Jul 17, 2019
Ziga is an axed Shonen Jump series that has not been fully translated in English so I cannot fully comment on the story as a whole, With that out of the way let's begin!
Story: 5/10
Ziga for a manga in Shonen Jump has a very interesting premise which I think holds a lot of promise, Kaiju like Godzilla are an interesting concept that I think meshes with shounen manga very well, unfortunately it didn't last long and I haven't read much so I can only assume that it didn't execute this very well. What I can say for sure is the narrative at the very beginning
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was very strong, at a very quick pace we learn about the monster Ziga, an organization who aim to destroy Ziga as well as the main characters motivations which are very understandable even if they aren't the most heroic. I think what I liked the most about Ziga was how unorthodox it was for a shounen manga, it being very dark, not shying away from death and realistically portraying how much damage such a creature could do.
Art: 8/10
Ziga's art only helps it tell it's graphic and darker story, Ziga's design is perfect with it being a large black hulking monster with a lot of presence whenever it's in panel, the author definitely succeeded in making an intimidating creature. The characters expressions are harrowing which is coupled with a good use of black to make the series almost look like a horror. The paneling is great even if it's a bit simple as it's easy to read and knows when to put emphasis on important scenes and Ziga, there is at times a lot of dialogue but to contrast this there are some pages with no text whatsoever, relying solely on the art to tell it's story, when this is pulled off well it feels immersive and very rewarding to read which is no exception as I found myself very engaged by the end of chapter 1. The character designs also look really cool, MC looks standard enough but you can tell there's something off about him like he's darker than other shounen MC's. He also contrasts with what I assume is the villain being a girl who is pure white but unfortunately she only appears shortly in one chapter.
Character: 5/10
With only 3 chapters I was quite surprised with how well the characterization was, while more time could have been devoted to fleshing out the main characters motivations it's understandable with how fast certain events occur so that the story can properly begin. The events in question I won't divulge but they greatly influence the main character into someone who doesn't exactly fit your standard interpretation of a hero. His anger and hatred I could parallel to someone like Gutts from berserk, it's understandable how he acts but he's far from acting heroically. The other characters from what i've see belong mainly to a military organization all of which seemed interesting enough that if they did get future development i'd be confident to say they were good characters.
Conclusion:
Another manga I really wished I got to see more of, but i'm content with what I've seen as I can look at the first 3 chapters of Ziga as a short story and in my opinion it works well like that. Usually I wouldn't recommend people read these axed Jump titles, but this time I think people should read the first 3 chapters. It's not a huge time investment and if you like darker stories or Godzilla it's definitely worth your time. To quickly some up my thoughts, it was a very refreshing darker blend of shounen manga.
Why it Failed:
I think a big reason why Ziga might not have succeeded is it's darker themes, this immediately would alienate a lot of people from reading it, younger children might not like it and older people might think it's pandering with how dark it is. Though it's something undefinable I personally think it lacks the spirit to to succeed as a shounen manga, without something to inspire and encourage readers a lot of people may dislike it as I think as one of the biggest reasons I think shounen manga is so widely liked is how it can make people feel motivated and almost like they can be heroes too.
FINAL SCORE: 7/10 - Good
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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