My first thought upon turning the last pages of Domu was that the manga has magnificent action. The second was that it doesn’t have much else. I point especially to the first act, which, comprising…
Instead of gore or monsters, The Drifting Classroom derives horror from the fall of humanity; it intends not so much to induce vomit as to shake us to our souls. The first four volumes describe the…
Supernatural creations are everywhere in anime and manga. Ghosts often feature, demons are dime a dozen. There are more vampires then you shake a particularly pointy stick at. Zombies, on the…
Back in the 90s Manga Video (as this was the dark ages of VHS) made their name by selling 15 and 18 rated anime full of sex and violence. Memorably they used to add extra swearing to their dubs to obtain…
Horror is an intriguing and vast genre as its meaning changes depending on the person perceiving it. We all have our own personal view of what horror is and what haunts us in our nightmares. For example;…
Alive: The Final Evolution, from Del Rey, reaches its 6th volume here. This supernatural/sci-fi series is pitched at age 16+ and so far has been a thrilling read. Volume 6 continues the story…
Chapters #16 – #19 of Alive: The Final Evolution are presented here in volume #5. Thus far, Del Rey’s supernatural/sci-fi series has had its highs and lows. It is not very original, and its post-apocalyptic…
After reading the first three volumes of Alive, it quickly threatened to become one of my favourite mangas. The third volume in particular was really compelling and I couldn’t wait to get…
“Human beings are truly disgusting creatures.” Rem (shinigami)
Top student Light Yagami has given up the Death Note and, as a consequence, he no longer remembers that he was Kira, the ‘righteous’…
When Light Yagami wins a place at a top university, he is surprised to find that the fellow top-scoring student chosen to give the opening address is the same shambling, unkempt young man he noticed…
‘You can choose to be barely alive. Or you can choose a definite death. So….don’t make a wrong choice.’ This is the sombre advice given to the protagonist of this story, Taisuke. After surviving…
When we left Taisuke at the end of Volume 1, he had a hole in his stomach and had just survived a fall off the top of a building. He wakes from a 3 day coma and ponders to himself, ‘Any normal human would…
It became known as “Nightmare Week”. A pandemic of global suicides suddenly hit planet Earth, apparently caused by some new kind of “suicide virus”. This coincided with a host of other strange…
This is my first encounter with the Hellsing franchise, but this is actually its third iteration. It began in manga form, with Kouta Hirano creating the original manga series which debuted in…
Guts decides to rejoin the Band of the Hawk before they decide to embark on a daring attempt to rescue Griffith. What follows should be a joyful reunion but instead becomes something nobody could…
As consistently brilliant as it is, I’m reluctant to say that this volume is another turning point in the Berserk story. The thing is, not only each successive volume but every episode seems…
Berserk seems to be reaching a turning-point as the war between Midland and Chuder focuses on a decisive battle for control of the Doldery stronghold. Following their brave and lucky escape at…
Like many anime series, Trinity Blood begins with the romanticised amalgamation of different periods, organisations and styles (used to its own ends) that we are by now familiar with; drawing…
Guts carries out the mission Griffith set for him but events take an unexpected and bloody turn. Unfortunately nobody has much time to dwell on the ramifications because the Band of the Hawk are…
“Humans are so much fun!” gleefully observes Ryuk, the shinigami, or God of Death, who has oh-so-carelessly dropped his Death Note, the notebook in which he inscribes the names of those…
