When it comes to shonen, it's all about the execution. No one goes into shonen to see how mind-blowingly original and different it can be. No, people read shonen to see -how- each author approaches the well-worn tropes of the genre. That is why although they belong to similar archetypes of characters, I like the Straw-hat crew and adore the kids of Hunter x Hunter, but find the cast of Ao no Exorcist dull and the Reborn cast irritating.
Dragon Eye is your classic shonen, the same kind of variety as the various successful titles that have graced the pages of Shonen Jump à la Shaman King, H x H, or the Big SJ three. Really, if the series that come to mind while reading this are Naruto, Bleach, and the like, it's not really an insult. It's a praise. Now, you fans may yell at me, saying this is so much better than Naruto or Bleach, as I have already seen people do: "Stop comparing this to -insert popular Shonen Jump title-! It's so much better!" But you see, before those series became the bloaty messes that they are, they were simply good shonen, with great execution. Their popularity is proof of that. Had this been serialized in Shonen Jump back when it started in 2005, I'm quite certain it would have done very well. It'd probably have an anime series that, if it was adapted well, I would have been obsessed with. Then again, maybe it's better this wasn't in Shonen Jump. With Jump's love for making cash cows out of its titles, who knows what would be different about this series? Maybe it would be a trainwreck now.
There are two very important things for a shonen series to fulfill in order to be good:
1) Have an interesting world (the setting, the organization, the system)
2)The characters have "heart", to put it in shonen-like terms. Being cool is obvious, but they should be likeable as well.
One Piece is beloved because it does both things exceptionally well. Heck, some series end up successful even while fulfilling only one of the two. Given what I have already said about Dragon Eye so far, it shouldn't be surprising that the series does both solidly. The city of Mikuni is lively and exciting, the VIUS organization well plotted out, and the characters' powers undeniably cool. I can almost see those badly drawn VIUS organization OCs invade the internet (I have actually seen one). Issa is not lacking in anything in terms of being worthy as a protagonist, and the supporting characters such as Leila are rock solid.
Especially Leila. One of the series' huge positives is that its female characters are good. It's really sad when you see how many authors can't write female characters. It's horribly depressing when I start preferring shows like Hunter x Hunter where female characters are almost nonexistent over ones that have them, but are terrible.
Women are surprisingly well represented throughout the VIUS organization and dress in sensible clothing. It's almost ridiculous how happy that makes me. Leila is not there to be the cutesy love interest of the protagonist, she's not there to be the walking exposition while being "the load" of the group. She's an actual character with ambitions to become strong, which is something that is actually respected by the other characters and the plot.
Note, though, that it doesn't mean female characters are full frontal in the action, à la Legend of Korra. Leila is still one of the weakest and doesn't get into many battles, but considering that she is not the main character, a girl in shonen, AND a complete greenhorn , this girl kicks ass. The chick graduating exams with top scores? Seen that. Be informed that she's talented? Means nothing. Actually see that talent in action? Awesome. While it's unlikely that we will get to see how strong Leila will be with experience, that she's treated as a rookie with huge potential and not as the "Chick", makes me amazingly happy.
The quality of the female characters and the name Fujiyama Kairi makes me conclude that the mangaka is a woman. (Imagine a man with the name Kairi, seriously). I bring this up not because she is a woman (women authors can be just as bad with females), but because she reminds me of Fullmetal Alchemist's Arakawa Hiromu. The bold, easy-on-the-eyes designs of the series bring to mind Arakawa's earlier work and they both have very good fundamentals on writing shonen. There are more differences between them when looking at Fujiyama's Rex Fabula, where her style has matured to be more in tune with the slick designs of contemporary shonen, but through that series and FMA, they have both progressed to go beyond standard shonen to tackle some darker topics.
Not that this series isn't as good. While I am enjoying Rex Fabula too much to begrudge Fujiyama for putting this one on hiatus, this is too good a series to just drop. Fujiyama-sensei, take as much time off as you want. As long as you finish before you die, take as long as you want. Just don't give it a rushed ending. Hopefully, when I can update this review, it would be after a satisfying ending has passed. Just as Arakawa did, may you get the success you deserve, be it through this, Rex Fabula, or a future series. Shonen Jump is struggling because it's failing to find and accommodate talent like you. Oh well, it's their loss.
