Showing posts with label Kaiu Shirai. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kaiu Shirai. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 20, 2021

#IReadsYou Review: THE PROMISED NEVERLAND Volume 16

 

THE PROMISED NEVERLAND, VOL. 16
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

STORY: Kaiu Shirai
ART: Posuka Demizu
TRANSLATION: Satsuki Yamashita
LETTERS: Mark McMurray
EDITOR: Alexis Kirsch
ISBN: 978-1-9747-1701-9; paperback (August 2020); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
208pp, B&W, $9.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN, £7.99 U.K.

The Promised Neverland is a Japanese manga series written by Kaiu Shirai and illustrated by Posuka Demizu.  It was serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump from August 2016 to June 2020.  VIZ Media published an English-language edition of the manga as a paperback graphic novel series under its “Shonen Jump” imprint from December 2017 to August 2021.

The Promised Neverland opens at Grace Field House, an orphanage where the children have a wonderful life... or so it seems.  The orphanage's three brightest children are Emma, Norman, and Ray, all 11-years-old as the story begins.  Like the other orphans, they enjoy the daily studying and exams, and also the delicious food and plentiful playtime.  However, the children's loving, but stern caretaker, “Mom,” hides the fact that everything is not what it seems, a fact these three bright children will discover upon turning 12.

As The Promised Neverland, Vol. 16 (Chapters 134 to 143; entitled “Lost Boy”) opens, Emma and Ray attempt to find the “Seven Walls,” and find themselves trapped in a mysterious, twisty world.  Can they escape this labyrinth and make their way to the human world?  And are they willing to pay the price required?  Elsewhere, Don, Gilda, and Hayato continue their quest to find their old demon friends, Mujika and Sonju, but betrayal is afoot.

Meanwhile, Norman has his own plans to end the human-demon conflict...

THE LOWDOWN:  In Japan, The Promised Neverland manga ended its serialization in the Japanese edition of Weekly Shonen Jump last summer.  In North America, the final volume (Vol. 20) of VIZ Media's English-language collection of the manga as a graphic novel series for young adult readers will arrive in about two weeks as of this writing.

The Promised Neverland Graphic Novel Volume 16 is the first volume of the series that I have read in almost a year.  I still find this manga to be a riveting read, but I realized, early in reading this volume, that I wasn't as into reading the series as I had been a year or so ago.  That changed and I got back into the series, full-on, when I realized that Vol. 16 was a symphony of backstabbing and betrayal.  Much of it deals with the history of Julius Ratri, essentially the human who helped to create the current status quo between humans and demons.

Satsuki Yamashita creates the translation that makes Vol. 16 deliver power via its shocks and surprises, while Mark McMurray's lettering hits all the dark and edgy notes.  They help to make Vol. 16 both an exceptional and a pivotal volume.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Readers of dark fantasy graphic novels will find a terrifying story in Shonen Jump's The Promised Neverland.

A
9 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


https://www.viz.com/
https://twitter.com/VIZMedia
https://www.instagram.com/vizmedia/
https://www.facebook.com/OfficialVIZMedia
https://www.snapchat.com/add/vizmedia


The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

-----------------------------------------

Amazon wants me to inform you that the link below is a PAID AD, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on the ad below AND buy something(s).


Tuesday, August 4, 2020

#IReadsYou Review: THE PROMISED NEVERLAND Volume 15

THE PROMISED NEVERLAND, VOL. 15
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

STORY: Kaiu Shirai
ART: Posuka Demizu
TRANSLATION: Satsuki Yamashita
LETTERS: Mark McMurray
EDITOR: Alexis Kirsch
ISBN: 978-1-9747-1499-5; paperback (June 2020); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
192pp, B&W, $9.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN, £6.99 U.K.

The Promised Neverland is a Japanese manga series written by Kaiu Shirai and illustrated by Posuka Demizu.  It was serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump from August 2016 to June 2020.  VIZ Media has been publishing an English-language edition of the manga as a paperback graphic novel series under its “Shonen Jump” imprint since December 2017.

The Promised Neverland opens at Grace Field House, an orphanage where the children have a wonderful life... or so it seems.  The orphanage's three brightest children are Emma, Norman, and Ray, all 11-years-old as the story begins.  Like the other orphans, they enjoy the daily studying and exams, and also the delicious food and plentiful playtime.  However, the children's loving, but stern caretaker, “Mom,” hides the fact that everything is not what it seems, a fact these three bright children will discover upon turning 12.

As The Promised Neverland, Vol. 15 (Chapters 125 to 133; entitled “Welcome to the Entrance”) opens,  Norman prepares to make a deal with the dissident demon, Lord Geelan.  Their union would form a conspiracy to take down both the demons' royal house and their five “Regent Houses.”  As Norman and his group prepare their plan to eradicate all demons, Emma searches for her own path, and it does not involve the destruction of all demons.  Ray and Emma decide to travel to the “Seven Walls” in a bid to reach the human world.

Meanwhile, the demon Queen Legravalima meets with the demon regents:  Duke Yverk, Lord Bayon, Lord Dozza, Lady Noum, and Lord Pupo.  They gather to discuss the destruction and the chaos that plagues the demons.  While, they plot, however, the real threat advances.

THE LOWDOWN:  In Japan, The Promised Neverland manga has come an end via its serialization in the Japanese edition of Weekly Shonen Jump.  In North America, the collection of the manga continues to be one of the best graphic novels series for young adult readers.

The Promised Neverland Graphic Novel Volume 15 is a riveting read, although it is not one of the graphic novel series' best entries.  Still, I quickly read through this volume so that I could experience the surprises and the shocking reveals.  Vol. 15 is one of those volumes that prepares readers for the fireworks to come.  It is not the beginning of a paradigm shift for this series the way Vol. 14 was.

Translator Satsuki Yamashita does a good job with the heavy dialogue of this volume, and Mark McMurray's lettering paces the off-beat rhythm.  Both contributors seem to be preparing for the fireworks to come.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Readers of dark fantasy graphic novels will find a terrifying story in Shonen Jump's The Promised Neverland.

A
8.5 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2020 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.



-----------------------------



Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Review: THE PROMISED NEVERLAND Volume 1

THE PROMISED NEVERLAND, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

STORY: Kaiu Shirai
ART: Posuka Demizu
TRANSLATION: Satsuki Yamashita
LETTERS: Mark McMurray
EDITOR: Alexis Kirsch
ISBN: 978-1-4215-9712-6; paperback (December 2017); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
192pp, B&W, $9.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN, £6.99 U.K.

The Promised Neverland is a new graphic novel series published by VIZ Media.  This is the English-language publication of Yakusoku No Neverland, a shonen manga (comics for teens) from writer Kaiu Shirai and artist Posuka Demizu that is published in Japan's Weekly Shonen Jump.

The Promised Neverland, Vol. 1 (entitled Grace Field House; Chapters 1 to 7) is set at the Grace Field House orphanage.  We meet the orphanage's three brightest children who are all 11-years-old.  They are Emma, Norman, and Ray.

Under the care of “Mom,” the children enjoy a comfortable life:  good food, clean white clothes, and the perfect environment in which children can learn and also play.  One night, however, Emma and Norman uncover the dark truth about the outside world that they have been forbidden from seeing.

Because of its title, The Promised Neverland manga does not seem to be anything more than a children's fantasy story.  The word, Neverland, will always summon images of the children's paradise that is the home of Peter Pan.  However, even Peter Pan and Neverland has a dark undercurrent, an obvious truth, that broaches an uncomfortable and taboo topic.

The Promised Neverland Graphic Novel Volume 1 reveals its heart of darkness in a sudden burst in the last 20 pages of Chapter 1.  From that point on, the narrative takes a sinister tone that never changes after the first part of the horrifying truth is revealed.  Beginning with Chapter 2, The Promised Neverland reads like a summer potboiler novel that you will have to force yourself to stop reading.

This first volume of The Promised Neverland makes it clear that the series will appeal to both teenage and adult readers; perhaps, it will be appropriate for some middle school readers.  The creative team of writer Kaiu Shirai and artist Posuka Demizu are one in the storytelling – a seamless blend of story and graphics.  The result is a sinister, dark fantasy, and mystery thriller, and The Promised Neverland may be the second best new graphic novel series of the year, after the superb Children of the Whales, which is also from VIZ Media.

A
9 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2017 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

--------------------------