Customer Reviews

Brave Story Volume 1

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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A lot of reviews on the net are giving this series ratings that are far more terrible than it deserves and, even worse, are basing their reviews on the first volume only. To give prospective readers some insight, volume one explains the back story behind Wataru's predicament that ultimately sends him on his journey through Vision. It mostly takes place in the real world, with some fantasy elements seeping in from Vision.

While I have yet to read the novel that this series is based on, I found the manga itself an enjoyable read. The plot was engrossing and, at times, dark, and the characters were all likable. However, one of my main beefs was that, at times, the character design can be off for certain characters (reference Ki-Kiima in volume 2 and 3). I've only encountered a few instances of it, and it's not terribly distracting from the story.

Although Brave Story isn't a mold breaking series, it's still worth a look if you're into fantasy manga. If you find that you like the series, please support it. It's getting harder to find any volume past 3 in local bookstores/comic shops.

This one neatly broke my heart.

Several years ago, Japanese author Miyuki Miyabe wrote a famous novel (recently translated into English and released by VIZ Media) called "Brave Story." The novel itself is a weighty tome, at 800+ pages fitting right in alongside any of the J. K. Rowling or J. R. R. Tolkien titles on someone's bookshelf - this book similarly containing a rich selection of characters living in a world more closely associated with our own. The novel is beautiful, poignant, and moving - an involving fantastical tale of a logic-driven young boy whose own life has begun to fall apart, and the supernatural undercurrents which affect his own internal pain. "Brave Story," as a novel, is an incredible book which arguably puts Harry Potter to shame.

And, as noted by VIZ Media competitor TOKYOPOP (the publisher of this manga), the comic version of "Brave Story" truly is a "retelling of an epic novel." That is, this isn't what a fan of the novel might expect.

Having experience with the vastly superior prose novel becomes an impediment to enjoying the manga adaptation of the same story. For instance, the story remains somewhat loyal to the source materialthough the main character Wataru may as well be a completely different person. Rather than the slightly outcast student with the "common sense" of a muhc older person, the Wataru of the manga becomes... well, the stereotypical caricature of a slacker. For example, rather than thinking through the issues of the day (such as the rumored apparitions haunting the construction site near his school) and coming to a "sensible" conclusion, the cartoon Wataru summarily dismisses such claims in a manner which would cause the novelized boy great personal pain. Novel Wataru attends nightly cram school sessions. Manga Wataru lives in video game worlds. He isn't the same sympathetic character - in fact, he becomes something of a joke, a strong personality poured into the hollow shell of a pre-made character.

And so, in this way alone does foreknowledge of the novel negatively impact this presentation of the "same" material.

As an independent work, the manga "Brave Story" does not stand out from many other manga titles on any given bookshelf. It offers near-identical characters and situations, only lacking a definite feel of spontaneous originality experienced in other books. It has unfortunately become a spectre of the greater work - a signifier of very little, leaving minimal reader impact.

This first volume gave a taste of what is to come - the kind of taste one immediately tries to rinse from one's mouth.