Review : Claymore.

In a fantasy world where your neighbor could be a flesh eating monster in disguise, mankinds only hope of survival lies in beautiful half human, half monster girls dubbed claymores after the two handed swords they wield. On the flip side not everything is so great about being a claymore as they have to forever battle with the monster within, least they lose their human self and become a monster themselves.

The story revolves around a claymore named Claire and a human boy named Raki both who have had their entire family killed by monsters. After a series of events Raki ends up traveling with Claire. He tends to provide the readers voice throughout the narrative, for example, being shocked at the strange and terrible things Claire is forced to do. Raki's company makes Claire reveal more of her human side, his presence undoubtedly helping in her struggle to remain human.

The art is consistent, but the style seems a little dated and character designs are kind of lackluster. The layout is well set out, making the dialogue, story and action easy to follow. Claymore does feature quite a bit of violence and was probably aimed at older teens, but besides being in comic form, it's also fantasy violence, anyone thirteen or older would not be phased from it.

With the final chapter not really leading onto anything else, it's hard to tell where exactly where the story of Claymore is going. It's made apparent that Claire goes from village to village clearing out the monsters. The story is a bit weak in that regard, at least in this volume, there is no real conveyance of any greater goal to follow on through to the next volume.

Review : 12 Days.

Ever wondered what an art-house romance story would be like as a manga? 12 days by June Kim is just that. Not really depressing, not really bursting with action, yet it's still quite interesting in a melancholic way, which probably adds to the realistic nature of it's narrative.

A young woman named Noah dies in a car accident on the way back from her honey-moon, however, 12 days is not really her story, it is the story of her lesbian lover Jackie and her brother Nick, as they come together to try to deal with the grief and loss of a loved one. They go about this in a rather interesting way, by drinking Noah's cremated ashes over 12 days, mixed in with wine, smoothies and other assorted beverages. Together they reminisce about Noah, in particular, slowly uncovering Jackie's past with her. There's also a few nice touches of comedy strategically placed through out the narrative, giving you a break from the melancholic vibe.

The art of 12 days is nice, clear and vivid. Sometimes the characters say little, leaving the pictures to do the talking. The characters are drawn on a more realistic side to most manga, which adds nicely to the books verisimilitude . The only real reason the book has a +16 age rating is it's themes, realistically someone 13+ could enjoy this, but it's clearly been crafted for an older audience. Being a Korean made manga, it's also written in the english format, which makes it more reader friendly to beginners of the graphic novel medium than their Japanese counterparts.

12 days is a nice, simple, interesting story of two people working their way through the loss of a loved one. If your looking for a one volume drama/romance graphic novel to sink your teeth into, look no further.

Review : Air Gear.

Imagine zooming along the city skyline, jumping off roofs and grinding along power lines at exhilarating speeds before bursting out into the clear blue open sky. All you need is a pair of air treks, motorized two wheeled roller blades. Welcome to the world of Air Gear.

The story focuses around Ikki, a 15 year old high school student, who is first introduced whilst piledriving someone in a brawl. Followed by a proclaimation about how great he is, some of the others present are not too impressed with his attitude and call in an air trek gang named The Skull Saders to deal with him. After being smashed to a pulp by said gang. Ikki slowly enters the world of air treks along with the help of his harem-like makeshift family, who have been a secretive pro air trek group all along without him knowing. It's not too long before Ikki gets a hang of things and gets some revenge, but now obsessed with the sensation of flight it seems that it's only the beginning for him in the sport of air treks.

Air Gear is a fast paced manga, with every page containing either humorous antics or stylish action. Ikki delivers most of the comedy himself, but he's just silly enough that he still remains a strong, cool, likable character without becoming annoying. Air Gear has a harem like side to it, with a whole collection of girls hanging around him, like a lot of manga, this leads to some pretty perverted opportunities for him, many of which, he takes. The female characters take a back seat to Ikki in relation to the storyline, but they're still very strong characters none the less. There's Ringo, his childhood friend, whom we are told is the successor to Sleeping Forest, the best air gear team in the world. Ringo seems to have some sort of crush on Ikki, but she's awfully shy about it, unlike the beautiful Simca, another air trek enthusiast who leads Ikki into all sorts of trouble seemingly purposefully.

The art breathes alot of life into the world, with characters drawn at insane energetic angles and the choice of fashion in the character designs above par. There are a lot of sexual themes, both comedic and just plain seedy, so it's probably best to keep this in a fifteen plus category.

Air Gear manages to take possibly the most fruity activity in the world, rollerblading, and turn it into something very straight, stylish and totally kick-ass. It's a great mix of action and comedy and can only leave you wanting for more.