"Alive 1: The Final Evolution" by Tadashi Kawashima and Adachitoka.
© Del Rey
Mania Grade: A-
Story by: Tadashi Kawashima
Art by: Adachitoka
Publisher: Del Rey
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Price: $10.95
Buy it now!
Story by: Tadashi Kawashima
Art by: Adachitoka
Publisher: Del Rey
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Price: $10.95
Buy it now!
ALIVE, Volume One
By: Nadia OxfordReview Date: Thursday, July 19, 2007
You will never find a manga equivalent to Captain Trips. The apocalyptic flu that ravaged the world in The Stand by Stephen King has its own reputation, but mangaka seem to believe that a decimating virus should not be anything as mundane as the flu. Instead, they make humanity suffer at the hands (flagellum?) of diseases that turn humans into monsters, zombies and even stone.
Alive by Tadashi Kawashima takes goes a little further with the bizarre disease concept: Everywhere across the world, people of all ages are suddenly seized by the desire to commit suicide. Volume one of the manga opens with the pandemic, and when it recedes, the survivors are left wondering what happened. What's more, the story's protagonists--a boy named Kano and his often-bullied friend, Hiro--feel as if they're somehow involved in the bloodshed.
Alive might make readers wary at first, and for good reason; it offers nothing new at first, and takes a while to find itself. The very concept of a "suicide virus" might even seem silly in a morbid kind of way, but Alive is not necessarily about the virus; it's about the survivors. As Kano evolves from a smart-ass with a spunk problem to a steadfast (and temperamental) protector in a chaotic world, the nature of the virus becomes less important. The population of Japan could have suffered a clown massacre instead, and it still wouldn't detract from the story's tense atmosphere.
It's not the big questions that matter in Alive--it's the small things. Kano survived the suicide virus, but more than that, something has infused him with mysterious powers … which are attracting all kinds of unruly companions. The shy and sweet Hiro undergoes a similar transformation, but something twists him in the process for an unknown reason. Hiro and Kano both realise with some disgust that they both envy the dead … but they're unsure why.
The artwork in Alive might not be ultra-detailed or stand out in any particular way, but the somewhat simple style works well with Kawashima's blunt storytelling. The characters' faces in particular reveal a lot about their personalities: A half-mad mystery man named Yura has slightly animalistic features while his cohort, the detective Kattsun, has a hypnotic face that is ideal for extracting information while hiding his own secrets.
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