 | | ▪ | RELEASED BY: | | DEL REY | | | ▪ | AUTHOR / ART: | | KAIRI FUJIYAMA | | | ▪ | FORMAT: | | JAPANESE / B&W | | | ▪ | PAGES: | | 208 | | | ▪ | RATING: | | T | | | ▪ | RELEASE DATE: | | 07/01/2008 | | | ▪ | REVIEW DATE: | | 08/13/2008 | | | ▪ | REVIEWED BY: | | SCOTT CAMPBELL |
Dragon Eye is the story of a post apocalyptic world filled with violent monsters created by an unstoppable sickness. Humankind has fallen into danger of extinction due to the spontaneously generated “D Virus.” Those infected by the virus transformed into murderous monsters known as “Dracules” and soaked the earth with blood. Terror and despair descended upon the world, and humankind feared its days were numbered. However, there emerged individuals that rose up against and fought the Dracules. The people came to know these super warriors as the “Vius.” In volume five, new enemies appear in the form of supposed allies. Issa is a powerful warrior who is sworn to protect his city against Dracules–deadly, virus-infected monsters. But now someone is smuggling them into the city–and the culprit may be one of Issa’s colleagues. To capture the villain, Issa and his band of heroes embark on an ambitious undercover operation . . . but they might be walking right into a trap! There’s never a dull moment in Dragon Eye, and volume five proves this yet again with much “goings on” and plenty of double-crossing action to boot. The visuals never let up either.Dragon Eye is still bursting with movement and intensity – not always an easy feat when it comes to drawing manga. As always, facial expressions on the characters provide lots of laughs when they are goofy and over the top, as well as that dynamic feel when the story is set on action and fight sequences. The art has always been detailed and stylized in an appealing way for this series, and the innovative facial expressions are some of the best points relating to this. As fans, most of us have come to expect a lot of detail from the visuals in our favourite manga series, so it’s not uncommon for a manga to be wonderfully detailed. But in light of that, Dragon Eye is on a “higher level” of detail and visual superiority that some of the best manga out there also bring to the table – this series is top stuff, so it really demands attention for what it manages to be. Naruto fans will eat this up – it’s a step up in maturity of content for some parts, but nothing that most fans wouldn’t be able to handle. If anything, Dragon Eye is well-balanced – it has a little bit of everything, and keeps the pace up so that your interest will stay with it. The extras and translation notes in the back of the book are also still very much appreciated. There are two pages of mini humor based comics relating to the series, as well as explanations of some of the cultural jokes and references used in the book. Just to top it off there’s a short, not yet translated preview of volume six to give an indication of what could be happening in the continuing story. It’s a proficiently constructed manga with heaps of action and a fun cast of characters to keep you coming back for more!
IN SUMMARY:
Dragon Eye is well-written, well-drawn, and contains a perfect balance of action and humour, wrapped up in a great story with a variety of likable characters. This is one of the good ones – it’s easily worth some attention, especially from action/adventure fans looking for their next fix. |
