Psyren Manga Review
A mysterious wasteland of danger!
PRODUCTION INFO
Toshiaki Iwashiro is the writer and artist of the manga Psyren, which debuted December 3, 2007 and concluded on November 29, 2010 with 16 volumes. The series was serialised in the Weekly Shonen Jump magazine in Japan. There are no plans for an anime adaption.
SUMMARY
Psyren is a mystery that occult fanatics are trying to solve left and right. Few people know anything about it, but those who talk about it to outsiders are turned to ash on the spot. The strange subject ties to a phone card, but only a select few are given this card and the opportunity to use it. Ageha Yoshina, a high school student who loves to get into fights, is our protagonist that is chosen to participate in Psyren. When he uses a strange telephone card with the name Psyren on the back, he soon finds himself teleported to what seems to be another world. Now he must discover for himself where he is, why, and who brought him to this strange land.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Psyren is a shounen manga, and it's a good one. The characters are true to their personality and they don't do random things unfitting of them. The main theme of Psyren is telekinesis and telepathy. It's a battle manga and there's plenty of plot to keep you on the edge of your seat with story. The characters are fun, too.
MAIN CHARACTERS
Ageha Yoshina is a feisty teenager with a lot of spirit- literally! He loves to fight, and offers his services to beat up hoodlums and gangsters for other people at his school, although his older sister punishes him for it when he gets home late. One day he stumbles upon a weird phone card in a pay phone outside, and that's the beginning of his new Psyren adventure.
Sakurako Amamiya is a girl who goes to Ageha's school. She's bullied for being unsocial and appears weak, but when Ageha is transported to Psyren, Sakurako is there with him; and she knows the place better than anyone else! Who is Sakurako and how is she so knowledgeable about Psyren?
OPINIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS
I'm not too big on shounen battle manga usually, but this is one title of that sort that I actually enjoyed a lot. As usual with this type of plot, more characters are introduced as you get more into the story. The characters aren't forgotten, though. They have solid personalities, and take up a good chunk of the emphasis on the series. They don't set aside the plot in exchange for their backstories as shounen manga often do, but they do have backstories and they mostly fit together. Not too many characters are introduced at one time to remember. The story is well-paced and incredibly intriguing. The action can also make the chapters fly by quickly, despite the length of the series.
Yu Yu Hakusho is an older title, but I think it matches well with Psyren, and they're both shounen manga. Another one I might suggest is Shaman King.
RATING
★7/10★
