 | | ▪ | RELEASED BY: | | DEL REY | | | ▪ | AUTHOR / ART: | | TADASHI KAWASHIMA / ADACHITOKA | | | ▪ | FORMAT: | | JAPANESE / B&W | | | ▪ | PAGES: | | 224 | | | ▪ | RATING: | | OT | | | ▪ | RELEASE DATE: | | 06/24/2008 | | | ▪ | REVIEW DATE: | | 07/24/2008 | | | ▪ | REVIEWED BY: | | SCOTT CAMPBELL |
Alive is an interesting mix of horror, sci-fi, and even some mystery. It focuses on a group of friends all attending high school together, and seems pretty normal for the first little while. Suddenly something takes a turn for the worst and a number of people are either murdered, appear to have been murdered, or flat out commit suicide. We soon discover that this epidemic of unexplainable deaths is due to a terrible virus that confuses the human mind in relation to death. The powers to be claim that the virus infects the victim’s brain and causes them to commit suicide… In volume five, Okada is holding a little girl prisoner, and only Taisuke can save her from Okada’s deadly plan. Okada controls the power of the “Grim Reaper’s Promise” – anyone that makes a promise to him, and then breaks it, dies instantly at the hands of the Grim Reaper. It’s quite tricky in a way, but he of course manages to get the little girl to promise she will never leave him, so how is she supposed to escape or be rescued? While Taisuke tries to free the hostage, Megumi’s being held hostage herself. She is trying to escape, but at what cost does her freedom come at? Will she and Taisuke ever be reunited? The answers to all these questions become more apparent with the addition of volume five to Alive’s already very engrossing lineup. Artistically, this series is certainly getting better with some of the latest volumes. It’s probably normal for most artists to improve their skills as they work and complete new volumes of their manga, but it’s always a very positive thing despite how common of an occurrence it is. One of the best things about the art is the wonderful contrast – the artist does so much with simple white and black contrast, focusing on the whites for the most park, with dark black lines separating different objects and characters, rather than relying on heavy use of shading and patterns. The characters are so detailed – they are still very “anime” in their look, but manage to give off a very human appeal because of how well drawn they are. As always with this series, the panels flow well and there’s a lot of really great action – the visuals have a lot of inherent movement for a still media like manga. The art is great for all these reasons – it’s talented on a multitude of levels. It’s great to see some extras in a manga, and Alive has a number of them at the back of the book and the front. There are some translation notes that come in especially handy as they explain many of the quirky little Japanese jokes and cultural differences. It’s some nice insight into what we’re reading and what it all means. There’s also a preview of the next volume, and you can’t go wrong with a little sneak peek!
IN SUMMARY:
Alive is multi-layered and multi-talented in relation to its strong points. Great art and well-written story come together to form this engrossing series, which becomes deeper with each new volume!
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