Alternative Title:
English - Area D, Area D - Inouryouiki, Area D - Inoyouiki, AreaD
Japanese/Chinese - AREAD異能領域
Author:
Yang, Kyung-II (Art), Nanatsuki, Kyoichi (Story)
Genres:
Action, Shounen, Super Power, Supernatural
Chapter Rating:
★★★★★★
After reading the first chapter of Area D, I found it strongly resemble the mange called Defense Devil. With luck, I found the manga on myanimelist.com, and surprisingly they were both drawn by the same author, Kyung-II Yang. His well-known contribution to other mangas also includes Akuma Bengoshi Kukabara,Let's Bible, The Legend of Soma, and Zombie Hunter. Without a doubt his drawing skills has improved over the years. In the beginning of Area D's colour pages, I was "stucked". I couldn't resist stop reading it. I even forgot to read the manga that was drawn by my friend who was sitting just beside me. There was an awkward silence of understanding. You may even called it an obsession.
Not only the art was great, but also the story was outstanding. It connected the emotional feelings and the involvement of the other characters. The desperation the innocent people becoming prisoners and the hope that was destroyed were well portrayed, especially with the character called Satoru Ida-kun. The was no escape, but to follow the absolute dictatorship of the military's guidelines and rules.
This manga is about the mutation of people's bodies when the Antares, Scorpius, went supernova. People began to turn into fearsome beasts with incomprehensible super power that turned the entire city into catastrophe. In most cases, people who mutated gained superb abilities. These people were latter named Altered. The scientifically-explainable astronomical phenomenon, rare occurrence, opened the beginning of the story.
After 12 years the incident of Scorpius explosion, we found the main character, Satoru, was captured as an Altered. He was apparently going to be sent off to an unknown place on a military ship. As the Captain Kurosaki of prisoner ship 303 described, they were all going to be sent to an Island of Dream called Island D. However, it was latter to be pointed out that D actually stands for death. Satoru's expressions were extremely awesome. The face of hope turned into the face of desperation. It isn't a very easy skill to have even with years of training.
Nanatsuki also left out the information of S-Rank prisoner. It foreshadowed the events that will going to lead the story. The involvement made me extremely curious and wonder what will going to happen, and how will Satoru make the connection. It dragged me into the vicious cycle of wondering the sequence of mysteries.
Ironicall,y Satoru's ability was introduced while he was bullied. He had the power to dismantle any physically items into pieces of components. I personally think it would be an pretty awesome ability to have if he could use it as a weapon to against others. If he get use to his ability, he might be able to stand up for himself. Unfortunately, his ability made the leader of the bullying group turned on him. As Satoru was escaping, he encountered Rio who offer him suggestion of opening the S-Rank prisoner's cell.
Despite of the fights and abilities, the most interesting facts that I found was that Rio was NAKED!
When Satoru finally approached his end, his precious item that was from his mother was destroyed. It also ironically turned Satoru in ager to fight his rival; however, he didn't stand a chance. I found it odd because usually something happens when the character began to fight for a reason or something important. I guess Nanatsuki intended to show the reality of strength. Nevertheless, Satoru eventually succeeded in freeing the S-Ranked prison, Jin. Oddly, I think he has the ability to copy the other's ability because he used the same ability as the leader of the bullying group.
This manga was fairly interesting when I was reading it. I highly recommend buying the first volume of the manga when it release it.
Thank you for reading the review!
(Image Source: MangaStream)
