Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Brave Story Volume 1: A Retelling of a Classic

Brave Story Volume 1: A Retelling of a Classic


By: Miyuki Miyabe & Yoichiro Ono
Reviewed by: Cindy, 14
Rating: Didn't like it


Junior high school student, Wataru, has an average life. His only true skill is playing video games. Then, one day, a new transfer student comes to his school. He's perfect at everything and even beats Wataru at his own game. Wataru follows him and discovers the world of Vision and the powers of a traveler.

First of all, the plot wasn't very original. I'm sure any manga fan has seen this kind of plot before. I call it a "fast food" manga. There are a lot of them but they're kind of the same. Some are better and some just get boring. This one didn't have anything specific that seemed unique.

The characters were just basic shounen types. Wataru is the usual not-very-special guy who finds a magical world and discovers something amazing about him. And of course, he has a crush on a pretty girl at school. She just happens to like the "perfect" new kid though. The stereotypes just keep going.

The character designs are a little boring but since its just the first volume, I didn't expect the art to be great.

Overall, I don't see much potential and having already read the next two volumes, I don't plan on further reviewing.


Recommended to: 13+

1 comment:

Jennifer said...

Cindy, I love the phrase “fast food” manga. I love it because it's great not just for manga but all kinds of books. Even though fast food is bad for you (little nutritional value, formulaic, conveyer belt food), we can still see the allure: it’s fast and easy and sometimes fat-riddled, empty calories just hit the spot; it’s comforting in some way. But at the same time, we want more than that and whether or not we like to break out of our comfort zone, we *need* more. And by "more," I mean "better." If our brains live on a fast food diet, then much like our bodies, our brains become sluggish and weakened and malnourished and they just don’t work as well. We demand five-star gourmet, organic book meals! So. What are they then? What's on the menu at our Healthy Brain Cafe?