Super Natural Law Review

Supernatural Law by Batton Lash

File 49 is the graphic novel I chose to review, it’s written by Turner, sara. The novel is talking about three characters (Aka-Keith Newman, Josh, and Truely) with supposed supernatural abilities. File 49 holds information regarding the people and practices of the Lennox project, it is one amount the files hold under a secret agency of the government, call the keeper division. This is pertaining to supernatural threats to the country. It’s a laboratory experiment that seems to have gone wrong. 

Link to File 49:
http://www.webcomicsnation.com/supernaturallaw/

This novel has a style slightly different from most of the novel seen around. Beside the normal trend in novel written such as images in black and white, and the present of a super hero, Batton uses colourful images which make it very close to realism. The form of comic is non-superhero genres.  It’s a horror story but presented in way that’s seem little scary. “Beware of the creature of the night- they have lawyers” this phrase say it all. Reading the novel a reader would be constantly motivated by this phrase, and push to read till the end, so to get more answers.

File 49 Review

File 49 by Sara Turner

File 49 is the graphic novel I chose to review, it’s written by Turner, sara. The novel is talking about three characters (Aka-Keith Newman, Josh, and Truely) with supposed supernatural abilities. File 49 holds information regarding the people and practices of the Lennox project, it is one amount the files hold under a secret agency of the government, call the keeper division. This is pertaining to supernatural threats to the country. It’s a laboratory experiment that seems to have gone wrong. 

Link to File 49
http://www.webcomicsnation.com/saraturner/file49/series.php?view=archive&chapter=2798&mpe=1&fromwhich=8&direction=f

Agent white in the keeper division is hoping to do something alongside agent parker who has no clue on what is really going on. There characters had one thing in common which is a mark from birth that can be used to identify them. None of them knew of this unstill a mystery man appeared and Keith to try and bring the other two together.  The novel is both frictional and emotional. The characters only learn who they are and what is going on when things turn ugly. The images like most graphic novels are very attractive and possess a high quality, with graphic elements such as panels, bobbles, icons, and super Heroes. All these pertaining to the ones mention in Scott McCloud graphic novel. Image category give a reader full involvement, by making one feel as part of the novel always wanting to see what would happen at the end. It’s a novel I recommend for people to read, for they would also enjoy it like I did. 

Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic Review

Picture of the main character, Aladdin

Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic by Shinobi Ohtaka

Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic is a manga that is serialized in the Weekly Shounen Sunday.  It debuted in June 2009 and is currently on-going. Due to its popularity the manga has been adapted into a anime which is currently airing in 2013. It is written and drawn by Shinobi Ohtaka who also has done Sumomo Momomo. Magi is in-directly related to One Thousand and One Nights due to the themes and names of the characters. I found out about Magi in 2012, and caught up to the latest chapter in a few days due to the amazing storyline.

Link to read Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
http://www.mangareader.net/magi

The story of Magi is fictional and based around the theme of fate and the battle to keep the world on the proper path. Aladdin  the main character is a boy who has set out to explore the world after being trapped in a room for majority of his life. His best friend is a flute with a djinn (genie) named Ugo who currently resides inside the flute. One day, Aladdin discovers he is a Magi, a magician who chooses kings who will follow the righteous path, battling against who want to destroy fate. Aladdin goes on a adventure where he meets others from One Thousand and One Nights such as Alibaba and Sinbad as he continues to keep the balance of the world in order.

The tone of this manga is quite adventurous with a hint of comedy. By having similar character designs to One Thousand and One Nights, characters like Aladdin are quite recognizable. The character designs has been reduced to a simpler form but keeping the essential features still to allow amplification through simplification. By keeping the art simple allows us, the readers to relate to the characters during their journey. Each character has a unique personality with Aladdin to shine more than the others. The major theme of Magi, is friendship. This theme frequently visited often and due to the encounters that Aladdin has. There is a few parts in the story when Aladdin and Alibaba are separated and desperately trying to meet each other again. This shows how important friendship is to both characters.

Just like other Japanese mangas, adventures are usually long and do not end abruptly. Many arcs exist in Magi and help each character to mature and evolve as a person. This helps with the character familiarization the more you continue to read and the more you can relate to the character. The setting also helps with this due to it not being random in the story. It is to be expected that the dessert environment to play a huge role in story and characters.

Magi should be read right to left that contains panels with action, sense of mood and time. Emotions can be easily spotted due to it being so common in life. However, the emotions are slightly portrayed differently from western comics due to the Japanese culture and traditions. Speech bubbles are commonly used in Magi to show the characters thoughts or conversations with other characters. They also fulfil the same role as they do in the west. One can tell that the story is not in a rush to finish, this can be seen while reading where multiple panels contain scenery. Similar to other Japanese mangas, the author wants the feeling of 'being there' over 'getting there'.

I would highly recommend anyone to read this if they are a fan of One Thousand and One Nights. Being able to see your favourite characters is always a good thing. As you continue to read Magi, you will get attached to the characters due to their great personalities. The storyline is filled with action and many comedic antics that will surely get you hooked. Check out the anime adaptation if you have enjoyed Magi as much as I have.

Bakuman Review

Takagi (Left) and Mashiro (Right)

Bakuman by Tsugumi Ohba & Takeshi Obata

The manga, Bakuman, is a shounen manga that debuted in 2008 and ended in 2012. It was serialized in Shounen Jump; a popular comic magazine company in Japan. This series was awarded best manga series in 2011 and 2012. Due to its popularity, Bakuman was given an anime adaptation which is currently airing in 2013. The author, Tsugumi Ohba, has also written the popular Death Note. He is the reason why I have read all 176 chapters of Bakuman and will continue to support his work in the future.

Link to read Bakuman online:
http://www.mangareader.net/219/bakuman.html

This story is fictional and based on two junior students, Moritaka Mashiro and Akito Takagi. One day, Moritaka Mashiro has forgotten his notebook in class and his classmate, Akito Takagi asks Mashiro to become his manga artist to his stories whilst seeing his drawings in the notebook. Mashiro declines the offer, due to his memories of his late uncle, a mangaka, who died from overwork. Takagi plans to meet up Miho Azuki, Mashiro's crush, and tell her the that both of them will become manga artists. In response, Azuki also reveals her plans of becoming a voice actress. Mashiro proposes to her and should marry each other when Azuki becomes a  voice actor for the anime adaptation of their manga. Mashiro and Takagi start creating their manga, under the name Mugo Ashiro, in hopes of getting serialized in the weekly Jump.

As expected, the art of Bakuman does not resemble any western comic books. Like most Japanese manga, large eyes and hair styles play a huge role in defining a character. As seen in the picture above, both Mashiro and Takagi have weird hair colour and styles that isn't normal in today's society. However, the characters designs still remain simple and isn't detailed to the extreme. Thus, allowing anyone to relate with Mashiro and Takagi. Also, as you continue to read Bakuman, the art style has rapidly improved over time.

Bakuman isn't your typical shounen manga; it does not involve alot of action and is mainly based on two friends writing a manga of their own. However, this does not mean Bakuman isn't a shounen manga. It is able to give the sense of thrill and excitement like other mangas but in a different approach. This can be seen through all the hardship and laughters between Mashiro and Takagi.  The journey that Mashiro and Takagi go through can also inspire ordinary people like you and me to work hard and obtain their dream in life.

The pace of this manga is quite slow when compared to western comics due to Japanese culture and traditions. However, this slow pace helps with character development. It is evident that Mashiro and Takagi slowly mature into adults throughout the manga. Since this is a weekly manga, arcs happen often in Bakuman; each arc shows is filled with sadness or happiness which help the characters evolve.  After each milestone, both Mashiro and Takagi meet new people who help them achieve their goal. Thus, creating a mood of seriousness and goofiness at times due to the personality of the main characters.

Like other Japan manga, Bakuman is to be read right to left with panels separating actions and the sense of time. Circle speech bubbles are often used and place near the appropriate characters to show who is talking. Small pictures of a characters face are sometimes placed in speech bubles to show who is talking in a panel filled with text.

Even though Bakuman isn't your typical shounen manga, it still remains popular within this category. The story is quite good due to the main idea of fulfilling your dreams as a backbone.  Many will find this manga boring at first but the great personalities of Mashiro and Takagi allow us to relate to them easily. Thus, letting them to grow on us a bit and accepting them for who they are. I would highly recommend this manga to anyone and the anime adaptation is worth the watch too.

Naruto Review

Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto

Naruto is one of the top mangas currently is Japan. It is also one of the older long lasting mangas that was released in 1999 and has been running in a weekly magazine called Shonen Jump ever since. Like man popular manga, it has already have been adapted to a anime ( animation ) and it very successful in volume sales. I currently still read Naruto online and it is very consistent and an enjoyable read.

Link to read Naruto Online
http://www.mangareader.net/93/naruto.html

The story is set in a fictional setting of ninjas and supernatural beasts. Fictional abilities and beasts are the norm. The story follows a young boy named Naruto who is a orphan and wishes to become the leader of his ninja village. He also has a demon sealed within him called the Nine-tailed Fox which cause the other villagers to shun and ignore him. Throughout the story Naruto goes on many adventures while making many friends for the first time that care for him as well as quelling the demon fox inside of him. The main antagonists are a renegade group of ninjas called Akatsuki which plan to steal the demon from inside Naruto to use for their own gain.

The general mood of the story is adventurous with high levels of action when two characters need to fight as powers are the norm. Each character is created with a unique sense of personality with Naruto being very brash and loud while other characters are serious and calculating. The major theme of the story is to never give up as Naruto proves time and time again through the story as Naruto is in a very depressing and sad situation of being a loner and orphan but continues to be a positive individual. This in turn inspires other negative characters and turns rivals and enemies into friends and allies.

The art is drawn like most Japanese manga where the eyes are large and the hair color is very eccentric for example the characters above have all different color hair colors. It is also read from right to left like most Japanese text. The story generally reveals characters with no background the temporarily leaves the character very bland with no structure, but afterward the past of the character is slowly revealed giving the character meaning and depth. The number of characters are also very high but on the same note no character is useless so each one influences the story greatly. Along with text bubbles for speaking there are also large text placed to represent sounds in the environment to allow readers to fully visualize the scene. Naruto is a great read with touching moments while still maintaining high amounts of action that leaves the reader anxious for the next release to see what happens next.

One Piece Review

One Piece by Eiichiro Oda

The manga One Piece is currently a manga that is running on the magazine Shonen Jump, a weekly magazine that releases multiple chapters of different manga at once. One Piece is one of the longest running manga as well as the most successful for their volumes are the best selling in Japan. It is also one the oldest manga on Shonen Jump releasing its first chapter in 1997, a testament to its popularity as mangas are ongoing and the popularity lets the manga to keep running and stay on the magazine. I have read One Piece for many years on the internet as a chapter is released each week. It has also adapted into a show that is also currently running is Japan.

Here is a link for people to read One Piece Online
http://www.mangareader.net/103/one-piece.html

The story is set in a fictional time of pirates with the main character being on the right here named Monkey D. Luffy (Luffy first name, Monkey Last name). The story like many Japanese manga is supernatural with characters having superhuman or supernatural abilities such as the main character Luffy being able to stretch his body as his body has rubber properties from eating a fruit that grants the eater a random ability along with having super strength. The story follows the adventures of Luffy as he sails the seas dreaming to become the King of Pirates while searching for the legendary treasure of the previous pirate king called One Piece (the namesake of the series). Along the way he will assemble his crew through meeting new friends and enemies which is the general core of the story. The story is generally positive and happy through the funny jokes and actions of Luffy but at the same time can be serious and sad as well. The story is also separated into arcs where the story will focus into a certain adventure until completion then it will focus into another arc and so on.

The art work is very unique as many characters in the story do not possess a shape that is typical of a normal person such as people that are a lot larger then others while some have large arms with normal sized legs while Luffy himself is very proportioned. This way of drawing leaves readers in a sense that they wont be surprised when interesting shaped people are introduced. When reading One Piece many will find it funny as Luffy the main character himself is very courageous but stupid in a funny way as he interacts with other characters but at the same time can being very meaningful as most characters have deep back stories that are revealed so characters are not simple and have no substance. Each of the main characters have a large importance that affect other characters and even if one dies they continue to affect the story through influencing others.

Like many other manga, One Piece is read right to left with panels separating sequences such as time and actions. Speech bubbles are generally placed closer to the character speaking rather then pointing to them. It is still easy to tell who is speaking as each of the main characters have completely unique personalities so it is easy to distinguish between speech bubbles.

One piece is not a graphic novel that remains popular with it funny jokes and antics. It is popular because the story does not diverge from the main idea of manga. For example story arcs usually tend to stray away a bit from the main idea but for One Piece each arc plays an important part of the structure of the story. This leaves the reader satisfied as the story does not waste time while can go on for many years as the chapters released continue to add depth to the story. Many at first will find One Piece very strange as a main character who can stretch is very awkward but as you read through it you can see that the story has incredible depth and nothing is a placeholder in that story. I would recommend this graphic novel to anyone as it is a read for all ages.