and loved one and as one by one they die.

The characters are pretty well rounded, each one from all main tracks of life; poor, rich, geniuses, idiots, a few insane and a lot that were abused. The main character, Shuuya, only wanted to be a rocker when he grew up finds himself responsible for the class cutie, Noriko. Both are a bit idealistic and are in many ways too trusting in other people to do the right thing. The baddies of this story are serious Kiriyama and the beautiful Mitsuko. I found myself sympathizing with them while I gasped in horror at their actions. They were both my favorites to read about. The characters are what make this story so captivating. Almost every character gets a section where they revel what makes them tick and why they act they way the act to each other. The characters were developed so well that when one dies you feel some type of emotional reaction. As you grow attached to the characters you find yourself getting panicked because as the rules state only one will survive. Which of your favorite characters will be sacrificed so that one will survive?

You will just have to read it to find out -- but you will have to buy your own copies cause mine are staying on my shelf :)

Reviewed by Tesse
http://www.bookmooch.com/m/bio/blissful2beme