Ranked #401

Psyren (Manga)

Finally found how to edit my review.
Psyren - one of the best shounens.

Story: It has almost no connection to the beginning, but is very strong and interesting. How is the future changed, a little more about parallel worlds, about reality. And a little more common, than what it used to be. However, the timeline is very good, everything falls in place perfectly. And follows the cause-reaction pattern, witch is very rare these days .

Art: Bleach-like, shounenish, bloody brutality! "Oh, no! He breaks out!" is what you think, when the evil mastermind escapes. You can feel the Doom oozing out of every deadly Psy power! And we have a candidate for Shounen Double Page Whore Award here. When the mangaka gains enough exp (by killing n00bs and drawing manga) we will see OP/GANTZ-like pages. 200+ chapters I think.

Characters: Forget what I wrote, there is an entire new development. It is so intense, that every word I write will be a major spoil. The only cliche that is left is "I will protect you/change the future!". The most important thing is that as the power of the characters grow, so do their mental development. They grow more mature/cocky/greedy/etc. And there is no flashback power ups, no hidden reserves of hidden power. Only the character, his brain, guts and ability to fight/survive/adapt.

Enjoyment - good, very good, the best! The manga is not flawless, but it gives a satisfaction comparable to reading Bleach+Naruto at the same time. Even more. There is no manga that I ENJOY more. Just to be on the safe side - I mean enjoy as "happy, optimistic vibe". There is darker types of enjoyment, but they have no place here. It is rare, but you can't hate even "The bad guys".

Similar - well, you know, GANTZ. And I like both of them.
I think that Psyren has something more. Well being shounen limits the pure violence, blood, gore, nudity, sex and etc., but Psyren has the almost unlimited psy-fi fantasy setting. So if the mangaka has a good imagination (it appears that he has) it can be very interesting after the first year. The story is getting more and more twisted. Same goes for the characters.

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Edited. The story really switched gears so I decided to basically re-write this review.

Story: The story begins with your average high school student who finds a calling card. The card is one of the rumored "Psyren" cards and supposedly people who find and use these cards vanish. Yes, towards the beginning of the series the story is kind of a mix between Gantz and Hunter x Hunter. Gantz in the sense that they teleport to strange worlds, fight bad guys/monsters, and return at random times. And HxH in the sense that they all have their own unique fighting techniques that they're naturally good at (like Nen).

However, the story really takes a different direction when they begin to learn the mysteries of the worlds they are transported too. I don't wanna reveal too much, but the story shifts off of that "other-worldly" scenario (which is common in the beginning) and begins to grow into a story much more than that. They learn who is sending them to the other worlds, why they are fighting, and much more. It's a weekly release so you don't have to worry about waiting too long for new chapters (it's also scanlated weekly unlike some series who have releases at random times).

Art: The art is pretty good. The backgrounds can be quite stunning and I enjoy the character designs.

Character: The characters are all unique. As the story goes on, they tend to focus on certain characters, however, the characters we meet in the beginning still play a role in the on-going story (which is nice). We keep finding out more and more as the story goes on.

Enjoyment: Well, I was kinda shocked when the series switched gears. I enjoyed it more in the beginning because it was simple to follow. As my manga list grows and I experience different stories, I tend to find it hard to follow some details in Psyren. Nonetheless, I still love this story and hope it doesn't get cut in WSJ. I'd definitely recommend this story. Just try it out. If you don't like it, then don't continue. After all, we all have our own tastes and opinions.

Overall: 8/10 read more