Shounen Psyren

[fxu]

Title: Psyren
Genres: Action, Adventure, Supernatural
Author: Iwashiro Toshiaki
Artist: Iwashiro Toshiaki
Publication: Weekly Shounen Jump
Start Date: December 3, 2007
End Date: On-going
Number of chapters at review: 31
Number of chapters read by reviewer: 31

General Overview:A mysterious person called Nemesis Q brings forth "players" to Psyren, a world full of wrecked buildings, payphones that are used as starting and ending points, and monsters called Tavoo. Drifters (players of Psyren) have to fight to live, and clear the game.

Category Ratings: (1-10 scale)

Art:
9/10 - Detailed. It's very good. Good body anatomies, I bet he is having the time of his life, drawing Psyren must be easy. It's a vast wasteland, a building here and there... It's definitely a lot better than the nonsensical Bleach that its pure lines in every page, without knowing what the heck is going on in each panel.

Plot:
8/10 - Some people are saying this is the Shounen-equivalent of Gantz because it's a game and it has points and you have to fight monsters, blah blah blah. I don't mind if they say that, Gantz is awesome, but Psyren has its own thing. For what we've read so far, we've only scratched the surface of the manga. Lately is has been developing into something else besides going in, fight, and get out, and we're only 30 chapters in... How long did it take for the people in Gantz to question why they're doing that? 280chapters?..pfff

Characters:
9/10 - The training arcs are big character development moments. We recently had one, and it showed us how fast they can level-up their powers. Their design is not bad at all, but I would personally remove the penis in Amamiya's head (or is that just me?).

Theme:
9/10 - Being drawn into another world, awaken amazing powers, use them to blow the f@#$ away monsters, and get out? Who doesn't love that?!?!

Originality:
7/10 - Sure, it's not the first time a manga that it starts about a game and points, and it definitely won't be the last. But what separates this one from the rest are the powers. I've never really seen a manga that goes in-depth and uses paranormal powers. Things that some people in the real world believe it exists (telekinesis, telepathy). I think it's a good slice of life, a bit exaggerated, but it works.

Overall:
10/10 - This is obvious. I'm a hardcore fan of Psyren and have been scanning it since chapter 1 with Binktopia. I wouldn't be doing if I didn't LOVE it. It's my favorite manga. I love it when stuffs have to deal with paranormal powers... Although it's sad that this manga isn't getting much attention in Japan [judging from the ToC spots]. I believe this manga has a lot of potential if given time. But I guess they prefer mangas with no-stories and ecchi in almost every other page eh? [To_LOVE-Ru]... It's as far as they come close to actual pornography. -_-'

Spoiler

psyren fanboy~~~

Visit the Psyren board!!!

 

[Sexy Randal 105]

A little highly scored but a decent review. I like Psyren a lot as well. I am glad so many people do.

 

[shrimpy]

you forgot the part about your favorite element, lolis.

 

[zelllogan]

I admit that Psyren have a good potential but the score is way too high. It's already hard to judge a shounen with only 30 chapters when obviously, the story will have 100-150 chapters at least.

There are two big points where I don't agree:

- Psyren have nothing original :a typical hero, typical characters overall, timeshift, dimension, superhuman power, .. we saw that many times. There's nothing I saw in that manga that I haven't seen elsewhere.

- Gantz. Comparing a new solid shounen to a masterpiece seinen like Gantz ... Gantz is not only about games, points and gore. There's a real story and characters have a real depth.

As a conclusion, Psyren is a very good new shounen, taking good ideas from several other mangas.

Now in my opinion, I think the manga is still searching itself. There's no real atypical style. When I read psyren , I have the feeling to read something I already read once ... déjà vu

... though this is good stuff.

 

[Maxy Barnard]

Whilst i can understand your bias, Psyren is by no means a perfect ten series. but most definitely a solid 7, which in itself is good for a fresh shonen. Though the manga-ka has done better.

Aside from some fallacies in comparison to other series in ad hominem attacks this is a brilliantly worded and positive review

 

[fxu]

To each their own.... Psyren is a 10 for me :]

 

[barbapapa]

Very biased review, but then most are, really. So I can't blame you for that.
I'd personally rate it a 6-7 out of 10; the first chapter was interesting, but then it seemed to wander around meaninglessly for about 15-20 chapters. But it's not too shabby right now.

 

[Sexy Randal 105]

So basically if you're a fan of Action Shonen Jump series, you'll like this series. =P

 

[Mooncrow]

It's an interesting manga to be sure. As Barbapapa mentioned, it has spent a fair amount of time wandering around, but there's some potential here. I hope it lives up to it.

 

[Sexy Randal 105]

I did a Psyren review a while back on the livejournal so I thought I'd do a more updated one.

Title: Psyren
Genres: Action, Adventure, Supernatural
Author: Iwashiro Toshiaki
Artist: Iwashiro Toshiaki
Publication: Weekly Shounen Jump
Start Date: December 3, 2007
End Date: On-going
Number of chapters at review: 36
Number of chapters read by reviewer: 36

General Overview:See above review. =]

Category Ratings: (1-10 scale)

Art:
7/10 - The art is Psyren still reminds me a lot of Kubo. The art is rather rough and has a slightly gritty feel. This is not unwelcome in Jump. Well, especially since it's like Bleach. The art gets the job done, but it's not as good as other new mangaka's. I mean, Iwashiro is far from accomplishing the level of detail as stuff like Nurarihyon no Mago. But it's still good.

Plot:
9/10 - Plot is where Psyren truly shines. Psyren is about discovery. You honestly never know what will happen next. At the start, many people compared Psyren to Gantz. I am not sure if this is correct or not, never have read Gantz. Now that the series is slightly older, readers have more of an idea what the hell is going on in the world of Psyren. I won't spoil anything, but more developments have been made. There has been an organization called "the Wise" that finally gives some incite about the future of Japan. There also have been a few new allies added, but I will get to that later. Honestly, you will be reading Psyren for the interesting plot. I really hope it lives to last a good run, because the story is just so compelling.

Characters:
7.5/10 - Originally, I was going to give Psyren a low score for characters. Honestly, the characters in Psyren are rather cookie cutter for Shonen. You have Ageha, the brash young hothead *coughichigocough*. You have the strong female heroine in Amamiya. I won't list everyone, but you will probably notice a few stereotypes. The problem with the characters is that there has been very little development. I am not saying that there has been none (Asaga did have some development in the second round with Tetsuo). I am sure that there will be more development if the series gets more time to do so in the future. I think the weakest character is probably Oboro. He seems to have come out of nowhere. I still seem to know nothing about him. This may have been because of my lack of observation. The reason I gave characters a higher rating was because of the designs. Now Ageha, Oboro and Asaga I think are the weakest designs in the series. I personally like Kirisaki and Amamiya's designs to be pretty appealing. The best are definitely Nemesis Q, Dholaki and the rest of the wise. I find their designs to be really cool and shows off Psyren's unique style. I also find the Elmore children to have pretty good designs.

Theme:
8/10 - The theme of discovery and desolation really keeps the manga going. I enjoy not knowing what will happen. I really like the flow of the story. This usually goes Round in Psyren, Training, Round in Psyren, and repeat. The training arcs are interesting enough to keep you wanting more. The rounds are where the action and discovery happens though. These arcs are usually different from one another and don't get stale easily. Or at least they haven't yet.

Originality:
6.5/10 - There is no hiding it. Psyren is just another action Shonen Jump series. The plot is interesting, but this is nothing that hasn't been done before. This isn't a bad thing though. The rule for most shonen is that if you like one, you will like most. If it ain't broke, don't fix it they say. You can't really give big energy balls and psychic powers any awards for originality.

Overall:
8/10 - Psyren is a really refreshing series. If you are tired of the Naruto's and Bleach's around, give it a read. In my opinion, it is the best series to come around in Jump since D.Gray-man and Reborn. The plot is good, the characters, while generic, get the job done. The arts works for the genre. Personally, I fell in love with the plot so much that I would probably put this in my top five favorite Shonen mangas right now. Ever since it's good start, Psyren has been consistently getting better with every chapter. There have been rumors of it getting canceled due to poor ratings in the TOC. I really think Shuesia would be fools to cancel such a refreshing new series with a lot of potential to become something big. In the tough world of WSJ, I wish Psyren luck.

 

[Koen]

Well done randall. Good review, very objective. Though I would give toshiaki's art more points, it's what I really loved about mieru hito and psyren - his art and action scenes can overcome so overwhelming

 

[Sexy Randal 105]

Actually, I forgot to say that at times there are scenes that I wonder what just happened. Like the most recent chapter with the Elmore children.

 

[fxu]

Actually, I forgot to say that at times there are scenes that I wonder what just happened. Like the most recent chapter with the Elmore children.

Are you serious?

I hope you are kidding... I never got lost in the art with Psyren... unlike Bleach that I need to re-evaluate what everything is with every page.

 

[Maxy Barnard]

fxu, wonderful fallacy there, a comparison to a series with a worse aspect won't do much :P. you may be able to handle it for some reason, but opinions are objective after all eh. though for once i have to side with randal, i had trouble following it there, hadto go back

 

[Sexy Randal 105]

Okay, when

Spoiler

the wise attacked the Elmore children

I had no idea what the fuck just happened.

 

[Koen]

I think he did that on a purpose, don't forget you are watching a video. Prolly amaturistic video made by the uncle. I think he wanted and succeeded in giving a feeling things were messed up for humans and weren't clear for ageha and co and even for us readers

Can you show a page randal

because I kinda agree with fxu. Toshiaki's art and skill, scenes etc are always clear to me. I don't know but only looking at the double page of melchee's door. There's not so much mangaka imo who can draw it that way I felt like there was motion in it

 

[Sexy Randal 105]

I may be wrong. Maybe it was just me with the one instance. =P

 

[Koen]

I may be wrong. Maybe it was just me with the one instance. =P

No don't misunderstand us

You can be right, I had that feeling too but I think it was more as a purpose to give you a feeling you're watching a movie that wasn't taken in ideal circumstances -> if he meant it that way - which I think it was - he succeeded in it

 

[Sexy Randal 105]

Ehh...if I find another instance in later chapters, I'll post it. I don't feel like going through ever page to find one.

 

[Maphisto40]

If Psyren gets cancelled, I will truly be upset. I love this new series, for the plot and nifty psychic powers. I love that I don't really know what the hell is going on, because I hate it when I can predict storylines. I agree though, that the art style reminded me forcibly of Kubo when I first read it, but since I love Bleach, it didn't bother me. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll be able to keep reading Psyren for a long time to come.