Alive Vol. #8
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January 24, 2010
by: Adam Beck
The battle for Acro’s Heart begins, but who will it choose?
Manga Description: WELCOME TO THE DARK SIDE
Taisuke has always used his amazing gifts for the forces of good. But now he’s crossed over to the dark side–to a hidden half of his personality that grants him extraordinary power. Will Taisuke give in to this seductive new evil?
Includes in-depth translation notes and a preview of the next volume!
Manga Review
Content: (This section may contain spoilers)
It has been a long time since I’ve felt disgusted with Alive. While this is definitely a world full of death and destruction—and the comrades make sure of that—there hasn’t been something that forced me to put my eyes back in my head in a long time. The series has been pretty light on death for quite some time, but finally we have gotten to the point where there is no more time for comical antics; only fighting for your lives and the lives of others. This is why I don’t have much love for Hirose. He’s too serious.
The eighth volume of Alive takes place completely around the Arco’s Heart, the object that is said to rewrite the course of humanity by eradicating the species completely. It was introduced in the last volume that something was in the air, making all the comrades go crazy and compelling them to fight. This is no different in the eighth volume as there are two big fights that take place. First is Taisuke and Asou’s throw down. While we left off with Taisuke and Kenichirou last time around, it was only a matter of time before the sick priest jumped in. I’m not convinced this was as impressive a fight as it first looked. While Taisuke learns some smooth moves to take control of the fight, it is the idea that another entity takes a hold of Taisuke and fights for him at an incredible pace that doesn’t sit well with me. Think of Bleach and Ichigo’s hollow, but instead of a sword at his disposal, he has the power of fire. I suppose this happens with all of the characters—with the exception of Nami so far—but to think that Taisuke’s mind is so easily breakable doesn’t fit well with what we’ve seen in the past.
The second fight is between Nami and the sick and twisted Kanon. I enjoyed this fight a lot more than I did Taisuke’s. It may be a much shorter fight, but we get to dive down into Kanon’s past for a brief couple of pages. Even though Kanon is such a sick character, I actually feel a bit bad for her. Her past is far from happy, and I suppose now that she has these powers, no one would dare laugh or make fun of her ever again. This fight, unlike most others, is a very one-sided battle as Kanon’s powers have increased manifold. I am surprised how casual she acts, as if her enemy was her friend with hugs going out all around. I suppose she tries to be an upbeat character, and with the Acro’s Heart, she basically has immortality. Still, the overall outcome is an absolutely gripping moment that has me blown away. Who would have thought such a bitch would turn out to have such a sad past – but then again, all of the comrades have faults.
Outside these two fights, there really isn’t a lot that happens. I mean, there is that one disturbing part that I mentioned before, but that is something I want you to find out on your own. It’s just something where I found myself with my jaw down and my mind in utter confusion. The overall execution of the story does feel a bit slow from time to time, and Taisuke’s fight does take a turn for the worst, but in the end, I found myself enjoying the twists and turns of the story.
Artwork: Alive has some excellent artwork that has a steady amount of detail from start to finish. This is a suspense and drama manga with a bit of comedy here and there, but the eighth volume is purely drama based, offering a stable amount of detail from head to toe on each character – no goofy stuff here. Characters are all well drawn and each have specific wardrobes and hair styles so you won’t get anyone mixed up. Environments are absolutely gorgeous as the amount of green life to be found fills the volume full of trees and bushes. It’s a nice change of pace from what we’ve seen thus far, but I do think it would be more appealing if it didn’t fade out at times. Many scenes the characters are left on an empty page with nothing more than a fading surface. Thankfully this won’t ruin anyone’s experience – especially people who have been following the series – but it is something that does unbalance the artwork as a whole. In the end, the artwork in Alive is one of the best parts of the series, only immersing you further into the story.
Translation: Again and again I have to review manga to only find nothing to nitpick on. Del Rey does a fantastic job in translating Alive; there are no overlooked sound effects, spelling errors and grammar errors. Sound effects are presented in the original Japanese text with an English-translation nearby. Dialogue is as loose as ever as contractions are used whenever necessary and ellipses are applied liberally. Honorifics are also in place so anyone who doesn’t know how to read these would best consult the short page at the beginning. As for extras we get the eighth visual manga (which is a bit of a disappointment), some translation notes, and an untranslated preview into the next volume.
The Bottom Line: Amongst all of the 208 pages, there is only one moment that really stood out in being something I would highly recommend. Without this event, this would be an installment in the series that would be easily avoidable because, let’s face it, there really isn’t a lot that happens here. A couple fights here and there, but nothing too significant or groundbreaking other than that one occurrence. Hats off to Tadashi Kawashima for finally bringing back a better sense of loss and death that has been absent from Alive for a while now.
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Content |
While the book has some dry fights, one event makes up for things in being simply jaw dropping. |
7.5 |
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Art |
A solid visual style with strong detail to the characters and the world around them. Too bad environments tend to fade out. |
8.5 |
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Translation |
No apparent mistakes, although the extras are a bit disappointing. |
9.0 |
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Verdict
Alive continues to impress; it may not be in style but the absolutely gripping events will have you begging for more. My only two real complaints are that the wonderfully drawn backgrounds do fade, and the two fights in the book are a bit dry. Still, the overall outcome of Hirose’s actions may have driven Taisuke over the edge.
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7.7
[not an average]
+ Absolutely gripping sudden extermination.
+ Kanon’s back story was a bit saddening.
- Dry battles.
- Environments aren’t as solid as they could be.
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