I’m sure that we’re all familiar with the Street Fighter video games at this point. I only own Street Fighter IV and Street Fighter X Tekken, but the franchise is so popular that I’m still familiar with several of the characters. Its great to see that Street Fighter got a manga and it’s safe to say that I had some decently high hopes heading in.

The series is only two volumes so they couldn’t really fit everyone in, but that’s all right. Two volumes is better than one and while I do wish that all series could be over 20 volumes; it won’t affect the score. That would be pretty unfair to short, but epic franchises like Zombie Powder and Megaman ZX. There is still a decent amount of plot and the series is very fast paced.

One of the many positives of Street Fighter Alpha is the fact that the story is fast paced, but the author also knows when it’s time for a long fight. Bison vs Rose and Ryu takes up most of the second volume and it’s a great fight. Length is important and it’s one area that Marvel and DC continue to struggle in. I don’t want to see a fight that only lasts for two pages before the rest occurs off screen. I want to see some serious DBZ action and Street Fighter delivers.

One of the reasons why the delivery goes smoothly is thanks to the art. The art is the classic 90’s style so everyone looks pretty tough. The fight scenes are great and you feel the power behind each blow. It’s hard to describe why the 90’s had such awesome art and you really need to view it firsthand to appreciate how well done the drawings are.

The plot involves Ryu, the hero of Street Fighter, as he is not really a fighter anymore. He’s basically a bodyguard for hire at this point and he’s worried about how the Dark Hado may take control of him someday. We don’t get to see all of his previous history first hand, but he mentions his tough fight against Sagat and how it changed him. Ryu isn’t the happy go lucky guy that he used to be.

Unfortunately, the Dark Hado consumes Ryu once again and he’s forced to take on Chun Li and his other friends. Ken is not frightened by the darkness and he still loves to fight. Ken wants Ryu to accept this as well, but will Ryu comply? Meanwhile, the true threat behind the curtains is Bison and wide spread devastation will occur if he is not stopped. Ryu will have to put on his fighting gloves once more and take on this strong opponent as well as shutting down an underground fighting arena. It’s going to be a tough day for this fighter!

Ryu is a good main character. He’s definitely not as cheerful as I had imagined him to be, but I’m sure that it’s temporary. By the end of the series, Ryu is already showing signs of his old self. Ryu’s dark form is pretty fierce and he’s much stronger than his normal form. Ryu doesn’t look very impressive without the dark powers, but he’s still strong enough to defeat most opponents. He’s just not at the high level that other fighters like Bison and Akuma have reached. Naturally, Ryu will likely possess incredible powers once he masters the dark powers and merges them with his natural abilities.

Ken is one of the bigger supporting characters, but he doesn’t get a lot of action. His big moment is when he has a big confrontation with Ryu. The manga portrays Ryu and Ken as being similar in power and I’m okay with that, but I’m glad that they weren’t dead even. Ryu’s accelerated healing and dark hado powers should definitely give him the edge. Even without those two factors in Ryu’s favor; I would still pick him in a fight. Ken’s heroic, if not a little generic, but he’s a good character as well. He’s not the type of guy that would come close to being my favorite hero, but he’s a good supporting fighter.

Chun Li is pretty high tier as far as cops go, but she’s definitely not as powerful as Ryu or Ken. Her energy blasts seem to be decently powerful and she does know martial arts, but she’s not a master at this point. She’s a good character and she proves it when she goes into the ring to save Cammy. Unfortunately, Chun Li misses most of the climax, but maybe we’ll see her more in a future series.

Guy is definitely the best hero of the series and everything about him is awesome. The manga hints that he could take down Bison and he makes short work of Ryu during their fight. (It should be noted that Ryu was using his dark powers) Guy is definitely a master at hand to hand combat and he doesn’t mind letting his opponent know how the battle is going to end. He gets a pretty small role, but I definitely would have liked to see him appear more. Akuma may have met his match against this fighter!

Cammy is more like an android in this series. Not literally, but she doesn’t have much emotion due to circumstances. She’ll likely learn the values of teamwork and friendship at some point, but she’s still a good character. She does pretty well in her first match, but she definitely lacks experience and she’s not one of the strongest fighters in the ring.

Birdie was all right I suppose. I was really wondering why he was here the whole time. He uses a gun….which isn’t awful, but that’s not going to cut it in Street Fighter world. (Even counting the fact that a pair of bullets nearly took out Ryu) I didn’t recognize him from the games so I just figured that he was made up for the manga. He could have been worse, but I never found him that likable. A decent power boost or fight scene could change that.

Rose is a mysterious character that pops up from time to time. She seems to be on the side of justice or maybe she just wants to defeat Bison. Either way, she’s a pretty fierce fighter and a good character as well. Her paralysis was strong enough to keep Ryu pinned down for a while and she gave Bison a decent fight. The victor was never really in doubt, but Rose was still able to put up a fight. Sakura also gets a small role, but she doesn’t look very impressive. Her heart is in the right place, but she simply doesn’t have the abilities to win the tough fights. She’s too young at this point and Bison takes her down pretty quickly. Sakura actually makes the situation a little dicey for Ryu because of this.

Bison is the big villain in the series and he’s definitely powerful. As mentioned earlier, his fights are quite long and he’s likely in the top 5 strongest characters of the franchise. He’s a solid villain and he can back up his bragging with action. The other villains look pretty bad in comparison since we only got some minor guys like Vega and Adon. Vega doesn’t have his signature mask and he looks downright weak. (Although he was fighting a high tier fighter) Adon just seems petty and not the kind of villain that I could really respect. He underestimated the Dark Hado. Bison definitely makes these guys look bad by being so cool and even his design puts theirs to shame.

Akuma is easily one of the best characters in the series. He only appears for an instant, but it’s an awesome appearance. Ken acknowledges Akuma’s incredible power and they hint that he could have easily defeated Bison. Unfortunately for the heroes, Bison is below someone like Akuma and the latter does not want to bother fighting him. Akuma does want to challenge Ryu and that should be a quick match. Ryu doesn’t seem to be on the same level as of yet, but a little training can go a long way.

Overall, this was a pretty fun manga. I’d like to see Tekken or Virtua Fighter top this series. The series was definitely short, but we got some great fights, a good cast of characters, and a good plot. You don’t really need much else to be a good manga. The series does end on a pretty epic cliffhanger and you’ll want to make your guesses on who will ultimately win the fight. I recommend this manga to anyone that likes some solid action scenes!

Overall 7/10

After watching the anime, it’s easier to appreciate the manga and look at the differences. Was the anime a straight adaption? Yes, for the most part although it does change some things from the manga. It’s time to see if the original is truly superior and how far it will go in the grand scheme of things. Let’s find out!

The plot involves Joey Jones as he has always wanted to be a Hero, but he lacks the power. His friends try to tell him that heart is what matters, but he won’t have any of that. Instead, he finds a toy that one of the bullies from school threw away and using his determination and a bolt of lightning, turns it into a superhero…Heroman, to be precise! With Heroman at his side, Joey now has the courage to stand up to his foes and the determination to do the right things when it counts. After defeating supernatural samurai and other threats….there is an alien invasion! Can Joey stop the Aliens in time to stop the next threats that arise or will it prove too much for him? He has other adventures along the way and the final plot deals with the remnants of the invasion as they attempt to destroy the planet. This manga is definitely full of excitement!

The art is pretty good for the series and it’s very clear. The art reminds me of Bleach and that’s always a good thing. It’s nice and simple so you can usually tell what is going on right away. When the fight scenes occur, it can get a little tough at times, but for the most part it’s solid. The fight scenes still do have good art, but they just might not be as easy to decipher at times. There aren’t any really long fight scenes in the manga, but the first battle between Heroman and Gogorr is definitely the highlight of the series in that regard. The artist does a good job showing off Joey’s super speed, although I believe that speed lines would be more effective than the use of after images. Both ways are effective so it still works, but it’s a lot harder to gauge his speed using the latter. (Luckily we have the anime for that) The way that the manga is translated is interesting since they use quotation marks for certain words. It makes you picture the character saying the word in a strange accent, which can be slightly distracting, but it’s nothing major.

The manga is a little weaker than the anime in the fact that we do get a filler plot involving a little kid in a wheelchair which isn’t very entertaining. You also can’t really root for him since he skates a little too quickly which makes things a little embarrassing for one character and the kid doesn’t seem to regret his actions in the slightest. Maybe he didn’t notice, but he just didn’t seem to care. The manga does have a little more fanservice than the anime since Lina’s outfit is not that resistant to wind in this version. There aren’t too many scenes of this and it’s one of the lightest types of fanservice that you will find, but it’s still a negative since it’s not necessary. I’m glad that the anime took that out.

Joey is still a solid protagonist and he’s a lot more heroic than most main characters. He does what he needs too and he never crosses any of the big lines. He doesn’t hesitate to sacrifice himself for the greater good and went out of his way to help out his enemies as well. He’s basically a good kid and he will go far. He doesn’t make any big mistakes like using a telephone while on the run in the manga (As opposed to the anime) and he typically has a plan in mind.

The Professor got a much smaller role in the manga or at least it felt that way. He’s still not very likable, but he’s a lot more polite when he ditches Joey and Psy on his way to being kidnapped. It’s still hard to take him seriously and even more so when he fails in his big plan. In the anime, he didn’t make any mistake on the final device, but in the manga he makes one that could have been fatal. It makes the character more believable, but also not quite as professional.

Lina is still the main heroine and her role is similar to that of the anime. It is still a little questionable how quickly she stopped talking to Joey when Will told her some choice words. It’s a little tough to swallow that she would betray Joey so easily. Still, she’s better than the average co-lead although I hope that she can start to fight at some point. (Sequel Series one day…maybe)

Will is one of the major players in the manga and he always wanted to be a hero. It’s sad for him because he is too weak to stop the aliens and he always has to watch as Joey ends up saving Lina. He gets alien powers during the later part of the series, but it also mutates his body and now he doesn’t want to show himself to anyone. He leaves and goes on a quest to destroy the alien artifacts that around and also beat up people that he doesn’t like. His ultimate goal is still to protect Lina, but beyond that he is a little confused at the moment. His abilities are definitely impressive and he can hold his own against Heroman.

Heroman is still as expressionless as ever. He actually participates with the others and has more fun than in the anime, (Getting burned at the barbecue) but he still seems to have trouble replicating mortal emotions. He does believe in justice and he will always try to defend a person in need. His abilities are pretty sound and one good punch can take care of many threats. His only real equals in the manga would be Will and Gogorr. Heroman has his Blast Mode and Rage Mode to keep things interesting and he won’t lose when the chips are down. He’s a fine hero, but I would like to see some more emotion.

Psy is still Joey’s best friend and he comes complete with a sob story. It’s a little iffy since he claims that he was a little too reckless and let the tackle cripple him, but how could he have avoided it? Even if he had dropped the ball, he couldn’t have maneuvered away. Plus, he had no reason to think that such a hit would end his career. He’s a decent friend and he means well, but he doesn’t add a whole lot to the manga. That being said, he still shouldn’t be called a bad character and just could have used more development.

Gogorr is the big mastermind of the whole operation and he has the skills to back it up. He’s definitely one of the cooler characters and his speed is definitely formidable. Joey is able to speedblitz him as first, but Gogorr quickly adapts and turns the tables, which shows just how quick he is. His raw power is also enough to hold Heroman at bay and he’s easily the strongest character in the series aside from Heroman.

Agent Hughes and The President appear, but both of them are out of their leagues. Agent Hughes gets a much smaller role in the manga than in the anime, but it’s essentially the same effect. He does his job, but he’s completely outmatched. He’s all right though and better than the average army grunt. The President never panics, but he doesn’t get much character in the manga.

The manga may not be quite as good as the anime, but it gives it a fair shot. The manga is only 5 volumes compared to the anime’s 20+ episodes and they are different enough that you can enjoy them both. The manga adds a Samurai and gives Will a better role, but also has more day to day adventures while the anime launches off with the alien invasion immediately. The animation was not excellent, but it was still pretty good and the manga’s art was pretty good as well so they’re about equal in that respect. Unlike the anime, the manga doesn’t end with an after credits scene and it’s probably for the best. I love after credits scenes, but the one in the anime wasn’t terribly interesting because it was about a mad scientist who isn’t a great character. (I even skipped him in the review. Just know that he is pretty boring and hard to root for)

Overall, this was a solid manga. It won’t rise up to be one of the all time greats, but it is pretty solid. It’s a fun miniseries to check out and it’s basically light hearted fun. It has a lot of replay value considering its size because it’s just fun to read. Stan Lee did a good job on this series and it would be nice if he could give it a sequel. It would be fun to see more of Joey and Stan (The Man) Lee was also in the manga as a solid supporting member. He knows what it takes to make a good coffee and he’s a very dependable customer. The only negative to the manga would be the slight fanservice and as I said, it is very slight so it shouldn’t destroy the experience for you. The rest of the manga is just too fun and the characters are pretty likable for the most part. I dare say that Joey is a better main character than Kite or Ginta. I recommend giving this manga a shot and you should enjoy it. It’s an underrated gem.

Overall 7/10

I had high hopes for this manga one shot because it was based off of the greatest Pokemon film of all time. That’s a pretty big feat and it’s one that will probably never be surpassed. It would only make sense for this manga to be the greatest Pokemon film adaption and it would definitely rise up to great things during its journey through the years. Was it as good as I had hoped? No, it was even better!

The plot is essentially the same as in the movie, but I shall recap the plot in case you somehow missed out on it. Genesect has been awakened after millions of years and he wants to return to his home. Since it is no longer there, he decides that he shall just conquer an area and make it his! There are a few other Genesect who are with him and are ready to help…willingly or not! Ash and friends don’t realize the gravity of the situation as they have fun at a local area. While they’re playing with the Pokemon, Genesect viciously attacks and even defeats the All Powerful, Invincible, Indestructible, Immortal, Light Speed, Universe Buster Legendary Pikachu! Ash doesn’t take this very well and he gets pretty emotional. Since Ash is no longer a threat, the Genesect only have one Pokemon to contend with….Mewtwo!

It’s a pretty awesome plot and an even better manga! Genesect is easily one of the greatest Pokemon of all time and his personality is pretty intense. This guy will remind you of a classic Shonen Jump villain and he definitely knows how to fire a nice blast. The other Genesect are around, but not really likable. One of them gets his own subplot, but it was mainly just to make Ash and friends seem useful. The main Genesect was the only truly awesome character and his speed/power are at incredible levels. This is one guy that could hold his own against fighters like Goku.

Mewtwo is also pretty awesome and I dare say that the manga made her even cooler than in the movie. She actually tells Genesect that she is faster than him and that’s something that you will usually find in DBZ or Bleach. The line was extremely hardcore and just so epic that you really had to stop and think about it. Not bad….not bad at all! Mewtwo did pretty good in her base form, but when she went Mega, it was a whole new ball game. Mewtwo was able to fight all of the Genesect while they were teaming up and it was definitely a testament to her incredible power. She has a variety of attacks and her high level of speed means that she is the perfect fighter to battle any opponent. Mewtwo has no weaknesses and she can even use her mind abilities if she needs too.

Unfortunately, Ash doesn’t look very good. Ash’s role just isn’t as good as it should be and he doesn’t seem like he has the amount of experience that he should have developed by this point. Ash has fought opponents like Gary and Paul in the past and he’s even went up against foes like Team Rocket and Team Magma in the past. He should have taken the whole Genesect battle in stride, but that’s not what happened. Pikachu looked good since he was able to block Genesect’s strongest attack and he probably would have defeated him if he was not double teamed. Pikachu did his part and even though he did not fight for the rest of the volume, it was a decent attempt.

Ash just didn’t have Pikachu’s courage or finesse. He couldn’t bear to see the Pokemon fighting so he tried to end it all by becoming a martyr as he jumped in the middle of the blasts. Mewtwo was around to bail him out, but I didn’t see anything heroic or epic in that scene. It was just Ash making a pretty bad call and I can’t even say that I was really surprised. It’s too bad because Ash used to be such an intense main character. I’m sure that he’ll go back to his roots, but it’s definitely sad that he couldn’t really help against the villains. At one point, he tells the main worker that he has to go to the park to see what’s happening, but it sounded more like a question than a demand and Ash looked a little too emotional at that point.

The art for the volume is pretty clear, but I don’t think that the artist is great at facial expressions. They actually remind me a lot of the Maximum Ride volumes and that’s not really a good thing. It just doesn’t translate that well, but the rest of the art is solid. The fight scenes show us that Pokemon are pretty high tier when they want to be and the art is solid for these scenes. The battle art reminds me of Bleach and that is certainly a good thing. The fact that you can completely understand every panel is a sign that the art is good and it’s easy on the eyes. It’s fun art and it fits perfectly for Pokemon. The writing is also a step up from the previous film adaptions and it has a more serious feel to it. This definitely isn’t the classic days! They’re actually going all out!

Overall, this manga was extremely good. This is how you write a successful Pokemon manga and it would have made an awesome ongoing series. Mewtwo is a solid fighter and he has a pretty cool demeanor. Genesect was an awesome villain and he may have been the first Pokemon villain to be truly evil…at first anyway. You could also argue that he was just misunderstood. I still liked the ending because it was essentially a parody of Man of Steel and showed what Superman should have done. At least Mewtwo didn’t erase their memories at the end which is always a good thing. I highly recommend this volume and it may be the perfect jumping on point for new Pokemon fans except for the fact that Ash doesn’t look so good. Get ready for some intense action!

Overall 8/10

We Were There is a pretty big romance series that was featured in manga format. The fact that I’m reviewing a romance manga means that I may have finally gone over to the other side…or this is going to be a preeeeetty negative review. Either way you should take note that I’m not a fan of the romance genre, so while the manga may sound bad in my review, you may still like it. It all depends on how much you like romance and drama.

All right…this is one of those manga series where it’s a little hard to talk about the plot without spoiling it as well since they connect to each other. Well, I’ll give it my best shot and divide the series into two parts. The first past of the series is about Nanami and how she becomes friends with Yano. At first Yano is rude to her, but eventually she gets him to start being a better person. It’s very emotional and the arc has a pretty intense ending. Honestly, if the series had ended there, it would definitely have had a much better ending.

Arc 2 is arguably still about Nanami, but she has to share her screen time a whole lot. We get some new characters like Sengenji who get their own mini plots inside of the real plot. The “real” plot is very intricate, but I’ll at least mention some of the parts of the plot. Nanami is trying to cope with the realizations that come from the first arc, but now one of her friends is trying a little too hard to be friendly. Will she have to tell him the sad facts of life? Yano is a mystery at this point and the volumes all keep hinting at what may have happened to him….what did happen to him!? Sengenji got the title of “Beauty and Brains” which was pretty cool for her at first, but it got annoying after a while. Can she stop someone from calling her this?

So, there’s the plot in a nutshell. It really is in a nutshell this time because I didn’t mention many of the numerous plot twists or subplots that are in the manga. There are certainly a lot of them, so you need to always keeps a sharp eye and have a lot of caffeine so that you don’t fall asleep while reading! It’s not that the series is boring, but the fact that there is so much romance!

All right, this is a romance series so should I expect any less? Well, I do expect the manga to balance romance with plot, but this series goes a little too far. You can rarely go a single chapter without some kind of romantic plot advancing. One of the only characters who isn’t affected by this is the dog and he’s the best character of the series!

Artwise, the series is decently good. It’s not going to win any awards on my watch, but it’s good enough. The panels are clear and you understand what is happening, but there aren’t any big fight scenes to test the artist’s ability. The series nearly lasted for 20 volumes which would have been impressive since that’s something that shonen series tend to do. (And Skipbeat)

Let’s go into the characters, although you can likely already tell that I don’t like any of them. Nanami is the protagonist and while she may be a nice kid, she ends up hanging with the wrong crowd. She could have been a great person and gone on to revolutionize the editing world, but Yano and the others dragged her down to their level. It was a never ending cycle where they would hurt her feelings and then she would hurt them back. It just wouldn’t stop and that should have been a sign for her to get away from them.

Yano is one of the other main characters and he’s pretty awful. Yano is definitely not a great character and he makes more mistakes than I can count. Some of them are completely unacceptable and show why he’s not a very honorable person. If we placed him in a manga like Yugioh, he wouldn’t last a minute! We’ve also got Takeuchi and he’s not very good either. Granted that he’s better than Yano, but not by much. He nearly wrecks his friendship with one of the characters and he was very pushy throughout the whole series. He should really know that he has no chance and he should just stick to having fun at his job. He’s definitely a lot nobler than Yano, but again….that’s not saying much.

Yuri is another one of those characters who seems to be here for the sole purpose of dragging other characters down for the count. Yuri manages to take on several characters throughout the series and she never really has any good reasons. She gets a sob story like the other characters, but it’s hard to sympathize with her decisions. She is one of those characters who never really got better as the series progressed. We’ve also got Nana who gets so many plot twists through the series that it’ll make you take a step back. What’s the true story behind her actions!?

There are other characters around, but you get the idea of the series. The characters are all pretty negative and not people that you would want to be around in the real world or even on the wired! So, the manga series doesn’t go so well because of the abundance of romance, lack of action, bad characters, and the fact that there aren’t any things that you can take interest in.

Overall, this definitely wasn’t my kind of manga. You can probably tell already since a manga review with 10+ volumes will usually be a lot longer than a mere 1K words. That being said, if you are a romance fan then you’ll possibly like it. It depends if you will end up minding the destruction, drama, and sad things that end up happening to the main characters all the time. Personally, I would not recommend this manga and would instead point you over to Tsubasa. It’s the closest thing to a romance that I would highly recommend at this point unless you count Bleach.

Overall 2/10

Gamaran is a manga that I had always seen as I headed to the latest chapter of Bleach or Naruto. It’s a title that was always around, but I never realized that it was a really cool series. I had no idea what the plot was or if it really had any potential. After reading it, I can safely say that it’s one of the greatest manga of all time! This is a pretty bold statement, but it has earned the right.

The plot is very easy to describe even though it did last for 21 volumes. Gama is one of the last guys to use the Ogame style. (A way of fighting) Naoyoshi is one of the candidates to become the next Daimyo, (King of the land basically) and he comes across Gama. After witnessing Gama’s sword abilities firsthand, he decides to have Gama fight in his defense. The road towards becoming Daimyo is long and fierce. There are many obstacles along the way and the current Daimyo is having a tournament. To become the Daimyo, you must win the tournament, which sounds simple enough…right?

This is basically the plot for the first half of the series. While it may not sound like it can hold its own for over 7 volumes, it works. The fights are intense and Gamaran gets right to the point. We don’t see a lot of emotional scenes and dialogue doesn’t fill up whole chapters. The series is essentially nonstop fighting and there aren’t many breaks. At first it’s tough since Gama is the only warrior on Naoyoshi’s side, but eventually his comrades come in to help. Most of them are pretty cool and I will go into more detail about them later.

The plot for the 2nd half involves Jinsuke, the 1000 man slayer! He decides that it’s time to conquer the world and while we get some pretty emotional reasons for why he’s doing this, that’s all that you really need to know. I will delve deeper into his history as we go through the characters. Gama and his pals have to stop Jinsuke and his large army of allies while working to save Naoyoshi. (Who was kidnapped) Both arcs are incredible and it’s hard to say which one was better. I’m inclined to say that I preferred arc 2, but it’s very close. Lori got to have more fighting scenes in that section which definitely helped me decide.

The art is very solid for the manga, although the author does tend to draw people differently from chapter to chapter. Lori’s hair is constantly changing in size and his spikes really stick up at times. Also, after the time skip, Gama’s eyes start to look exactly like Lori’s. Beyond those minor issues, (Which aren’t really issues since I don’t mind them. They make the manga look unique!) the art is spectacular for the fight scenes.

Gama is the main character so it’s fitting that I talk about him first. I didn’t really care for him during the first volume or two, but he quickly got better as the series progressed. His character is pretty similar to Ichigo’s and even the attire shares some resemblance. As you may have guessed from the picture, Gama is a sword fighter. Most characters in the series use a sword or at least a weapon that has a blade.

Gama is about as skilled as a human can get and his heightened speed and power are impressive. His mostly uses thunder techniques, (Which don’t use thunder, but are very quick) which are epic. They become less effective as the series wears on, but they definitely help to give Gama an edge. He’s easily one of the best main characters out there and puts a lot of the others to shame. This is a true warrior who never gives up.

Zenmaru is one of Gama’s allies and he’s pretty annoying. I never found him to be a likable character and he definitely overestimates himself. Many times, Gama will have to do all of the work, but Zenmaru will act as if helped a lot. I’m sure that you’ve seen this type of character in other manga series, but if not, be warned! He uses a really big (slow) sword and this is probably what limits him. Swinging the sword takes time and his speed isn’t nearly as good as Gama’s. By the end of the series, Zenmaru has gotten pretty skilled, but it ends up feeling forced.

Shinnojou is another one of Gama’s allies and he’s a big improvement over Zenmaru. Shinnojou is an expert fighter and he’s the highest ranked member of the Ogame school. (He’s not the toughest, but the highest ranked) Shinnojou is more of a tactile fighter than the other two and he uses his wits a lot. Shinnojou’s water techniques also revolve around trickery and sudden movements. He does pretty well for the whole series and while he doesn’t fight a whole lot, he always looks good. I definitely had no complaints with him and he made for a good character.

Lori is another one of Gama’s allies and he’s definitely the best character in the series! (Gama being second) He doesn’t fight as often as the others, (Until arc 2) but we see that he is definitely the most skilled. He is the only character in the series who was able to give Jinsuke a good fight. While the fight didn’t go as I had thought that it would, it was a good battle. Lori acts like Zaraki or Sasuke in terms of personality. He always keeps his cool and manages to act epic at the same time. His hair is very spiky and when he power ups, you would think that he’s a super saiyan. He uses a lot of raw power in his swordsmanship and he can even use a Rasengan themed attack on the opponent. He doesn’t even need a weapon to take out some of the higher ranked villains.

There are so many villains that it can be hard to choose which ones to talk about. Let’s start off with Jinsuke. Jinsuke is the main villain of the series and he also happens to be Gama’s father. Defeating him is one of Gama’s goals in life, but it may be tougher than it sounds. Jinsuke was able to defeat 1000 warriors and that’s a feat that is nearly impossible with a sword. He definitely has a strong aura, but he only gets one serious fight for the entire series. Still, he definitely makes for a good villain.

Ranmaru is one of Jinsuke’s highest ranked officers. He becomes Gama’s main rival and they do get to fight several times. He’s another really cool character and a highlight of the manga. If Lori’s my favorite hero, then Ranmaru is my favorite villain of the series. We even find out a nice twist about his abilities. Who said that there were no supernatural abilities in this manga!? His ending may not be as happy as some of the other characters, but at least he got to live his life to the fullest!

Another big villain is Zenmaru’s big brother/rival, Kai. Kai uses the same weapon as Zenmaru and he’s a pretty sharp fighter. His relationship with Zenmaru is similar to Sasuke and Itachi’s…Counting the plot twists! Take that as you will….Unfortunately, I never really liked Kai. He wasn’t a very likable character and I can’t sympathize with him. I couldn’t really forgive Itachi either, but his decision was reasonable in comparison to Kai’s! Kai only fights a handful of times, but that’s really all that we needed.

Riko and Kujou are two other members who used to be part of the Ogame school. Did I mention that part already? Well, Jinsuke, Kai, Riko, and Kujou decided to destroy the rest of the Ogame school to go rule the world. This is the reason why Gama wishes to destroy them, Jinsuke in particular. They just can’t forgive the mass murder of their comrades!….until they do. Riko is a pretty minor character for the most part, but he does get one cool fight. Kujou doesn’t really fight until the very end. His fight is pretty good, but I wasn’t terribly interested. He’s a decent fighter, but not one of the best.

Kiyomori is a character that appeared during the final volumes of the series. He actually uses hand to hand combat, which shows how fast he is. Otherwise, one sword slash and he would be down for the count. He’s a pretty intriguing character and while I don’t think he would have lasted a second against Lori or Gama, he made for an epic villain. He’s definitely not someone that you would want to underestimate.

Banri is one of the divine spears and he is the strongest member. While the others only get to appear for the first arc, he manages to last for the entire series. He ends up becoming a rival for Shinnojou. His skills are very good with a spear, but he was never much of a threat. I never pictured Shinnojou losing to this guy. Still, he was another example of an epic villain.

I could go on and on listing the various villains, but I’ll stop there. Muraku is one villain that started out as a pretty cool fighter, but he quickly got worse. When he appeared for his final battle, he was completely unlikable. It’s like his character did a complete 180 for the worst. Also, I never saw how he could really give Gama such a good fight. Gama is far faster than Muraku could hope to be. There are also several good guys that I didn’t get around to talking about like the old mentor and his rival. The two old guys team up during the climax and they’re definitely solid fighters. One of the old guys just came out of nowhere, but he was a nice addition for the most part.

One negative that I should mention is the ending. It’s very rushed and feels a little forced. We don’t really get any closure for some of the plot lines and the ending just wasn’t satisfactory. This is only a mild negative since most manga tend to have bad endings. There aren’t many exceptions to this rule, but Megaman NT Warrior managed to end on a high note. The ending definitely could have been worse, so at least it wasn’t!

There is one more negative that I should note. Kashitarou is one of the worst characters that I’ve seen in a while. If you know who Oolong and James Bond are, then you know all that you need to know about Kashitarou. Kashitarou is the definition of an awful character and there was nothing that he could do to fix that. Once he appeared for the first time, I knew that it was over. You’ll want to ignore all of his lines and he won’t bring the manga down too much. He barely appears which is definitely a good thing!

It should be noted that the manga can get pretty violent. There are parts that make Bleach look like kid stuff! So, while I highly recommend the series, I wouldn’t recommend it for kids. On the bright side, there isn’t really any romance in the series. There’s no time for that since the battles are always happening. Another positive for the series is the fact that they power up, DBZ style! It’s always good to see characters using aura in manga and tends to be one of the key things that separate them from comic book characters.

So, if you ever wanted a really awesome manga about sword fighting, then I’d recommend checking this one out. The series has some pretty great characters and a nice array of villains. The series concluded with over 20 volumes so there is enough content to keep you busy. You won’t have to worry about a lack of fights or screen time for your favorite characters. I’d say that it’s time to check it out!

Overall 9/10