Sunday, September 12, 2010

Nabari no Ou

     Nabari no Ou is one of my most favorite manga series and is being published by Yen Press.

     In modern Japan, the ninja world of Nabari had stayed hidden from outsiders until recently when word of the Shinra Banshou, their most powerful secret art, has once again resurfaced. Like with all great power comes great responsibility and in this case, a new King of Nabari. Miharu Rokujo, a student at Banten Public Middle School, heir to a okonomiyaki shop and indifferent to the rest of the world, has now learned that he is in possession of this incredible skill from a world he never believed existed! His teacher, Tobari Durandal Kumohira, a ninja of the Banten Village, insists that Miharu not use his new technique and after Miharu's first taste of battle, has pledged to teach and protect his student until the end. With the help of his ninja classmate Koichi Aizawa and the katana wielding Raimei Shimizu, Miharu  travels to the neighboring village with Tobari in hopes of finding information on the Shinra Banshou. But when they arrive they are met with opposing ninja aiming to capture Miharu. Among them, a young ninja named Yoite, with another awesome but feared power, realizes who Miharu is and now has him in his sights for his own personal gains. Now Miharu must learn to breakaway from his former self and learn to trust in himself once more if he is to fight for what he really wants.

     This one is seriously at the top of my list. It's an amazing mix of almost everything one would look for in a manga. Once again starting with the art, it's really pleasing to look at. The design of the characters is unique in that they each have their own unmistakable distinctions without them looking ridiculous. Because I've seen plenty of manga that have a large cast of characters that either all look alike or use crazy hair and clothes to tell them apart. No, the art in Nabari no Ou is not like that. It is beautiful. It's also very detailed but not over-powering so; just simply satisfying to look at. Yuhki Kamatani is the illustrator as well as the author and truly does an absolutely amazing job with both. Though many of you have probably read hundreds of ninja manga in your time, this is one that doesn't nearly get enough recognition. It's has a mix of everything from humor to death and for a ninja manga, has much more to it than just fighting. The characters all play important parts and have their own stories to tell. But nothing is what it seems. This series will have you grinning like an idiot one moment, gawking in disbelief the next and perhaps even shedding a tear another. I sincerely recommend Nabari no Ou to all of you and hope that you all will enjoy it as much as I have.

Thanks for reading! I've been going through my entire collection looking for my next reviews. Let me know if there's any manga you would like me to do next!

12 comments:

  1. Good review, but not something I would actually read.
    But I´m interested in your opinion about some better known mangas like Death note or One Piece.

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  2. Hey, that looks like a cool manga!

    Complete, interesting and well done review by the way ^^

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  3. It looks great! Thanks so much for the review

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  4. great post... I'm eager to see the next one

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  5. congrats on the successful blog... you have a good thing going here

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  6. Hm, do you know of any good online manga uploaders? I've been looking for one since OneManga went down earlier this summer.

    If you could give me a link in a comment I'd appreciate that, otherwise I'm adding this manga to my "to be read someday" list.

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  7. Interesting picture. Hrm.

    Keep up the good work!

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  8. not my kettle of fish this one nty <3

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