Volumes: 5/20 (Cancelled), OOP but not hard to find
Shounen (reads like)
Genre: Fighting, Fantasy, Isekai
Summary: Wataru is having a tough time. He is only good at one thing- videogames- and the new transfer student Ashikawa is wowing everyone with his good looks, top grades and athletics. Meanwhile Wataru’s parents are getting divorced and the girl he has a crush on, Kaori, likes Ashikawa instead. But he finds out Ashikawa’s secret- he has magical abilities and can open a portal into another world, called Vision. There players from our world fight each other over orbs. Getting 5 Orbs unlocks your full fighting abilities and opens the door to the Tower of the Goddess, who will grant one wish to the first person who defeats the Trials of the Tower.
After Wataru’s mother attempts to commit suicide, he resolves to put his family back together with the wish. Kaori also enters and becomes a player as well, and also has her own wish she wants granted. Can they survive the dangerous other world? Can they manage the resolve to defeat other players?
Review: This manga feels kind of generic, even though the story had potential. The way the manga goes, (mild spoilers, highlight to read) Ashikawa quickly surpasses Wataru and joins the villains side, but remains a sort of friend/rival to Wataru. Kaori pretty quickly gets kidnapped and taken by the bad guys and becomes a host to an evil spirit and supposedly has some destiny to fulfill. Lastly Wataru manages to beat a couple of enemies with his special ability- the Brave Blade, which is powered by heart/willpower. It’s a super powerful ability but has a very short time limit.
This manga made some strange decisions. Ashikawa has a more interesting motivation and back story, as well as being very intelligent, to the point where it seems like he’s the real main character. And I had thought Wataru’s talent at video games would be more important to the plot, but it soon becomes clear that it’s more about his pure heart and willpower and is never mentioned again.
This manga was adapted from a Light Novel, also called Brave Story. The Novel has overall higher review ratings than the manga, and while the manga was cancelled with 15 more volumes left to go, the Novel is complete in one gigantic 800 page Omnibus out from Viz. So basically if you want the whole complete story, read the Novel instead.
It also seems like the manga is much weaker overall between the two. Reviews say that in particular Wataru’s character was changed to be more a generic, slacker videogamer as opposed to the more thoughtful and sympathetic Novel version. Also that the plot loses the epic feel and the more memorable emotional growth that he has in the Novel.
Not Recommended: TLDR; This manga is really very average. Most readers will probably want to check out the Novel instead, since it’s got better reviews and tells a complete story, and the manga was cancelled anyway.
Age Rating: PG13: some mild gore, moderate violence, and some mild brief female nudity.
Other Novels from the author: (from most to least popular): ICO: Castle in the Mist, The Book of Heroes
No comments:
Post a Comment