Veritas

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With the exception of a few comedies, like Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, or Cromartie High School, manga and anime primarily set in high school absolutely suck.

The reason for this is simple enough; of all the exciting, interesting places to base a story, high school is just about the worst. Choosing this as a setting is simply pandering to one's audience, nothing more.

However, despite so much working against it, "Veritas" manages to pull this off. This is no ordinary school; it's a place for instructing exceptional fighters, set up by an organization called Reunion, which has mastered biotechnology and robotics at ... a level far beyond anything in the real world.

None of the main action occurs in the classroom either; instead, the manga is a series of tremendous fights interspersed with political intrigue and mystery.

At the center of all this is the hero, Gangryong, the typical, strong-willed, never give up, never back down street fighter. While at first just an ordinary juvenile delinquent, his life changes when he comes across Lightning Tiger, a tremendous warrior who begrudgingly takes Gangryong on as a pupil.

After Tiger's supposed death, Gangryong is recruited into the school as his late master's only student.

While this could easily turn into a non-stop fight manga, (not that there's anything wrong with those!) there is a great deal of exposition and mystery connected with Gangryong's sponsors, the struggle between traditional martial artists like Lightning Tiger and Reunion's own brand of synthesized, bio-engineered martial arts, and the battle for the title of the head of Heaven's Riches that includes the school's student council as well as its adult sponsors.

While the story is well done, and the fights are brutal, gorgeous, and exciting, the manga manages to include a number of funny, humorous moments as well. It never takes itself too seriously, which just makes it that much more fun to read.

The place where this work really stands out most is the style of the characters. They just look cool. Gold chains and pendants around their necks, bracelets all over their arms, beanies over their heads, (in one case) a tribal tattoo, and a generally cool, trendy vibe are a hallmark of every significant character.

The guys all have hard, chiseled facial features and a moderate, well-defined amount of muscle. The female characters have soft faces, slim bodies, disproportionately large breasts and ass, and a similar trendy, up-to-date sense of style.

All of this might seem besides the point, but it's not. Having the characters look interesting, appealing, and (gasp) like a bunch of trendy high school youths makes the illustration more entertaining and the story more palatable.

While it undoubtedly alienates a portion of its readers, who won't be able to identify strongly with most of its cast, it's a fine decision on the part of Veritas's creators.

In terms of weaknesses, Veritas suffers from some predictable fights and scenarios. They're done well, but on several occasions, the creators had a chance to change it up, but opted to go for the more familiar route.

2018 EDIT FOR THE 3/10 REVIEW BELOW MINE-

Yes, I read the entire manhwa. It continuously gets better and more interesting, and while the final ending is rushed due to being canceled, it's far from bad. For a series that is all about playing with and subverting the cliches of the high school shounen fight genre, such a plot twist isn't out of place. Moreover, it's sensible, given the story arc and nature of the character in question.

SLIGHTLY OFF-TOPIC RESPONSE BELOW, IGNORE IF YOU ONLY CARE ABOUT VERITAS-

Also, I don't mind anyone disagreeing with my review, but if you're going to specifically call out my score, how the hell do you then justify giving The Breaker 10/10? It's the same genre as Veritas except utterly generic, blindly adhering to the high school shounen fight conventions which Veritas was all about innovating upon.

Moreover, The Breaker ALSO had a rushed, last-second ending. Except in that case, it made zero sense, and was nothing more than a "reset" of the plot and main characters for the new series. In other words, none of the shit in The Breaker matters, and read The Breaker: New Waves to see how everything progresses from square one. Again.

High school is usualy full of bullies, arguments, exam's,60-year-old-hag's, and other realistic/uncool elements. But what about a school where almost every second is spent for fight's? Interested?Then I suggest you step inside the world of Veritas

The Academy where our protoganist studies isn’t your typical high school. It’s ruled by fighting, and The Executive Council (and the teachers) intend to keep it that way. Intimidating and dangerous, they practically rule the academy.

Some of the things to watch out for are: crazy brawls, near-death battles, relationship drama, ripped skirt's(?), special fighting moves and supernatural abilities.

After reading the first six volumes, I asked myself: “Is an ... entire manga series dedicated to fighting worth it?” My answer was “Yes…and no”.

Basically,Veritas is one big fight, with some unique characters thrown into the mix. If you can follow panel after panel of devastating bouts of violence, you’ll probably enjoy it. Personally, I think the artwork is really strong and there are some interesting stories that are revealed between battles. But overall, I found it difficult to relate to any of the characters and found the violence a little repetitive after a while.

So this is actually a manhaw not a manga. So the characters names are a little different then usual. Take Gangryong for example, he's the main character. I don't know why i felt like pointing that out first. Anyways on with the review of the manhaw.

STORY: 8/10
The story is really not outstanding, but its better then a lot of other fighting series' stories. I was suprised that alot of thought was put into the different fighting techniques. Theres literally pages of characters doing nothing, but explaining the different types of ki, fighting styles, elements, etc... It's nothing groundbreaking, but suprisingly good for a fighting manga.

ART: ... 9/10
The art is not to be overlooked. Almost every male character has a 20-pack, and is loaded with musle. Despite all their musle they're not big like in DragonballZ. They're all just really fit. No characters look the same, and they each have something unique about them. The art is drawn very cleanly, and the fight scenes are really easy to follow. I haven't once come across a "mystery panel" which seem to appear so often in other battle manga.

CHARACTER: 8/10
I mentioned the characters being nice to look at, but they're also fun to watch. Even though Gangryoung is one of those never give up characters, I don't hate him. The only thing ever on his mind if fighting which makes him perfect in a fighting manga. He never thinks about girls which is kind of suprising considering how many beautiful girls go to the same school as him. Only a few characters have backstory, but thats understandable since theres only 39 chapters out right now.

ENJOYMENT: 10/10
The main focus on this manga is fighting, and boy does Veritas deliver in that department. Each fight scene is really well put together. Each character has his/her own unique move(s), and watching them fight is just a blast. Li Gauwho fighting the robot was the first real major fight. And it's just plain awsome to see his body turn hard as steel and just go toe-to-toe with the robot. I was hooked from that moment onwards.

OVERALL: 8/10
This manga has sweet action, a surprisingly half-way decent story, and great artwork. I enjoyed it immensely.

With a premise that may sound overdone (male lead in a supernatural environment going through his high school life trying to get stronger), Veritas really separates itself from the pack (I feel that among many things, one key difference in the way Veritas attacked this genre was that it hardly ever focused on the classroom setting, while still maintaining a school atmosphere). Regardless, Veritas excels at many things us manga (or manwha) lovers enjoy.

[10] : Art

The artwork for Veritas is perhaps one of it's highest selling points. I feel it is far above average when it comes to things like anatomy (particularly scaling of ... people's limbs / body parts), strong lines, clear action scenes, and most notably hair. Although hair might seem to be an odd specific to focus on, the hair in Veritas is perhaps the most well drawn of any piece I've read. The way the fight scenes progress makes it easy to understand what's going on, which even good manga sometimes suffer with.

[8] : Story

Don't let this "8" marking discourage you, Veritas is by no means just for show. The story is well written, fairly well flowing, and gives decent motivations for the majority of events. Characters weave in and out of their respective parts of the story very well, which to me is important. For example, when a character pops up into the story they are often revealed to be a certain rank, part of a certain group, or otherwise elaborated on to the point where you don't feel the power level they display is in any way unbelievable, awkward, or that their character is just thrown in for filler. Another part of the story I enjoy is that they DO have multiple "plot-twists," which are in some way alluded to before they happen, not that you would ever guess it.

[9] : Character

The characters in Veritas are nothing short of amazing. Backed by the exquisite artwork, and full of a wide variety of motivations and personalities, it's easy and fun to watch their interactions unfold and realize your favorites. The fighting styles in the story are mostly exclusive to each character which furthers their individual uniqueness. The main reason I don't label this aspect of the manga a 10 is because most characters despite their great design, don't have too much backstory. Childhoods and families are rarely touched on (with a few exceptions), but I don't really feel it takes away from the story overall.


[9] : Overall

Overall I would have to say Veritas is one of the best series I've read. The great character designs and well done fighting scenes really do the genre justice. If you're looking for a top-notch supernatural shounen, you're luckily to have found your way to Veritas.

With the exception of the main character, I found this series somewhat dull. The art is fantastic--easily my favorite in terms of artistic ability-- however the story's tendency to be repetitive with scenarios and an over-bearing focus on the female anatomy somewhat dulled my enjoyment of the series. The main character is an exception to that outlook in that he seems to be the only grounded/sane character--his honestly-selfish ambition is a necessary breather from the somewhat self-delusional ambition attributed to most of the secondary characters.

In my opinion, this series earns ... a 7/10 due to the artistic excellence and a well-conceived main character.

Story: It's not really unique. A persevering student finally gains acceptance by a teacher in martial arts that also holds supernatural powers, but is shocked to learn that the teacher dies not long after teaching basic techniques. The student then goes to a school for martial artists (semi-complicated - The school exists to steal traditional martial arts techniques passed down by families in exchange for artificial ki rewarded after winning fights) Pretty much being forced into the school, the main character sets forth to make a name for himself like a typical shounen. (9)

The art is pretty good. Nothing special. The manhwa is full of ... men with 6 packs and smoking hot ladies. (9)

Characters: This is what gets me. I absolutely love the personality of the main character. If you want to follow the story of a badass character (maybe like Ichigo or Naruto?) who starts off very weak (maybe like Ikki from Air Gear) at first, then this is the manga, er, manhwa for you. His dogged spirit just tricks me out. He acknowledges once that he might get some broken bones and get beaten to a pulp at first, but he will still fight in order to get stronger. Even with his idioticly determined fighting spirit, he still has a sense of humor which makes him a thoroughly enjoyable character for mainstream shounen addicts. (10)

Overall: If you're looking for a deep story or a meaning to life, then this manga is not for you. If you're looking for hot babes, ecchi, or a good romance, this manga is probably not for you. If you're looking for kickass battle scenes, badass characters, and lots of action, then I would full heartedly recommend this. I give this an overall 10.

Korean manhwa is refreshing change sometimes from the japanese ones... the art is awesome. The storyline is like a typical shonen manhwa\manga but the representation of the plot is very balanced and has a mture pace. I'm enjoying it alot. If you like shonen action, this is a very good read but as always, in my opinion, action shonen have a much better place in the anime world.

I'll keep this as short as possible, seeing as how their are already other in depth reviews. What you need to know is that this story is enjoyable and I'd recommend it. However you also need to keep in mind that the climax that's constantly building up sort of drops the ball. Not that it doesn't take place, seeing as how fights do happen in an epic way, but it's as if the story itself is only half of what it was setting out to be. The story is quite good, the art is great, the characters are for the most part remember-able and overall ... I did enjoy it. But if you have high expectations, don't.

So I recommend it if you can handle how it ends if you get to that point, especially to anyone who's read and enjoyed the likes of The Breaker, and The Breaker:New Waves (a series that unlike Veritas, continues onwards like it should.)

A REVIEW FOR LAZY PEOPLE

SUMMARY:
a Masterpiece without Ending

DETAILS:
I started this Manhwa long time ago and last week i did see it again on reddit, remembering that it was a great read i said to my self why not. So i started it again, and Maaaan what a waste it has no Ending u continu reading all that creative ideas and characters and then boom the manhwa is finished without a warning LOL it gives you a big bitter taste.

OVERALL:
10 if it has an Ending without A Doubt. Great Manhwa but since it has not i will give it a 7
...
PEACE

Veritas is a story which will leave you with mixed feelings, the story is awesome at some points but also really silly at other points.
I loved the concept of a guy used to dog-fights learning martial arts and beating up other people at a school made for fighting.
But beware! One of the things that disappointed me the most with this manhwa was the fact that there at the end is pointed towards a lot of cool fights. The story leads towards a massive amount of cool fights but instead just fades it out into an semi-open ending :(

But overall it's a cool story ... with some really great drawings :)
I will recommend it even though it has some flaws :)

Veritas its a manga about never stop fighthing, the most common thing in this manga its the fights of the protagonist Gangryong and thats not a bad thing actually as they have enough of other things to dont make it feel repetitive.

The story goes beyong being the strongest or something like that, its kind of the main drive of the protagonist to always fight with someone stronger, but the whole thing isnt about that, you will also have a good dose of secrets and story to know what and why is happening and a lot of fun times, the manga doesnt take itself to seriously ... and thats a good thing because it lets itself to be diverse enough.

The art its good, you have strong guys without being too exagerated or them being 2 meters tall, but they way well defined faces and look in peak shape meanwhile the girls look pretty with smooth round faces with some big proportions, you get many panty shots and a bit of fanservice but it never feels like so much that it would hurt the manga, and the fights are great visually with a lot of complicated moves and nice visual, you can feel the strenght.

There is not much to tell about the characters, they arent bad and have their struggles and secrets, but they dont feel too trascendant, you will feel good or bad for them and will support them, but i dont think they will mark your life as characters from other series.

Overall i think its pretty enoyable and you should give it a check, if the fighthing its not your thing maybe you would want to check something else, the fights here arent everything but they are still the most important part but it has enough of other good points to keep you entertained and not just looking at a fight after fight after fight.

It think it deserved that second part, sadly we will never see it.

It's a good story, like a mix of "Air Gear" and "The Breaker" and that would be great if it was mixed well, but it isn't. It's like two different stories when it shifts attention from the main protagonist with comedy with amazing fight scenes to some sort of chess match between the other characters each trying to trick the others into fulfilling their own goals. That's what really stops me from liking most of the side characters since they all have selfish goals and secret plans that would be pointless if they actually talked about it out loud.
I think the first half ... is the best, focusing only on the protagonist and him trying to establish himself. I was hoping it would stay that way with him being weak, relying on his exeprince/fighting dirty and what little power he had. But they don't stick to that. Worst part would be the ending that came out of left field and no hope of a sequel in sight