Monday Manga Reviews: From guys with giant swords to students with demon powers!

As you may have noticed last week there was no Monday Manga Reviews and it’s not because we got lazy (well I guess we could have sped-read through some books, but I’m glad we don’t do that). It’s because we got a double dosage of books coming up this week, but you’ll see, so for now on to the reviews!

Berserk vol. 20
Story & Art: Kentaro Miura
Translation: Duane Johnson
Lettering & Retouch: Replibooks
Publisher: Dark Horse

After many years and volumes Guts and Casca are briefly reunited in this volume. But it wouldn’t be Berserk if they weren’t reunited amidst a heard of demons and angel/demon amalgamations. It seems that the demons didn’t eat Father Mozgus’ and his minions, but instead have given them angel wings and immense powers. Of course this wicked clan thinks that these gifts are from God and plan to use it to destroy the non-believers. Just when you didn’t expect it; the Skull Knight makes a valiant return as he rescues Luca from falling to her death. It is through her we learn the demon’s true intentions and his background story. What I meant earlier by the brief reunion is that as soon as Guts reaches his old flame she is taken to the skies by the winged Mozgus and as we see later is about to be burned alive for her sins. Meanwhile Isidiro, Puck, Nina, and the guard are trying to find their way out of the tower while trying to survive demons coming out of every corner. This book is in your face with action and gore. I think Miura is on a mission to try and outdo his previous volume with more carnage and onslaught in each new volume he puts out. I mean in this volume, we get to see demon infested humans gobble up on a kid’s intestines. Which I guess leads to the only problem I had with this volume and that is it seemed that the story is back to where we left off in volume 19. Very little happened in the volume that moved the story along and it focused more on the action panels and gore than any previous volume. This book is definitely not for the weak of heart; however it is so damn fun if you can take all this violence. B

Doors of Chaos vol. 1
Story & Art: Ryoko Mitsuki
Translation: Adrienne Beck
Adaptation: Shannon Foreman
Publisher: Tokyopop

I’ll be honest and go ahead and admit that the cover really didn’t do anything for me with the exception of Clarissa’s tattoo on her back. I thought it was going to be a cheesy love story that spanned through time and space. But for some reason that tattoo lured me into reading this book and I’m sure glad I picked it up because I literally couldn’t put it down until I had read it in one sitting. Legend states that when all the doors open, the world will slip into chaos. That sets up where the story goes. The twins Clarissa (open) and Mizeria (close) are the only two that control the Four Doors which protect the world from descending into chaos. Along comes Rikhter, their guardian and kidnaps Clarissa. This in turn weakens the Door of Chaos and demons begin to pour through, threatening to destroy the entire kingdom. Now it is up to Mizeria to find her sister in time before everything goes to hell. But she won’t be doing this alone, because Zelfa from the temple of time has been sent to help her to get the doors back in place. I loved everything about this book, the story, the pacing, and the magnificent pictures. I really like that Zelfa is not the stereotypical good guy, he is very forceful and a bit of a jerk to the so called key! I can’t wait to read the next volume and highly recommend this series. A