Ranked #1478

Double Arts (Manga)

Another Shonen manga that didnt quite gets itself going. But should you read it, short answer: Yes, yes you should.

Double Arts is for me the perfect example of a manga with awesome ideas that for some reason or another just didnt get going properly. So lets break it down:

Story:
The world of Double Arts is one in which a rampant disease kills hundreds every day. The disease can be passed on through contact with any part of the infected persons body, and is always fatal - its just a matter of time. Handily occasionally some girls are born with a resistance. These girls can absorb the toxin of the disease, temporarily staving off death for a sufferer though never curing it. They are called the Sisters. Of course, they still have the disease even if they will not die from it soon, so can only touch each other.
A sister can choose to keep healing until they succumb themselves, or stop eventually and live the rest of their life training the next generation. So we join El, a sister dedicated to working until she dies to save as many as possble.

When she is finally about to succumb to the disease, both terrified and glad she has saved so many a boy grabs her hand and pulls her up from her coma. At first worried shes infected him, she quickly finds that letting go of his hand for even a few seconds results in her going back into the death coma - and he apparently shows no signs of the disease itself. Now he knows hes her cure though, he isnt letting go of that hand - even though its awkward.

When the organization finds out about this they realise he is a complete cure for the disease, and they begin efforts to receive him at their home base. Unfortunatly for them there is a group hinted to be behind the release of this disease, and they plan to kill off his cure.

So does that sound good? Better motivation than most Shonen manga right? even Luffy initial motivation seems stale and kinda silly compared to this (and i love one piece)

Characters:
As ya might have guessed, this man can get our story on characters included. Elraine is adorable, but also determined and flawed and all those great things we love. she represents the feminity brought to the manga, the thing to protect for Kiri, and an obvious love interest whilst also providing a lot of the worlds backstory for us.

Kiri on the other hand is simple, fun, artistic and good hearted - and puts me into mind of essentially the ideal boyfriend material for the double that obviously seems to represent a first love sorta thing in the never stopping holding hands deally. He represents the bravery aspect, the willingless not to go back on his word at one point even though hes sure he will die and scared as hell is endearing, and marks him out as the shonen you will like for the series.

Meanwhile the background it equally well populated. Prepare to meet the ultimate definition of GARMoe - terrifyingly cute in Sui. Normally a psycho anger fuelled warrior girl with a lust for battle, the very occasional shine of adorability breaks through when she is beaten for the very first time is downright fantastic. She seems to represent rivalry perhaps, at the very least the irritant factor for Kiri.

Finally we have Fallan Denzel. Undoubtedly this man is strength. But hes an interesting variation on the whole wise master who teaches them. First of all he seems damn young, mid twenties about. Next of all he has hundreds and hundreds of rumours about him, about the numbers of people he has killed and the feats of strength he has peformed. He denies all of them and makes it seem like he is a normal person, except that doesnt explain why all the animals nearby are terrified of him.
At first it seems like he is just an overexagerated man, he is not scary really and very unthreatening. Then he jams a mans face three feet into a solid stone pavement in a panel. He also informs Kiri and El that he has made an oath never to fight for anyone but himself - but im having a feeling this is enforced by more than just a will of his own. I think if this had gone on Fallan would have represented the unpassable wall of power, being insanely strong but also not a help to Kiri or el because hes sworn not to. In short, this world meets its Kenpachi early and hes a lot scarier for having his boundaries never exactly defined...

So an impressive cast as well it seems.


Art:
Not mind blowingly impressive - but certainly better than most first tries youll see. It looks like the work of a man whos been doing manga for a long long time and doing it well. Expect a lot of varied faces, some interesting character designs, and actually quite well realised towns and villages. Seriously, youd be surprised at how good the street scenes look in this, with cobblestones, people, stores etc. its quite underrated.

The character design is also pretty good - if only hed been given enough time to get really into it im sure he could have given us greatness. The clothing is perfectly modelled for each character, the enemies dress fantastically and dangrously whilst the guy also knows how to draw our cuteness factor in.

So overall im sad this didnt get to be a full manga, but if ya want something bitesize youll enjoy and some cool characters to love, check it all out. ill be surprised if it doesnt endear to you. read more

Double Arts
Mangaka: Naoshi Komi
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy
Length: 23 Chapters, due to Cancellation
Rating: 7/10 [Would be higher if it was longer ...]

Plot: The world has been plagued with a deadly sickness, Troi, for 700 years. The Sisters are the only ones who can treat it – women who have a high immunity for the sickness, they absorb some of the poison from the patient, prolonging their lives. However, in return, eventually they will succumb to it too.

This fate is happening to Elraine, who after treating a patient, starts having the seizures that are unique to the disease. She is saved by Kili, a young boy who was able to stop the seizures by grabbing her hand. While the Sisters all have high resistance to the disease, Kili is the one they've been searching for – the one person in the world who is fully immune to it.

After realizing this fact, Kili and Ellie go to travel to the Church's headquarters, so that Kili can be studied for a cure. However, the assassin's organization, Gazelle, is hot on their trail ...

Analysis: If you ask me, this is a totally awesome manga. Unfortunately, it was canceled after 12 chapters, which made me pissed when I found out. This manga probably would have been about 150+ chapters, with the way that it was developing [Yes, I'm so totally awesome I can predict the lengths of mangas]. Because of the short length, there are a lot of open threads left at the end of it, which is rather annoying.

The idea for this manga is interesting. I've never seen one like it. A sickness that infects everyone it touches, with a certain group of people that can heal it temporarily? It sounds really cool [not that I'd want to have it ... but you get what I mean]. Its one of the most original things I've heard [Well ... Read ... but you get my point].

The name Double Arts [which i feel is why the manga was canceled .. would you honestly read something called like that? I read it through my random search ...] comes around in one of the last chapters. Because Kili and Ellie have to constantly remain in contact with each other, they require a new way of fighting. Martial arts is the way of fighting for one person – Double arts, therefor would be for two.

This manga also has pieces of comedy built into it. How can you not, when two people have to remain in contact ... for every waking [and sleeping] moment of the day?

The fights are also well done, although not on the epic proportion. It has the ability to do that however, and it would have undoubtedly done so as the manga increased in length [like I said ... I can predict the lengths of manga. This is one of the ways to do so – if the fights in the beginning are short, and serve to show part of a character's skills, there will be without a doubt a point later in the series where the fights are much much longer and more exiting].

Character Summary:

Elrain Figarte: One of the most widely known sisters, she has cured many patients over her short lifetime, only to succumb to Troi at age 18 [or so]. After discovering Kili, she is forced to stay with him for practically forever. She is a very kind person, and her entire life is dedicated to helping others, even at the cost of her own life [in more ways than succumbing to Troi]. However, she is a very bright and happy girl, if a bit innocent.

Kili Luchile: He is a man of many talents, only one of which is complete immunality [I don't think thats a word] to Troi. His other ability is that of Flare, in which by joining hands with another person, they share strength – in other words, if five people were all touching, then each of them would have the strength of five people. He was taught how to fight by Sui, and is by nature a very artistic [if immature] person. He can carve anything extremely fast and to extraordinary detail. He has a very strong moral code, and hates other people getting hurt. He also has a sunny disposition towards life.

Sui: A pure blooded Nagin, a warrior race, she loves to fight. She would fight anyone to show that she's stronger, and she never loses. She is also a playgirl, and dates many men at once, constantly fooling with their emotions. She's even dated Kili thrice, dumping him each time [which is very funny to watch]. Her weapon is, surprisingly, a metal hula-hoop. However, even with her strength and her playgirl mentality, she is a very immature person, who loves taking risks just to see other people's reactions.

Fallan Denzel: A genius fighter, he is the one to teach Kili and Ellie how to fight. He knows all of the martial art styles in the world, even though he is a teenager [about 19 years old I think]. He has taught many an apprentice, each of them learning a different style. He is feared by many, and there are a great many rumors about his feats. However, he only fights for himself, never to protect others [which, quite frankly, is unique. I have never read another manga character who does so – most of the time, they fight to protect SOMEONE].

The rest of the characters, as important as they might become, I cannot tell you ... because its CANCELED!!! [And I'm still very sad about that ...]


review taken from animeruwelz, check out my profile for more details read more