Comics / Manga

Zyword: Volume One

By Leroy Douresseaux
August 28, 2006 - 06:42

 

Zyword is an unbalanced dimensional structure.  It is a world that is a collection of spells created by the three Goddesses of Chaos.  As this narrative begins, the goddesses have put one of Zyword’s greatest lands, Ariamel Kingdom, under a spell, freezing the people in a deep sleep.  It’s up to Lunatia Araimel or Luna, a spellcaster or decipherer, to free her people.  Luna, however, is also Princess Luna, the daughter of the King, and something deep in her past and the plans for her future have brought misfortune on Araimel Kingdom.  With a small group of friends, Roddy Lederide and an enemy warrior turned friend whom she names “Ride,” Luna is determined to fight until Araimel Kingdom is free.

 

ZYWORD is the creation of Tamayo Akiyama, formerly of the famous and extremely popular manga collective known as CLAMP (Chobits).  Zyword mixes the kind of scavenger hunt and charm gathering of Yu-Gi-Oh or Pokémon, the battle royale of Dragonball Z, and the kind of convoluted high fantasy influenced by The Lord of the Rings.  I don’t know how much is lost in the translation, but the script for Zyword, Vol. 1 swings from intriguing to dull.  It’s an untidy tale filled with an arcane but junk mythology and meaningless game play.  The art makes it hard to distinguish between characters or even figure out exactly what’s going on in the story.  Sometimes, it seems as if one or more pages are missing from certain sequences.

 

If you’re a fan of Yu-Gi-Oh or Dragonball, you may find something to like in this, but mostly, it’s at best an average fantasy.

 

4 of 10

 

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12