Thunder 3 Volumes 6 & 7 Review

It has been a while since I’ve last covered Thunder 3, and having returned to it my overall reaction is somewhat mixed.

With the “Small 3” now calling themselves the “Thunder 3”, Pynotaro, Tsubame and Hiroshi have now joined the fight proper, with Pynotaro having gotten himself onto one of the alien spaceships where he finds his missing sister Futaba. While he is able to easily defeat a giant alien tank, it still manages to fire a shot which blows him out of the ship, leaving Futaba on her own again. Pynotaro however survives, and the aliens make a retreat, but this means they take Futaba with them.

Afterwards, the Thunder 3 are considered heroes globally, with their otherworld counterparts using social media to boost the trio’s profile. One of the aliens left behind meanwhile reveals that they were forced to join the invading army after their home world was destroyed, and thus decides to get his revenge by helping the lazily-named rebel group Rebellion. Pynotaro though still wants to rescue Futaba, and it is not long before the alien army returns with a massive fleet, which launches a weapon that wipes out every human on Earth except for those in Japan. Seeing the devastation, the Thunder 3 and Rebellion once again plan a new attack.

This human-destroying weapon, which appears at the end of Volume 6 and the start of Volume 7, is certainly the most thrilling moment in the story so far. It is so dramatic, which is also a bit weird given that the weapon only attacks people – all the buildings across the planet are left perfectly intact. It also makes for a change from how most of action sequences play out, with the standard gun battles and explosions.

For me, this is mainly the reason why my reaction to Thunder 3 is mixed. At times, like the wiping out of most of humanity, it is most definitely a thrilling, disturbing moment. It is something that most definitely draws you in. However, when you come to the normal fights, it’s all much of a muchness. The shooting of one alien in the face feels like all the other alien shootings. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying this manga is a slog. On the contrary, it feels very fast to read. Perhaps that’s the problem – it feels like there is little in the way of any actual substance or meaning in Thunder 3. It’s mainly just one battle after another. Sometimes they are a powerful draw, but overall, most of it is just action you gloss over. Even the whole thing about whether or not artist Yuki Ikeda is really Hiroya Oku of Gantz fame feels uninteresting.

The production is still decent, with the translation from Cat Anderson and editing from Daniel Joseph working well. However, right now it feels that what good bits there are in Thunder 3 are being outweighed by too many dull fights. It’s like one of those Hollywood blockbuster films where there are more explosions than plot. I’m not saying that Thunder 3 is terrible because there are certainly high points, but I do concede that at times it’s mediocre, dull, and perhaps even pointless.

I would sum it up by saying that I do still plan to continue reviewing the series, partly in the hope of a general improvement, but I do admit that if I was buying these volumes with my own money, I probably would have stopped forking out for Thunder 3 a while ago.

Our review copies from Vertical were supplied by Turnaround Comics (Turnaround Publisher Services).