BTOOOM! is a story about Sakamoto Ryuuta, a 22 year old unemployed person who lives with his mother and plays video games online everyday. Although nothing special in real life, he is a world ranked player of the video game BTOOOM! One day however, he awakes in a tropical island with a case containing what appears to be bombs with no memory of how he got there. .He realises that he is in a real life version of the video game BTOOOM! and he must survive long enough in the Battle Royale-esque battle.

That's a basic summary of the plot. Our main character, Sakamoto, isn't your typical manga protagonist who is born to fight, able to battle and kill with no qualms. He is a man with a conscience and even in the kill-or-be-killed environment of the tropical island, he still finds it difficult to just kill others and in the few cases in which he does so he is filled with regret (and even in these situations he only did it because he had no other option). He is, in my opinion, an interesting protagonist and a refreshing break from some of the other protagonists in manga who seem to be slightly unrealistic in their approach to situations.

I'm not going to write too much about the story because as of the time of writing it simply chronicles Sakamoto's attempt to survive and escape the island. That's not to say it's bad though; indeed, so far the action has been intense and satisfying.The art is also quite good, but nothing exceptional. However, it is nice to look at and it certainly manages to capture the feel of the story in it.

Overall, it's an enjoyable manga that I recommend you to read. If you enjoyed Battle Royale or seinen works like Gantz, I recommend you check this series out.

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*Review Updated
Btooom! is one of those relatively not-well-known manga. Most people would probably not be interested in this manga just by seeing its cover page, which is in the format of a video game case. I know I almost did. Nevertheless, this manga has amazing plotline, characters, and artwork. If you would want to see what happens when a gamer-shut-in is thrown into a merciless game where a bunch of people hated by the society use bombs to kill each other, and this survival game just happens to be the same as the one he always plays. Furthermore, he meets a busty teenage girl who just happens to fall for him. Together, they must use every inch of their cunning to avoid being killed by other participants. Yep. By combining all these different elements, you get btooom!

Story: 8
The story is refreshing and full of mystery. There are a lot of plot twists and the reader will never know what will come next. This manga is narrated solely from Ryuuta's view (the protagonist). We slowly discover the mystery to this cruel survival game as Ryuuta learns more. This creates a sense of anticipation and makes this manga enjoyable. Furthermore, one thing that this manga excel at is the use of back stories, for both main and supporting characters. These back stories are flashbacks that explain why the characters act the way they do. However, they are not as fully fleshed out as I would like.

Despite the amazing start, this manga, through its slow updates, is slowly degenerating to the realm of mediocrity. Maybe that's an exaggeration, but we will see how it plays out.

Art: 8
I am not much of an art person, but suffice to say that I find the art in btooom! well done.

Character: 8
The most notable aspect of character portrayal in btooom! is realism. This is evidently seen in our protagonist, Ryuuta. Although he is a neet, an anti-social, and has anger management problems, he also possess incredible compassion to help others, an observant and calculating brain that enables him to survive, and a strong sense of morals. This manga is not only told in his perspective, but we can also hear his complex thoughts on every page. This is what made this manga really interesting.

Enjoyment: 9
As you can see, I enjoyed this manga a lot :D I definitely recommend it.

Overall: 8
Btooom! Is a refreshing survival game manga that deals in various genres, such as mystery, action, psychological, romance, ecchi, and seinen. Some would like to claim that it is a rip-off of battle royal, but personally I don't see why that should even matter.

Here is to wishing that future chapter releases would continue to keep up the good work.

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