<b>Review of Ninja Slayer #1 by Ian Wolf</b>
<em>"Even within the most beautiful landscape, in the trees, under the leaves the insects are eating each other; violence is a part of life." - Francis Bacon.</em>
In 2012, a series of seemingly forgotten American novels by two people called Bradley Bond and Philip Ninj@ Morzez were translated by two Japanese translators on Twitter, Honda Yu and Sugi Leika. Strangely, as far as anyone knows Bond and Morzez apparently don’t exist and Yu and Leika are writing these novels by themselves. Whatever you think, it is true to say that they rapidly became popular. There is this manga version made in 2013, and earlier this year there was an anime adaptation created by TRIGGER, that is currently available on Viewster. Vertical has now released the manga version.
<em>Ninja Slayer </em>is set in the cyberpunk city of Neo-Saitama, where groups of evil ninja roam the streets, getting involved in criminal activities with local gangsters. One such group is the Soukai Ninja led by the fire controlling ninja Arson, working under criminal mastermind Laomoto Khan. However, this gang has been infiltrated by Ninja Slayer, a masked warrior who has made it his mission to kill all ninja, and thus he starts to create a reign of violent terror to destroy these evil foes. Ninja Slayer himself was originally a man called Fujikido, who has been seemingly possessed by the soul of an evil spirit called Naraku. The precise details of Ninja Slayer's situation have yet to be revealed to the readers.
It is clear that this manga is an adaptation because of the most striking thing about its presentation, which is the role of narration. In most manga the story is told through the characters' dialogue and the artistic scenes surrounding them. However, in <em>Ninja Slayer</em> the written narration through the story is what lays down the tale. It keeps giving extra details, whether it is a commentary during a fight scene, or something more trivial and comic such as some characters being so scared that they are "Totally pissing their pants!"
The violent action also drags the reader in. In fact, there's so much violence it is hard to see how come Vertical have rated it a 13+. In the opening chapter a ninja has his head kicked off his body completely.
<em>Ninja Slayer </em>is a fast-paced story which makes for quick entertainment and leaves you wanting a little bit more.
<b>Final score: 7 out of 10</b>
<em>"Even within the most beautiful landscape, in the trees, under the leaves the insects are eating each other; violence is a part of life." - Francis Bacon.</em>
In 2012, a series of seemingly forgotten American novels by two people called Bradley Bond and Philip Ninj@ Morzez were translated by two Japanese translators on Twitter, Honda Yu and Sugi Leika. Strangely, as far as anyone knows Bond and Morzez apparently don’t exist and Yu and Leika are writing these novels by themselves. Whatever you think, it is true to say that they rapidly became popular. There is this manga version made in 2013, and earlier this year there was an anime adaptation created by TRIGGER, that is currently available on Viewster. Vertical has now released the manga version.
<em>Ninja Slayer </em>is set in the cyberpunk city of Neo-Saitama, where groups of evil ninja roam the streets, getting involved in criminal activities with local gangsters. One such group is the Soukai Ninja led by the fire controlling ninja Arson, working under criminal mastermind Laomoto Khan. However, this gang has been infiltrated by Ninja Slayer, a masked warrior who has made it his mission to kill all ninja, and thus he starts to create a reign of violent terror to destroy these evil foes. Ninja Slayer himself was originally a man called Fujikido, who has been seemingly possessed by the soul of an evil spirit called Naraku. The precise details of Ninja Slayer's situation have yet to be revealed to the readers.
It is clear that this manga is an adaptation because of the most striking thing about its presentation, which is the role of narration. In most manga the story is told through the characters' dialogue and the artistic scenes surrounding them. However, in <em>Ninja Slayer</em> the written narration through the story is what lays down the tale. It keeps giving extra details, whether it is a commentary during a fight scene, or something more trivial and comic such as some characters being so scared that they are "Totally pissing their pants!"
The violent action also drags the reader in. In fact, there's so much violence it is hard to see how come Vertical have rated it a 13+. In the opening chapter a ninja has his head kicked off his body completely.
<em>Ninja Slayer </em>is a fast-paced story which makes for quick entertainment and leaves you wanting a little bit more.
<b>Final score: 7 out of 10</b>