 | | ▪ | RELEASED BY: | | VIZ MEDIA | | | ▪ | AUTHOR / ART: | | KEN-ICHI SAKURA | | | ▪ | FORMAT: | | JAPANESE / B&W | | | ▪ | PAGES: | | 192 | | | ▪ | RATING: | | A | | | ▪ | RELEASE DATE: | | 01/29/2008 | | | ▪ | REVIEW DATE: | | 04/28/2008 | | | ▪ | REVIEWED BY: | | SCOTT CAMPBELL |
Dragon Drive is another fine addition to the Shonen Jump line up, proving consistently that it’s worthy of the title. At first impression, Dragon Drive is well-drawn, dynamic, and sports some great action and characters to keep reader’s interest throughout the manga. The story moves fast, allowing for all the information we need to understand the story without ever slowing down. Due to this fast-paced storytelling, Dragon Drive should be able to capture and keep the attention of readers both young and old. When it comes down to story, we can see a lot of resemblance to popular Manga like Pokemon and Digimon, but Dragon Drive still throws in enough innovation to make it stand out from the crowd. The premise goes like this: Reiji Ozora thinks he’s no good at anything, including his school work. Just as he’s starting to feel down about his situation, he’d introduced to a game called Dragon Drive and gets his very own virtual dragon that he names “Chibi.” His new dragon buddy is small and weak – or at least that’s what everyone thought at first! After their first battle in the virtual game, Reiji realizes there may be more to his tiny friend than meets the eye. In volume six, Maiko’s in jail, along with all the people of Yaudim. A huge, childish dragon named Guan-Coo is holding them captive and using maiko as his personal toy! Is there any hope for escape? Meanwhile, Reiji faces a series of dangerous and deceptive trials set by the dragon he wants to claim as an ally – Shinsaber. Will his bravery and trusting nature win over this powerful dragon and help him save the day? If the righteous can come out on top yet again, the conclusion to this volume of Dragon Drive should be an exciting one! The art is fun, detailed, and knows how to show action and movement in a very satisfying way. Speed lines, flying debris, and mid-air fire balls are just some of the visual action awaiting readers when they pick up this book. The art is never too dark, always allowing for great detail and our ability to see everything that’s going on. The word bubbles are great as the text is always readable and often at a large size if room allows. There are lots of great half and full page drawing that showcase some of the most important or dramatic moments in the manga. It’s great to see the artist showing off their talent with a full page drawing. The dragons themselves are all very different in both appearance and ability, showing a lot of innovation from the artist. Most people would expect all dragons to look like big scaly monsters, but Dragon Drive presents them in a multitude of new and interesting ways. A favorite is the giant Gorao, an earth type dragon. He is a protector dragon with lion-mane silhouette, and is extremely loyal and devoted to protecting his master, Yukino Maiko. Who ever thought a dragon could take on the look of a half-lion? And that’s only one of the better design concepts.
A little bit about the author for you (as it is always good to know what other works an individual has created or worked on in case you want to look into those titles also): Born in Shizuoka, Japan, Ken-ichi Sakura made his manga debut with Fabre Tanteiki, which was published in a special edition of Monthly Shonen Jump in 2000. Serialization of Dragon Drive began in the March 2001 issue of Monthly Shonen Jump, and the hugely successful series has inspired video games and an animated TV show. Sakura's latest title, Kotokuri, started running in Monthly Shonen Jump in March 2006. Dragon Drive and Kotokuri have both become tremendously popular in Japan because of Sakura's unique sense of humor and his dynamic portrayal of feisty teen characters. In his spare time, Sakura enjoys playing games of all types.
IN SUMMARY:
Dragon Drive is full of energy and details – everything from the art to the pace of the story is very enjoyable. With its all ages appropriate rating, it is sure to be a hit across the board. |
