Title: Psyren vol. 13
Author/Artist: Toshiaki Iwashiro
Distributor: Viz Media
American Release Date: Nov. 5th, 2013
Format: Manga
Genre: Action, Supernatural, Comedy
Publisher Age Rating: T+ for older teen
Overall Personal Rating: B
Synopsis:
When Ageha, Sakurako and Kabuto are once more whisked away to Psyren, they find a large colony of survivors inhabiting the sanctuary known as the Root. When they are attacked by an elite Taboo fighting corps called the Scurge, Ageha and his friends must fight off the invaders to save the colony – which includes members of Ageha’s lost family!
How will Ageha react when he see’s family member he though were long lost? Will everything he knows or believes be tested to the point of sanity or will all of this roll off him just like water on a duck? Last but not least, what do Ageha and Sakurako feel about each other?
Commentary:
Psyren is a complicated story with plenty of mystery and intrigue. Of course there is the one person hell bent on destroying humanity and W. I. S. E. is out to remake the planet in their own image. After bouncing back and forth through time our hero’s are now back in their own world time line but it isn’t long before they get sent back to the future. The great thing about how they are transported back and forth is that they seem to lose their memories and only retain a few glimpse that come across like dream. This makes the plot even more solid when the other aspect of resetting or resurrecting the world aging ends up changing things. This adds confusion to the movement through time and also adds more drama to the plot.
At this point in the story it is hard to tell where every thing stands and it feels like there is a lot more to understand about everyone involved even though it is already on volume 13. With only 3 more volumes to go to complete the series I feel as though a lot of ground must be covered. This may be problematic with the pacing of the first 13 volumes, but it might just be what this series need to elevate it to the next levee.
Overall Grade: B
Most of the action in Psyren is strong enough keep it in world of the shonen and the underlying premiss helps keep it solid in the world of the supernatural. I just ended up a little flat on how it is all coming together. I know it is easy to concentrate on the fights and begin to give more powers to our hero’s, but when things begin to unravel because things have moved to slowly it spells disaster for a ending that need some very solid explanation to close it all off.
So far, Psyren is a fun read with plenty to keep me coming back. This is a solid read for those shonen fans looking for something that has a few new twist and turns but overall I’m not too sure how easy it will be to finish it off. I will be sure to stay tuned to find out.
