Comics / Manga

Alive: The Final Evolution # 3

By Avi Weinryb
May 13, 2008 - 14:18

Taisuke Kanou is on the run. He’s a high school student with a serious problem. Taisuke has developed supernatural powers which allow him to control heat and flames. This would be exciting and fun if it were not for the fact that other similarly super powered beings are now seeking his destruction. On the road with his younger buddy, Yuta, Taisuke will have to seek a way out of trouble and find some missing friends while dodging villainous attackers.

 

A heap of credit should be lavished on the author for crafting such a riveting story. Without having read the previous two volumes, I was able to jump on board and begin enjoying this book right away. An opening battle in a forest pits Taisuke against a fellow super powered person, referred to in the story as a ‘comrade’. This comrade can control wind, and has the nasty ability to craft wind blades that can cut like knives. It’s an exciting action sequence with some basic dialogue, but it gets the reader pumped up for what is to come.

 

A very memorable moment occurs later when the protagonist encounters an elderly man who is cursed with the power of clairvoyance. He can see one’s past and future. When he reveals the burden he carries, he remarks that “I saw my mother cry when I was born… And I saw my son feel relieved when I died.”

It’s a powerful moment, and the prediction he provides will likely haunt Taisuke for the remainder of the series.

 

This volume reaches its apex when Taisuke and Yuta find themselves fending off a homicidal maniac within an amusement park he constructed using his ultra-powerful mind. It’s crazy, it’s fun, and at this point, the book is impossible to put down.

 

As the characters run through a fully realized psycho amusement park, artist Adachitoka’s skills are put on display. Every detail shines forth, and a careful grasp of perspective transforms the Ferris wheel from an attraction into a deathtrap. Characters emote well, and are strongly illustrated. And Taisuke’s older sister is drop-dead gorgeous, which is a plus. Panel composition is creative, adding to the exciting and unpredictable flow of the story.

 

This is a fun manga well worth purchasing. It’s a non-stop joyride through an imaginative landscape, and did I mention that Taisuke’s older sister is drop-dead gorgeous? Because she is.

 

8.5 / 10  

 

_______________________

 

Avi is an editor and writer at The Comic Book Bin.

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12