Customer Reviews

Bizenghast Volume 1

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

For a first shot out of the gate this is pretty astounding.
The art is definitly drool-worthy, some of the illustrations are remenicent of the works I've seen from the golden age of illustration. The eyes reminded me a little of the ones in "Alichino" which is a nice change, because I'm a little sick of the typical glassy eye that plagues manga. The costumes, and architecture are so lovely that I can't imagine how much time they must have taken to draw. I do agree that there are a few pages in the book that need a bit of brushing up, especially in the front of the book where the Aunt and the Doc are talking.

I really had no problem following the story at all, actually it's a fairly easy read and so far the story is pretty concise. Dinah is certainly a character I can sympathise with because of all the tragedies she has and is facing. At first she struck me as simpering and whiny..but I can already see the first stages of Dinah growing into a stronger and more interesting character. Vincent is just so loveable though, you can't help but like him,

One person mentioned that this would be better labeled as a Graphic Novel than a manga which I disagree with. Manga is what you make of it, and it's refeshing to see a change in the "big eyes, small mouth, girls drooling over boy, watch out for my change sequence" stuff that has been churned out lately. The sudden changes in Dinah and Vincent where they are drawn in a more simplistic, almost chibi style are not uncommon to gothic (although I wouldn't label Bizenghast as gothic) manga. Check out Kaori Yuki's "Angel Sanctuary", a sometimes very dark manga that does the same thing.

Overall I think it's worth the $9.99 sticker price, and I'm looking forward to the future volumes!
I think Miss LeGrow will just keep improving.

I'll probably end up reading the second volume just to confirm my love or hate of this manga. The story itself is an interesting concept and the art is gorgeous (mostly on the cover, chapter pages, and in some cases the background) but in general the characters seem to be drawn with less care than other manga. As for the personalities of the characters, Dinah struck me as a spoiled, stupid little girl who can't do anything for herself except dress up in fashionable gothic Lolita outfits. She relied on her friend Vincent to do everything for her and she actually didn't do much in this volume (it's almost as if Vincent, and not Dinah, was the main character and might I mention that he was entirely loveable). She redeemed herself somewhat in the final pages of this volume but who knows what the next book will bring? Hopefully a continuation of this intriguing story and a way to make me love the main character better.

Bizenghast, I'd say, is a pretty decent book, and I think M. Legrow did a great job with it. The art in this book is gorgeous, especially on the costumes and architecture, and the plot during the first volume is very interesting.

I admit, I didn't fully understand some parts of the book right away, as they were a little confusing. There is a somewhat lengthy explanation towards the end, but it's told in a humorous manner, which thankfully keeps it from being irritating or boring. The basic story was, for the most part, simple to follow, with perhaps a few exceptions here and there.

The art, as I mentioned earlier, was excellent--except for some of the characters. In some panels, the characters look very sloppily drawn and even slightly out of proportion. I guess I can sort of overlook this due to the wonderful costume and architecture design, but it tended to be a little annoying to see the characters look messily thrown together in some scenes. It was a little surprising, actually, because the building designs and the chapter pages were so intricate and detailed, yet, the characters occasionally looked like basic sketches.

Overall, I think this book was a good one and am looking forward to volume two. I'd say to anyone who hasn't bought or read this book yet to skim through it at the book store first and see if it looks like a good read. Although I find it to be off to a nice start, there's definitely room for improvement.

Bizenghast tells the tale of a teen named Dinah who is able to see ghosts. Her aunt (her parents are dead) thinks she has a mental disorder. Dinah's friend Vincent helps her complete her tasks of setting the souls trapped in a mausoleum free.
I was not overly impressed with this story. As previous reviewers have stated, the storyline seems to jump around and does not flow smoothly. The artwork is pretty good and LeGrow has created a character who has her own style, which is a plus in my opinion, but unfortunately that alone cannot pull the story together.
I enjoyed Courtney Crumrin's adventures much more than Dinah's but i'd still read volume 2 of Bizenghast to find out the outcome of Dinah's (and Vincent's) quest.
If you want to read a goth comic with humor and a strong storyline, I recommend Courtney Crumrin by Ted Naifeh.

I buy manga primarily for the story, and the art doesn't really come into my decision-making process. So, if you like stories more then art, this review is for you.

I was extremely disappointed by the jumpy way the story was drawn. Often times there are gaps in the plot that the reader must fill in for themselves, and not in the normal "it's implied" sense. I actually checked my book to make sure there weren't pages missing! The story itself is not very interesting because it never reached outside of the basic plotline. I've found that most interesting manga will try to make a claim about something like human nature and such, like Fruits Basket does, and this manga definately doesn't even try.

After all the hype on the publisher Tokyopop's website about this new manga series, I couldn't believe how big a let-down this was. Perhaps you'll find the art makes up for the story, but I don't think anyone will remember this manga in 10 years.

I found the first novel of Bizenghast to be a high-quality read, overall; the art had a unique feel to it (the costumes and backgrounds were gorgeous), the plot was well-executed (excluding a necessary chunk of exposition at the end), and the premise is intriguing. The tone varies from disturbingly eerie to darkly humorous, and often falls somewhere in between.

The town of Bizenghast (from which the book gets its title) is a mysterious, dilapidated ghost-town, where the two main characters, Dinah and Vincent, reside. While some might feel Bizenghast's rather mystifying beginning to be frustrating, I appreciated the immersive feel of being on the same level the characters, understanding-wise. Also, the small newspaper clippings preceding each chapter offer small insights to the town's history that has leaves one trying to fit the pieces together. Even the somewhat cumbersome chunk of exposition at the book's end did not grate on my nerves too badly, largely due to the comical delivery and sporadic behavior of the character relating the information.

The storyline of this book is what appeals greatest to me, personally. The premise is original, and by the end of the second chapter, I was hooked in earnest. At first, I feared that the excursions into the mausoleum would be repetitive, but as I read through each section my fears were assuaged. Each piece of the plot has a different feel to it, and the suspense was always fresh in my mind. Speaking of which, the horror and suspense in Bizenghast are omnipresent and wonderfully immersive.

Bizenghast's art is, in my humble opinion, breathtaking. The sheer amount of detail in the various settings and in Vincent's and Dinah's outfits is staggering. Even though the two main characters were wearing Gothic, old-fashioned clothes the majority of the time, I hardly noticed due to how well they matched the plot. Also, the characters are drawn in a distinctive style, and thankfully without that overdone `Oh-I-Wish-I-Was-Japanese' vibe that often plagues American manga artists. LeGrow's art doesn't try to be anything but what it is, and it is remarkable. The one complaint I have with it is that occasionally Dinah and Vincent appear to be drawn a bit carelessly.

Despite my general enjoyment of this manga, I did have a few problems with it. The main character Dinah seems weak and vacillating, but I can forgive this as it's only the first novel and there's plenty of room left for further character development. I have a harder time forgiving her foil Vincent's action-hero dynamic; it seems like he was just waiting around for some huge adventure to happen. The interaction between these two characters confused me as well; are they dating, or just friends? Also, the unhealthiness of the relationship troubled me some; Vincent is both Dinah's dependant and enabler, and might be keeping her from further development as a character. I hope to have these concerns alleviated in the next two novels. Another problem, described in brief above, is that in some panels Dinah and Vincent are drawn rather sloppily. Also, as the art and much of the humor are geared towards Americans, it may not appeal to hardcore Otakus seeking a more authentic style. As previously mentioned, there is a piece of exposition at the end that might annoy some nitpicky readers.

On the whole, I greatly enjoyed the first volume of Bizenghast. It suffers from problems in characterization and pacing, but they were made forgivable by the book's gripping plot and originality. I would recommend it to anyone looking to break out of the usual, cookie-cutter fantasy plots with an innovative new read.

This book is amazing. The art is gorgeous. It's drawn in a different style than Japanese manga, but in my opinion, it's an improvement if anything. The backgrounds and costumes are divine, and the entire mood of the story is satisfyingly grim and gorgeous, a perfect mixture of Victorian/gothic horror and current-day humor. There are a few more horrific depictions on the lines of a Jhonen Vasquez novel (think Invader Zim or Johnny the Homicidal Maniac), but they are rare enough that it adds to the appeal of the comic without making the work excessively gory. Bizenghast is a credit to the American graphic novel industry.

I too actually met the author to this book. I saw her actual illustrations and thought they were wonderful because they were carefully inked and had nice little details. When I was at the book store and saw her book, I was expecting the same level of work in her manga. As I flipped through it, I was quite shocked that it wasn't. Only the illustrations for each chapter were well executed, and so were the architecture and backgrounds. I will give her a thumbs up on the costumes but that isn't the main focus of the story. It's the author's way of showing off that she can creator beautiful costumes. The characters were always inconsistent and there were times where the style shifted to Japanese manga caricatures which didn't fit with her gothic style. So to me, it seems like she's trying to fit the Japanese style with hers but she hasn't quite found it yet (there was a lot of switching in styles). I realized that this book isn't a Japanese Manga, but the work doesn't live up to what most professionals do in the Comic and Manga world.

The story I thought was decent. I think it kind of saved the artwork a bit. I am going to get the second volume just to see how the rest goes and hopefully she's improved on her work because I feel that she does have a lot of potential but didn't quite do it in this book. My recommendation is that you would just sit and read this in the bookstore or just look at it.

This book is a terrible disappointment. The art has occasional flashes of talent, but is overall inconsistently drawn and the worst pages strike me as hastily scribbled last-minute quick fixes instead of work that the author particularly cared about. The story has its moments of effectiveness, but often suffers from a lack of direction and is at times rather difficult to follow. I found myself having to reread sections repeatedly to understand what was happening between panels.

The flow of the story seems awkward at times. The first part is a bit repetitive, and perhaps in the author's interest of being mysterious and dark...not much is revealed to the audience at all. There is a sudden and abrupt shift into wordy exposition later, as if realizing that some sort of explanation was needed before the end of the first book. Not good pacing. There was a lot of potential for plot points to be revealed along the way, but more of the time was spent on the horror (which is good! some of the most effective parts of this book are the creepy ones) and also, unfortunately, angst. The supposed main character seems like a helpless pudding under duress, and the relationship between her friend? boyfriend? Vincent and herself is not very clearly defined.

One issue that kept nagging me as I read this book was: why is this considered "manga"? Why not just call it a graphic novel? Certainly the art isn't much reminiscent of manga (the characters look like a goth version of those big-eyed children paintings by Margaret Keane), nor has much effort been made to really draw the reader into the environment or the personalities of the characters. There was a bland sort of detachment throughout the book, as if everyone was deadpanning their lines.

Finally, the bonus section at the end of the book struck me as somewhat...bizarre. Normally a place for the artist to share something about the creative process, or give sneak peeks into upcoming work, here instead the reader is rewarded with pages and pages of...fan art. Considering this is only the first volume of Bizenghast, it strikes me as an odd (and perhaps slightly egotistical) choice to insert such material when a reader/fan of this artist's work would surely appreciate more work actually done by the artist herself.

My recommendation for any potential buyer of this book is...you'll definitely want to thumb through this at your local bookstore before laying down your money. The cover looks pretty enough, but no online book seller is going to be foolish enough to give the bad pages as samples as well as the good.

M. Alice LeGrow, Bizenghast, vol. 1 (Tokyopop, 2006)

I wasn't quite sure about the first volume of Bizenghast for the first fifty or so pages. It had that unfocused quality to it that so many shojo seem to consider part of the convention. Thankfully, LeGrow got down to brass tacks pretty quick, got things organized, and started cranking out a fun little supernatural mystery/puzzle manga that looks as if it's going places quick. We're still too early into it to really get an idea of how well the characters are going to be drawn and how intricate the subplots are going to get, but it's a promising beginning, and if it realizes all of its potential, this could be awesome. *** ½