Alichino, Volume 1

This is a Really good book. It's a dead end series though...It's been over 3 years and the fourth book never came out. The stroyline is nothing to amazing until the third manga, but the art is the best in the world. I love the art. The art on the cover is just as detailed as the art in each and every panel of every page. It's a fantasy story about alichino who grant your deepest wish for your soul. It goes into the story of a boy's past and his life. The boy is to be sacrificed to the alichino. I recommend this to everyone just because of the art. even to those who don't like anime will like the art.

I heard about "Alichino" via a promo freebie from Suncoast. Now, I've gotten some good manga that way, but most of them have been titles that require some close attention. (In other words, there's no real hook.) Alichino has the best artwork I've seen outside of the "Angel Sanctuary" manga, and is at least as confusing. The sheer detail to the artwork is amazing (strongly featuring fineline and lots of delicate lines without being overly wispy, good use of tone and ink), and if you believe in letting the picture tell the story... well, they won't, but you'll enjoy the view. The "world" of Alichino is vague at best. It's obviously a fantady world--maybe, judging by the outfits which fit into no established culture (lots of draping lace-up tunics, sashes, strange bodice/girdles for the female characters) and the ready availability of swords. It appears to have some level of technology/industry, and scienctific development, but there just isn't enough to say just what kind of world we're dealing with. The focus is on Tsuguri, a 'kusabi' (the term is not defined in Vol. 1, and while I've seen the word before, I have no idea what it means), who is feared by humans, fought over by the Alchino (who also fear him). He grew up in the Stereotypical Manga Isolated Village, where Bad Things Happened. He has the requisiite blocked memories of a gothic manga hero, and the mysterious companions to hammer home the idea that the supernatural will be a major theme in this story. (That may sound facetious, but that's pretty much the framework we have to deal with.) I'd love to give a summarization of the story/plot... but there really isn't much to tell. The girl who introduces the reader to the world of "Alchino" and Tsuguri isn't even given a name, so her grief loses much of its impact, and it's utterly unclear why, after failing in her quest to find an Alichino, she's still hanging around. Nor is it apparent why an Alichino is living with him as an owl--apparently under orders, who/what Enju is, and the most fascinating character, Hyura, appears so briefly there's nothing to say about him. (Except I immediately got a BL sense from the way he was acting/waiting for Tsuguri to grow up, but by that point, I was looking desperately for *anything* to make sense in the story.) While the art is gorgeous beyond words, it does become difficult to tell the characters apart. There's an attempt at humor which falls flat, subtle horror (which works very well), and mystery to the point of bafflement. The high point for me (which may not apply to all readers) is that I'm learning Japanese, so the 'sneak peek' which is all in Japanese provided a nice addition to my reading material. (Not that it makes any sense, so out of context.) The layout of the text is confusing in places, with the sentences broken up in odd places, even for a translated work. Worse, too many of the speech ballons have no tails, so it's difficult to determine who is speaking, and many

The first thing one notices about this manga is how gorgeous and detailed Shurei's illustrations are. It really is a great book to pick up if you're looking for something new in a fantasy. However, in this first volume, the story was quite slow and weak. Nothing really happens at all, and though you'd think, 'Well, it's the introduction, characters need to be developed', there is close to no characterization. Her characters are somewhat shallow and dead, except for the dynamic Ryouko and Myoubi, who save this first volume for me in the character section. The action scenes can be a bit hard to follow, as they mostly consist of blood-spattered or 'swooshy' panels. The character expressions don't change very much, not even when they should be angry, or very happy. Sometimes, but not very often. Just blank, but always beautiful. I personally barely ever see any subtle hints of emotion, like some people say they do in Alichino's pages. That said, you'd think I'd hate this manga! But I don't! Shurei's wonderful artwork saved it, and the story was novel enough for me. The fact that the action seemed lacking made me wonder if it picked up at all in the next volume, and it does. ^^

Story: Other reviewers have already covered that ;). Art: Stunning! In a way it reminded me a bit of Sang-Sun Park's ("Les Bijoux" & "Tarot Cafe") style but still had it's own originality. The art is what lured me to the series. Character Development: I have to say, despite how beautiful every character is they're personalities are not well developed at all. Every character is unpredictable in their actions and not neccesariliy in a good way. Overall: I found that it jumped into everything a tad too quickly, there was no introduction whatsoever. The plot is very slow-moving (mind you, I have only read this volume), almost to a fault. Very little actually happens in the first volume and it leaves a lot to be desired. There are many mysteries that need to be solved not only with the characters but with the whole world "Alichino" is set in. Reccomended: Yes, if you aren't a fan of fast-moving plots. Otherwise, stay away from it--you won't like it.

I adored this manga when I first got hold of it and quickly worked my way through all three volumes pausing only to admire the extraodinarily detailed gothic artwork. I disagree with the previous commentary stating the characters lacked emotion. personally, I felt the facial emotions were subtle and yet managed to convey deeper emotions than your typical manga (perhaps due to the high level of angst in this manga). I would have to say that the portrayal of emotions between this manga and those with more obvious facial expressions is equivalent to the difference between emotional portrayal in anime and disney. The subtle often feels more powerful. The detailed introductions to "kusabi" and "alichino" in the first volume were not only necessary but essential to future volumes in that a few sentences would hardly make the same impact as the occurrences which the mangaka illustrates. I found the introduction of "kusabi" to be particularly poignant as its importance is revealed through a flashback sequence of tsugiri's tragic childhood. I would agree however, that hardly anything REALLY happens in the first three volumes (which is where the mangaka has seemingly discontinued the work a few years back). The majority consists of character development/introduction and the occasional flashback. For that reason, I would rate this manga a 4 rather than a 5. There simply isn't enough of a substantial plot, although there appears to be a fairly interesting lead-up into the main story as well as a significant plot-twist at the end of the third volume (which will remain a frustrating loose end due to the lack of further publications).