Manga Review: Juni Taisen: Zodiac War, Volume 4, by Akira Akatsuki, Nisiosin and Hikaru Nakamura

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)

Release Date: April 2019

Volumes: 4.

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 3.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Twelve fighters enter, one fighter leaves—who will win the 12th Zodiac War?

Every 12 years, 12 fighters take the form of the Chinese zodiac and engage in a battle royale. With their strength and mysterious powers, they fight to the death and the sole survivor is granted the ultimate prize—any wish.

With most of Rabbit’s zombie army out of the way, only one thing stands between Ox and Tiger and taking down Rabbit for good—Monkey. Her sheer strength and power, once disciplined in life, are completely unhinged in death, making her far and away the strongest fighter! With only four fighters and one zombie remaining, who will come out victorious? Don’t miss the thrilling, unexpected conclusion to the twelfth Zodiac War!

Review:

We reach the end of the zodiac war, and finally find out who is left at the end of this massacre. It is, of course, not quite what you would expect from the beginning of the series. Once you find out who it is and what their true power is, though, it makes sense, and it makes sense why it was kept secret this whole time.

There were a couple of interesting characters along the way of this series. The relationship between the Tiger and the Ox ended up being particularly odd in its sweetness, honestly. But there were a couple of others, too, that I almost wished hadn't died, like the twins.

After all of that build-up, though, I'm a bit disappointed that we don't find out what the winner wants his wish for. It seems like there was a lot of build up for that, especially the further the series went, and then we're left with an “I'll think about it”, basically. I guess there's a whole sequel novel about his decision, though? So I suppose, in that ideal, that it makes sense the fighting would take up the first story line.

This was an interesting story. Not something I would normally read, especially with so much gore, but I'm glad I stuck around. I wanted to know who won this crazy battle royale, and it was an interesting conclusion.

Manga Review: Juni Taisen: Zodiac War, Volume 3, by Akira Akatsuki, Nisioisin, and Hikaru Nakamura

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)

Release Date: February 2019

Volumes: 4.

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 2. 4.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Twelve fighters enter, one fighter leaves—who will win the 12th Zodiac War?

Every 12 years, 12 fighters take the form of the Chinese zodiac and engage in a battle royale. With their strength and mysterious powers, they fight to the death and the sole survivor is granted the ultimate prize—any wish.

With half of the fighters down for the count, the Zodiac War rages on! Usagi—the fighter of the Rabbit—and his undead army continue to rampage across the battlefield, intent on destroying anyone who stands in their way. For an honorable fighter like Ox, Rabbit’s desecration of and complete disregard for human life is unacceptable. To obliterate this heretical army, Ox teams up with an unlikely ally—the drunkard Tiger!

Review:

This series is crazy af. I really don't even know where to guess it's going at this point.

They've narrowed down the contestants severely. There's more at the beginning of this volume than there are at the end. One of them is not a big surprise to me, once we meet the characters more. The other one, though, I'd kind of hoped would last longer. Especially once we got to see their past a bit more—I was kind of becoming intrigued in their character. But oh well on that one I guess.

I'm also a little confused behind the Ox's motivation. It feels a little off to me. He claims that he's killing the others so they won't be turned into zombies. I didn't think Rabbit had to kill them himself, they just had to be dead? Why wouldn't Ox just go kill Rabbit?

This series is weird and disturbing, and throws in a lot more surprises than I expect. Whenever it feels like we're going to get to know a character, they die.

Manga Review: Juni Taisen: Zodiac War, Volume 2, by Akira Akatsuki, Nisioisin, and Hikaru Nakamura

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)

Release Date: December 2018

Volumes: 4.

Spoilers?: Some.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 3.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Twelve fighters enter, one fighter leaves—who will win the 12th Zodiac War?

Every 12 years, 12 fighters take the form of the Chinese zodiac and engage in a battle royale. With their strength and mysterious powers, they fight to the death and the sole survivor is granted the ultimate prize—any wish.

With several of the fighters already dead, the Zodiac War is in full swing! The biggest danger the remaining fighters face is Usagi, the fighter of the Rabbit. He has the unique ability to control the dead bodies of those he’s slain, putting his opponents at a huge disadvantage! While Usagi and his undead army rampage in the streets above, Chicken and Rat lay low underground with Monkey, who is determined to settle the battle with as few deaths as possible.

Review:

I think, once I knew more what to expect of this series, I had a much better time of it. I was so caught off guard by all the violence, I hadn't realized I was going into a battle royale type of situation when I started the first volume. Now I do, though.

This volume kills off a few more characters. The chicken, which is too bad, and a few others, though some of them unsurprising. We get to see what the drunken tiger has in store, which is interesting. There are a few characters that are clear front runners, but I think they're going to throw in a surprise at some point. I'm curious to see which character is the biggest surprise, or who wins this whole thing.

This series is a mess. It's a bloody, violent, cruel mess. I wasn't into it when I started the first one, but now I really want to know who survives this thing. 

 A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: Juni Taisen: Zodiac War, Volume 1, by Akira Akatsuki and Nisiosin, and Hikaru Nakamura

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)

Release Date: October 2018

Volumes: 4.

Spoilers?: Light.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 2.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Twelve fighters enter, one fighter leaves—who will win the 12th Zodiac War?

Every 12 years, 12 fighters take the form of the Chinese zodiac and engage in a battle royale. With their strength and mysterious powers, they fight to the death and the sole survivor is granted the ultimate prize—any wish.

Eleven of the twelve fighters have gathered, and everyone awaits the final contender—Boar. She is strong, confident and a favorite to win the twelfth Zodiac War. However, this time, the rules have changed! The battle is limited to an abandoned city and all of the contestants are forced to ingest a deadly poison. Monkey tries to call a truce, but before she can the floor explodes, scattering all the fighters. Despite the chaos, one thing’s for sure—only one will remain standing.

Review:

When I went into this volume, I quickly realized that I knew nothing about this series, and that perhaps there was a reason I hadn't watched or read it previously. It's definitely not something I would have had an interest in, had I realized what it was about.

We're immediately set in a Hunger Games (or Battle Royale?)-esque setting, with 12 characters in each zodiac animal theme, in war in which one winner will come out. They have to literally kill each other in order to get the thing they need to win. Each character has a different tactic, and a different perspective on their competitors. They've got different abilities, and some are underestimated more than others.

We get an introduction with a cocky character, who is very quickly eliminated from the competition. It's a bloody, fierce battle we're going into here.

I really had no idea what I was getting into, and honestly, I'm a little wary of reading more. I'm not even sure how I feel about the character development yet. That being said, though, I didn't necessarily mind reading this volume.

 A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!