Kasumi and her sister, Shizuku, are infected with the Medusa virus, which slowly eats away at the body. There is no cure, but of the two only Kasumi is selected to be cryogenically frozen with 159 others until a cure is found. At some point in the future, Kasumi awakens to find herself in an unfamiliar world with violent monsters. Older teens.
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
In a world petrified by the Medusa virus, a syndrome that rapidly turns its victims to stone, only 160 people are selected to be frozen until a cure can be found. Kasumi's one, only she's a twin, and she's forced to leave her sister behind. As expected in stories of this sort, something goes wrong, and the frozen awake on their own, uncured, surrounded by monsters. Claustrophobic art captures the feeling of being trapped, out of place and pressed on by forces outside one's control, all without confusing the reader. Iwahara (Chikyu Misaki) is capable of both human caricatures and intimidating dinosaurlike monsters, action feats of daring-do and philosophical torment. An early near-riot sequence demonstrates that people motivated by fear remain the biggest danger, and poor, immoral choices result in immediate destruction. The resulting small group represents a variety of motivations: love of family, survival, greed, religion, protection of the innocent, fear of impending mortality. Kasumi struggles to learn just what she's capable of when pressed, aided by visions of her sister It's a gripping entry in the genre of violent survivor manga, such as The Drifting Classroom, that uses extreme situations to explore the question of human nature. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
WORKS ON MANY LEVELS!,
This review is from: King of Thorn, Vol. 1 (Paperback)
Described on the cover as an "action" Manga, King of Thorn is more accurately a sci-fi/horror tale. A mysterious, and incurable virus known as the Medusa virus is plaguing the world. Like the mythological monster, the Medusa virus causes it's victim's bodies to become rigid and eventually completely petrified. A wealthy philanthropist has turned a 13th century castle into a state of the art Cryogenics laboratory in the hopes of freezing victims of the virus until a cure can be found. A lottery is held with only 160 infected people selected to take part in the experiment and a hope for life. One of those is Kasumi a young girl who is apprehensive about going to the castle and leaving behind her twin sister Shizuku, who is also infected.
Kasumi, along with the other lottery winners are put into cryogenic capsules, which will keep them in suspended animation. Kasumi's eyes blink open inside her capsule. She awakes to a horrific site as long, thorny vines have grown throughout the capsule room. The other people are equally upset. What has happened to the facility's staff? How long were they in suspended animation? The time for questions is not now, however. These bleary-eyed survivors quickly find out they are not alone. The castle is inhabited by strange, dinosaur like creatures in all sizes...and they are hungry! A small group including Kasumi manages to escape the capsule room but escaping the castle is another matter. The group is quickly fighting amongst themselves as they argue over the best course of action with a loud-mouthed politician on one side and a tough but quiet, tattooed criminal on the other. King of Thorns works on many levels and borrows plot elements from popular films such as "Aliens" and "The Island." What happened to the castle is left a mystery. We don't know if something happened only at the castle or to the world itself. The criminal, Marco Owen, seems to have his own agenda and reason for being included among the 160 lottery winners but that reason, too, is yet to be discovered. Kasumi's tie to her sister is another interesting element. In a near death experience, Shizuku tells Kasumi that she must live and cannot die. There's a lot of little twists going on in King of Thorn and it should be quite interesting to see how this story unfolds. The story and art are by Yuji Iwahara. His art is less of a traditional Manga style and more of a grittier, Americanized style. His style is a very thickly inked black & white with only moderate gray tones, yet it is still finely detailed. Iwahara has thrown together an interesting mix of personalities that will almost certainly lead to more conflict down the road. Note that this book is geared to teens 16 years and up due mainly to some profanity. Pick this one up! REVIEWED BY TIM JANSON
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Apocalyptic Sci-Fi Horror,
By RavenRing (USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: King of Thorn, Vol. 1 (Paperback)
The world is suddenly and mysteriously plagued with virus dubbed the Medusa virus because it slowly turns its victims to stone. There is no cure, and once infected, it kills quickly. A mysterious and wealthy person funds a Cryogenics lab where 160 victims of Medusa will be put to sleep until a cure can be found. Kasumi and her twin sister, Shizuku, are both infected, but only one is chosen to enter the lab. When Kasumi wakes, confused and disoriented, it is not to a cure, but to a strange world filled with strange monsters. Kasumi and the other survivors know that they must figure out the answers quickly, because they are still infected and their time is running short...
King of Thorn is an apocalyptic sci-fi horror story that really draws you into the story. There is the mystery of what has happened to the world and what the Medusa virus really is, as well as the survival aspect with a group of unconnected people battling and escaping weird monsters. With only 6 volumes in the series, you don't get bored waiting for the end, instead every moment is packed with action and suspense. It reminded my a little of Jurassic Park, only cooler and more intense. The artwork wasn't beautiful (it isn't that kind of story after all), but it brought the apocalyptic world and horrifying monsters to life. I enjoyed the manga quite a bit, but this is one of those stories that would be awesome as a movie. There is an anime movie, but it isn't available in the US. ***SEMI SPOILER - Opinion on the end of the series*** This is a cool manga full of mystery and action, but the end of the series falls a little short. It isn't a bad ending, it just doesn't live up to its promise, and falls a little into the realm of "if it is vague and weird enough, the readers will accept it". I finished this series with a sense of satisfaction instead of awe. ***END SPOILER*** All in all, if the synopsis of this series interested you at all, you will probably enjoy it. So go ahead and give it a try!
5.0 out of 5 stars
King of Thorn,
This review is from: King of Thorn, Vol. 1 (Paperback)
This series draws you in from the very start!
It will not disapoint as some mangas do when they finish because the ending is absolutely fantastic, with a twist you'll never see coming! If your going to buy the first, make sure you buy the rest because you'll be gnawing at the bit to find out what happens next. Highly recommended. Grab it while you can!
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