Psyren

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Psyren is a series that I feel is often overlooked by a lot of people due to its lack of popularity. There are a few reasons for this, most of which come from the somewhat confusing plot and story setup. For me, it was a rare type of series that really takes the right sort of mindset to appreciate. I’ll first start on my opinion on the story, which is really the only place I feel the series suffers in some ways.

Story: 7/10

I wouldn’t call the story “bad”, however, it does lack in a few areas that hold it back from being above average. The ... problem here is that it’s hard to tell if Psyren identifies as a seinen or a shounen, as it contains familiar story setups from both types of series. You have the typical training arcs and named attacks that those who read shounens are familiar with, however, it has a mature/complex enough plot to be considered seinen-esque. This is a fairly rare mixture, and while I don’t particularly find and fault with it, it does result in some awkward plot sequences. Obviously I can’t get into much here without spoiling the story, but those familiar with it will probably know what I’m talking about.

Art: 8/10

I don’t really have any problems with the art here; there’s no moe blobs, the characters actually resemble human beings, and the art in general is definitely a step above average. This section of the review is going to be short, because other than saying “it’s above average” there’s not much else to say; it looks good.

Characters: 9/10

After reading the series this is where I feel it shines. Psyren’s character development certainly stands out above other manga. First of all, my opinion of romances that are involved in action manga is simple; either do it right, or don’t do it at all. Fortunately Psyren does it right, and the romantic developments actually amount to something. Not much else to say there. In terms of the character development, I’d say it’s great. I don’t think I can pick out a single character that acts the same way at the start of the series as they did at the end of it, and contrary to other popular series, the characters actually learn from their mistakes.

Enjoyment: 9/10

I’d give the enjoyment a 9/10 here, for me it’s not quite a 10 because there were elements of the story where you kind of had to sit there like “What the… OK then…” and keep reading on. Again, I don’t think it detracts much at all from the reading experience, but I feel like it’s something that I had to note.

Overall: 8/10

An average of the above scores, nothing much else to add here. I’d recommend that if you haven’t read Psyren and you’re OK with seinen elements slipping in to your action series, then give it a try. If you’re wary of that and or don’t like any romance in your reading material; look elsewhere.

Popularly, the shounen market is known for being over-saturated with the same kind of average stories and not presenting a whole lot of originality. I hate that kind of view, but I have to agree that the definition of Psyren is average,.

Psyren is a shounen manga serialized between 2007 and 2010. It was created, written and illustrated by Toshiaki Iwashiro.

Ageha Yoshina is a high schooler who frequently gets into fights and always wins. After one of his incursions, he passes by a payphone and it starts ringing. He answers the call but can only hear static. When he hangs up, he finds a calling card ... with "Psyren" written on it. The next day, he goes to school and a visually distressed girl, Sakurako Amamiya, forgets her wallet. Ageha picks it up and sees that the girl has the same card. Both of them end up getting involved with the game "Psyren" and uncover some incredibly distressing mysteries.

The beginning of Psyren is very promising, but, after the initial wonder, it becomes awfully predictable, for the most part. With the introduction and defeat of a character in the world of Psyren, it is made awfully clear that it would become a much more predictable story than it first seemed.

It already starts trailing off by the middle. A lot of different characters and concepts are introduced early on just to be forgotten for about 50 chapters, until they suddenly appear again as if nothing had happened.a I have no idea what happened with Ageha's original friends, they just disappeared.

Towards the ends, the unpredictability comes back, but not in a good way. It becomes almost nonsensical, with asspulls left and right. The impressions it gives is that the author got tired of writing Psyren and rushed to end it without thinking too much about it.

The battles, with a couple of exceptions, don't include any type of strategy, they are only based on who is stronger. That is actually pretty sad, as the abilities themselves are pretty imaginative and created a lot of possibilities for better battles. The main character's ability, "Melchee's Door" is truly original and also had a lot of potential, that wasn't fully used.

The cast is pretty big, but most of the characters are pretty well developed. However, there wasn't a single character that had an original personal arc, everything had already been done before. It was pretty easy to see what would happen with each of the characters from their first appearences.

Which brings me to the character design. It also isn't any different than most of other shounens. It is extremely easy to recognize everything about a character with just their design, from abilities to the personal arc. It makes everything extremely easy to predict, taking away any tension.

The art as a whole is pretty, but doesn't have a hint of originality. It is the traditional art for shounens.

Psyren was an extremely boring read to me. I knew what was coming most of the time because of the predictability of the story, which made it lose its edge. When it tried to be different, it became extremely confusing. The characters and their interactions were also pretty standard.

If you are looking for a new shounen to read, it is exactly what you are looking for. Yet, it doesn't offer anything different from all the other hundred shounens.

I'm surprised that people actually gave this P.O.S. anything higher than 4.

Psyren starts off pretty good but ends up terrible.

Story:

Pretty generic story where MC has to save the world. Not only does it have no originality, it was also hella rushed in second half of the manga.

Art:

... There's not really that much to talk about art. It's a standard shounen-like art, neither bad nor good, just average.

Characters:

Surprise, surprise, MC has some OP power that makes him win every fight. Next we have a girl who's obsessed with MC (very original), bunch of edgy villains and bunch of other random characters who appear here and there. All in all, none of the characters are memorable or likeable whatsoever.

Enjoyment:

There was none. Reading Psyren felt like a chore because it's so boring it's unbearable.

Overall:

Start was solid, everything was introduced nicely, characters had to struggle to win, had to train to get stronger, pacing was nice and then everything changes and we get a bunch of new bland characters introduced who later on die and we are supposed to feel sad for them when in reality they weren't even fleshed out or made likeable; bunch of edgy minor villains who have no motives and are just attacking MC for the sake of attacing (mangaka is making conflict were there is no conflict), then we get a bunch of ass pulls and powers that make no sense and only serve so that MC and his friends could win a fight easily.

All in all, skip Psyren, it's not worth your time.