MJ Review: Dragon Eye Volume One

[Eric]

Title: Dragon Eye
Volume: One
Manga-ka: Kairi Fujiyama
Serialized in: Shonen Sirius (Kodansha)
Genre: Shounen
Licensed by: Del Rey
Price: $10.95 (US)
Rating: Teen (13+)

Step right up ladies and gentlemen, eternal life is yours for the taking! Gain super strength and power in mere moments! Sure, your mental processes will slow down a bit, but it’s not like you were using that brain for much anyway, right? Yeah, you won’t be in danger of winning any contests based on looks but, hell, what chance of that did you really have anyway? Think about it people, one quick scratch, one quick D-Virus infection, one quick change into a Dracule, and your life will improve beyond measure! Step right up ladies and gentle…

Sound appealing to you? If not, then you had best run should you perchance encounter one of the dreaded Dracule. All it takes is a scratch to transform you and the efficiency of the virus stands at about, oh, a mere 100%. The only cure for the infection is death, of course, delivered at the hands of one of those very few who are generally immune to the virus, the Super Anti-Body carrying members of the Dracule Annihilation Force, VIUS.

Hmm… evil, blood-sucking monsters out to ravish anyone that crosses their path and a super special anti-monster fighting unit filled with great warriors dedicated to stopping them; a great war of good vs. evil, splashed out upon the pages. Sounds like a typical shounen monster-fighting manga, right? Well… yeah, actually, it is just that. Oh, no worries, it’s a well-done shounen monster fighting manga, but that’s still all it is. Why read it then, I hear you asking? For that I can only point to the series’ main character: Issa Kazuma.

In the world of shounen-fighting manga, there are many great characters that fight for a number of great reasons: for love, for revenge, for friendship and fellowship. The heroes of the Narutos and Bleaches of the world are all brothers and sisters, cut from similar cloth. Issa... well… isn’t. When looking for similar characters, the first match that comes to mind? Cowboy Bebop’s Spike Spiegel. Like Spike, Issa lives for the moment, facing his challenges with the sort of calm laid back coolness most of us could only hope to emulate. Utterly fearless to the point of seeming stupid at times, Issa is more likely to get mad over someone knocking the old, potentially spoiled fish sausage (leaving food around for potential spoilage… “Toys in the Attic” anyone?) he was snacking on out of his hand than over the fact they did so while trying to kill him. His relaxed, cavalier attitude, emphasized by the fact that his fellow squad members all follow more typical shounen character personality lines, provides endless amusement and is why you need to be reading this.

The artwork in the series is generally of high quality, though also designed along typical shounen-fighting manga lines. There are a number of characters presented to us, all of which are drawn with designs different enough to make it easy telling them apart from one another. The background artwork is solid and the fighting is efficiently handled.

Del Rey does its typically solid job on the series, or at least there aren’t any glaring mistakes that jumped out at me. The dialogue flows well enough, making sense most of the time. Sound effects are translated but left in place unless they’re in word bubbles. The only real gripe I have is the back of the cover text which tells the story of another character in Issa’s squad, making it slightly confusing to read and discover that, through the first volume at least, she really isn’t the main character.

All in all, Dragon Eye is a rather enjoyable read. Typical shounen-fighting series aren’t really my cup of tea but the story is interesting enough and Issa amuses me. For shounen fans looking for something a little different without leaving the genre behind, give Dragon Eye a shot and I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Reviewer: Jason Punda
Proofer: Eduardo Menéndez
Editor: Lissa Pattillo