Alive: Saishuu Shinkateki Shounen
Alive: The Final Evolution

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It may seem like I hand out 10's like crazy, but I don't. The only entries I do are of the absolute best manga. This is one of those. This has a main character, but it doesn't focus solely on that character. Each of the characters, main or not, has either a side story that fits in with the plot, or whenever the main character Taisuke is doing something that somehow relates to what another characters doing, the focus shifts. This allows each of the characters to have their own separate personality, without allowing the reader to be able to predict what they will do. ... The art has some bad moments, but the still scenes are so fantastic you forget about those. The story is exceptional, and even though it falls a little after *spoiler* Hirose gets the heart, *spoiler end* the rest is still very much worth reading.

Absolutely great manga series.

I picked the English translation off the library shelf and read it. So far, it's really interesting and I became really engrossed in this series. The beginning was definitely one of the best moments of the series and I truly liked Yuuta's arc when he was first introduced. That was my favorite moment, along with the eventual romantic hints that slowly but surely emerge.

Admittedly, Alive gives off the Psyren vibe but mostly because at the beginning, you sense that there is some scientific fiction involved such as the great apocalypse. Then, as the novel progresses, it also evolves into what seems to resemble a battle ... manga. However, what differentiates those two is that Alive does not rely solely on the battle! train! battle! train! battle! formula that continues to plague most battle-oriented shounen manga. This is what makes Alive so entertaining: the smooth and neat transitions between arcs. Still, Alive resorts to a heavily overused concept of humans with inhuman abilities. It fails to tie back to the reason behind the powers at some moments, when all the characters care about is beating the other side.

Speaking of characters, their pasts and current personalities help reveal the mangaka's basic theme. They have their own obstacles and troubles, but they do grow and develop. The question, though, is this: Just how realistic are they? Both Hirose's and Taisuke's circumstances further elaborate the answer to that very question, as they are the two with the most unrealistic character development (in my opinion). Despite the notion of disbelief, the characters can be well-liked by the readers through their humorous and friendly interactions / relationships. The extra volume and the omake illustrate this point well.

Like all manga, the art does gradually improve over time to the extent that it reminds me of Ga-Rei with its gradient tones. It is good, but nothing too decorative or stunning.

I highly enjoyed this manga. Personally, it held moving suspense, introduced characters smoothly, and the underlying theme kept me going as well. If you have read Psyren or Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro, this series may delight you.

Brief review: It takes it's time to get started, but overall, it's worth the read.
Ok, let me start by saying that I've read a fair share of shounen when I was younger, but as I grew older I started reading more and more seinen. I think this explains my initial shock.
This is a shounen manga, and it starts really shounenly. I found it boring at first, while the premisse shows potential, you never feel like it's being explored to it's fullest. The story starts out linear, with a lot of shounen tropes and somewhat boring characters; it's a simple good vs evil story.
But ... there is development! The story branches out and more interesting characters are introduced, and the ones that were already there get a proper development.
Overall, the manga changed my mind halfway through, and turned out as a really solid, amusing manga. I'm writing this review because no other informed me about such change, and I kept wondering if it was worth keep reading this manga. And it was, it was an enjoyable experience.

Writing about this manga for me is going to be complicated, considering the questionable quality at certain times, which made me want to just drop the manga in half.

It is very difficult to trace positive and negative points in this manga ...

First of all, little detailed scenarios or even no details, this manga sometimes sins it, it is not a big inconvenience, but a strong negative point for me. A positive point of the art is the character traits that improve a lot in the second part of the manga.

Now entering the story, the ideas presented by the author were very good, but resulting in ... good confrontations at certain times, however, sometimes I was bitterly disappointed in some cases, if you consider the basic notion of strategy, this manga can be lazy at first part, but they make it interesting as the story progresses, anyway, the beginning sinned a little.

If you want an intense reading that will leave you intrigued by each chapter, this manga manages to satisfy this desire relatively. But don't expect big things, like some turnaround. Everything is almost predictable and gets to be silly.

It's been a few months since I finished this manga, but I still am recommending it to friends to try to get them to read this. The manga was AMAZING overall.

I rated the story a 9, the reason is because it was confusing at some points, but it was cleared up (for the most parts) in all ways towards the end. The little confusion I did have at the end, be it because I didn't read something right or didn't understand it or it was never mentioned, it why I gave it this rating.

I rated the art an 9, the reason for this is because ... the art, like in a lot of manga, gets better as the story goes, so I had to take that into consideration. The art does show so much though and it doesn't go over the top, like it could, being a somewhat graphic manga.

I rated the characters a 10, I LOVED the characters. You hated some and you loved others, but they were all believable. Every character had their flaws, for story reasons, and they all had motives. You felt sad when anyone died, even if it was someone you didn't like/didn't see much, because you knew something of the character and had an understanding of them.

I enjoyed this manga so much! The manga has different parts and starts off slow at the beginning of each, but picks up and becomes amazing quickly. Honestly, because I enjoyed it so much is why I read the manga in about 2 months.

Overall, I enjoyed everything about this story and I thought it was fantastic. A must read to anyone looking for an interesting manga. This was my first scy-fy type of manga, but I was by no means disappointed. If you're wondering about reading this, just read the first chapter, like I did. As soon as I read the first chapter, I was hooked. The final few pages in the final chapter is a little chilling, because the writer was writing them on his death bed. Once I realized that the final chapter took a new meaning to me and just completed the masterpiece. I greatly respect the author for his dedication to this manga and I recommend anyone reading this review to try to read this manga, and pass it on to friends!

So, this manga, it's amazing really amazing. I've read the manga of the Fullmetal Alchemist too, they're both long enough to entertain me but, there are things I didn't really like. So just hear my opinion/review on this manga. The art of this Manga, it's great~ both the characters appearance and selection of the places were good. The action scenes were also greatly drawn, it was like I was watching anime "vividly" I just, I was like inside seiing them move as I read---. The setting didn't take place on a single city/town or something like that and I like it. (I don't really like ... manga's taking only on one place/town/city or whatever it is, of course it's just for this genre.) The story was great and the author had a clear ending in his mind. I really enjoyed this manga~ A lot, until a single thing disappointed me. Guess what? It was the pairing. I hate that the author didn't give the satisfaction to the readers about the pairing. I know that he already knew that most of all his readers want 'that' pairing, yet he ignored them, I guess. (Well based on what I know, author's monitor what his reader's want. And a great author would always do his best for his readers, at least the pairings right?) About the pairing, figure it out yourself if you don't know them yet. But I guess you'd be disappointed too as you finish this manga. Just a guess. I gave this an 8 just because of that, it should have been 10 if it was that pairing. I just~ I got too disappointed. Yeah, maybe I can't write a story as good as the author, I don't want to talk highly of myself but if you're the author, would you disappoint your readers? - - - - That's what I really feel, sorry for taking it too seriously, but other than that, I love how the author did with the rest.

Oh, btw, maybe just forget what I said up above. I just read that Kawashima Tadashi died not long ago after he finished writing his manga. ( TT__TT ) I see he can't really check on what his readers want since he was fighting with cancer that time. Rest in Peace, your manga, Alive was really really great!

PS: Just edited this review.

This is my review for Alive: Saishuu Shinkateki Shounen. I’ll be referring to the characters by what they are most commonly called in the manga. Please note that this review is structured around how I personally felt about the manga: objectively, it deserves an overall rating of 8 (individual ratings of 7/8/9 for story, art, and character, respectively), but subjectively, I give it a 5.

Story: 4/10

One of the most common type of shounen story is when the main character, often a boy (Taisuke), has to go through and overcome a variety of obstacles, such as beating the antagonist (Hirose) in order to save the girl ... (Megumi). It’s no surprise that because of this, Alive: Saishuu Shinkateki Shounen has the ‘shounen’ tag to it. Although the synopsis makes it sound extremely complicated (such as, what are “comrades”?), that is really the basic plot in a nutshell.The story progresses rather predictably, as Taisuke sets off on a quest to save Megumi, while he meets new friends along the way that (reluctantly at first) join forces with him, all the while dealing with the antagonist, among other villains. As this is a futuristic and scientific manga, we have “comrades”, who, to put simply, are people with superpowers that are often using them for bad purposes. This concept was utilized very nicely and the way it is incorporated is what saves the story from falling into a bland “boy saves girl” type of story. Another part that was well done was with how the story progressed rather smoothly, with little to no forced parts. However, one small problem is that these good points are really all the manga has going for it. As a small warning, there is fighting, and some of the scenes can be quite graphic, so be careful about that.

You might be wondering why I only gave the story a 4 after having seemingly nothing truly negative to say about it. The answer is the ending (keep in mind that this section is completely subjective). Even if everything else is great, the story can still be ruined if the ending is terrible. Without going into spoilers, the main character (in my opinion) makes the wrong choice near the end of the manga, as most if not all other readers can attest to. This is one of those cases where I think that the author should’ve gave the audience what they wanted. I still salute Tadashi Kawashima for staying true to the story and being consistent with the choice that the protagonist has to make, though.

Art: 7/10

Nothing really to complain about here, as there was more good than bad to the art. It is quite obvious that as more and more chapters came out, the artwork steadily improved. For example, some of the scenery and graphic scenes were a treat for the eyes to gaze upon as they were quite detailed. It is also worth mentioning that the character designs are solid as well, considering how none of them looked awkward or out of place.

Character: 9/10

The best aspect of the manga, as most of the characters are different compared with each other. The male protagonist, Taisuke, is the same though, as he is your typical “shy boy” who somehow acquires powers and slowly becomes more powerful. Yuta can be considered as Taisuke’s sidekick, and I find many similarities between him and Yukine from Noragami (ironically, Adachitoka, the duo behind Noragami, did the artwork for Alive: Saishuu Shinkateki Shounen, so I suspect there was some inspiration to Yukine’s design). The antagonist, Hirose starts out much like Taisuke, but becomes less and less human as the plot progresses. It is interesting to note that you can view Taisuke, Hirose, and Megumi’s relationship as a sort of love triangle. Speaking of Megumi, she doesn’t have any quirks to her, and can essentially be viewed as the female version of Taisuke. Nami, the other main female character, is introduced a little later on and along with Yuta, eventually joins Taisuke in his quest to save Megumi. She is one of those girls where you can’t help but root for her in whatever she does once you learn of her backstory. The supporting characters do well in their specified roles, but the focus is still mostly on the main characters.

Enjoyment: 2/10

I really did enjoy this manga from the beginning all the way until the last few chapters, where Taisuke makes that wrong choice. One may argue that I was too harsh with just letting that drop my rating so much, and that may be true. However, I am a firm believer in that the ending to any kind of work has to be the strongest point, and because how I was left with a bad taste in my mouth, that is how I justify this rating. For those who don’t mind that kind of thing, I still highly recommend this manga as it is still very, very solid.

That’s all I have to say. Thanks for reading!

Alive saishuu was a read that surprised me. I had never heard about this work, but it has great quality.

The characters are very charismatic, carrying strong motivations and their own reflections. Not only that, but some are complex, as they can do something wrong for someone dear to them. added to that, due to these reflections, we have great moments of characters on screen, from how you see the world to what you want.

The protagonist, Kanou, is pretty okay. He's charismatic, but that's about it. In the end, it is the other characters who carry the story. He's just special because he's the MC, ... other than that, I didn't see anything special about him.

The story is pretty good. Initially it's very exciting and curious, with scenes and mysteries that encourage you to see more and more of the story. However, after a certain event, the story slows down and I'm just curious, not exactly bad, but losing the excitement of the action scenes and the mystery of the work. At that point, going on a path more focused on construction until it actually comes back to its focus on action. In the end, it's a good story developing a really cool theme - life and death - having a good conclusion, but also subjective, going from each reader like or not.

The art is very beautiful, being made by the author of Noragami. Scenarios, fight scenes, everything is very beautiful and well done.

In the end, Alive saishuu was a great surprise. A story with an interesting theme, great mystery that had a good conclusion in the theme of the work with a satisfactory ending for the characters.

This is a hard series to talk about. First I read it with a friend, and second the mangaka wrote it while he was sick and knowing he was going to die, and the manga has a lot of those feelings embedded, and third the mangaka did die right after finishing it. So feelings. I had them, I still have them. I can't reread this because I'm too close and need distance to forget all that to be able to engage again. This is a special post because today is my birthday **it was 13 of April when I posted this on my blog**, growing ... old and aging, nearing death slowly. And what better than talking about this series?

Safe to say, this is a tough read. It starts as a typical shounen manga fairly enough, until it starts dwelling into existential crisis and what it means to be alive, to exist, to die, and what we can do for those that die and for those that live.

Heavy, I know.

It's pretty refreshing to read something that isn't about the power of friends, or how much power and strength you can get. No, in this series those are roadblocks to jump over, and the wins are not easy. Nor bloodless, or violentless. Many a dear character dies through this series, and it saddened me.

I actually stumbled upon this manga because I'd read ES, by the mangaka of Mars, which was about, well, powers and MAL recced this one for those that liked that one. I'll just say here that aside the powers thing, both series have nothing in common in terms of tone or genres, truthfully. But I'm glad, because this series is one of my cherished ones, and I couldn't have found it without that!

While it was indeed a heavy read, and lead to much thought fuel, I think one of the things that struck me so deep was how this was the last work of the mangaka and his farewell to fans and readers. In a ways, he dwelt with his imminent death through this series, and not only it reflects that, but I felt this series gained so much undertone from it.

We all face our own mortality, but I dare say few face it with writing a series for a popular magazine. It brings me to tears thinking of this author with so many ambitious and thoughts in his deathbed, fighting till the end to complete a beloved series and his farewell letter.

I'm not even sure I can properly convey how it affected me, discovering that close to the end of the series, and how deeply moved I was by the ending. The ending celebrates both those that die and those that live, one day at a time, one thing at a time, without both talking down or talking up.

I must also say the characters suffer from a lot of psychological warfare, and again, this is indeed a heavy series, but the growth of the characters are worth it, and I dare say it's worth it for that alone.

Though it may be heavy, I found even though both the story and the author went through so much, the series ends on a positive tone and it felt justified.

If you want to know exactly how he died, I'll quote Wikipedia:

succumbed to liver cancer on June 15, 2010 and died at the age of 51, having finished Alive on his deathbed.

First is the Story, I like the story but as chapters pass by there are too many unnecessary scenes. I don't like the part wherein the military is depicted to be stronger than Taisuke's group of power users even though they are using their powers (WTH), I mean come on they have powers but they are beaten almost to death, true the power users can be affected by bullet but still they have POWERS!!!. The action is not that intense, I really expected that the final fight between Taisuke and Hirose will be epic but apparently not.

Second is the Art, in the first few chapters ... of the manga you may not like the art of the characters but as time pass by it got really better.

Third is the Character, I like the character development of the main characters especially Nami and Yuuta especially their change of heart. However I find it very unsatisfied between the relationship of Megumi and Taisuke there should have flashbacks in which they are both involved (without Hirose).

Lastly the Enjoyment, I really enjoyed the first half of the manga more than the last half of it because as I said there are unnecessary scenes that I think when the artist/author removed it, the story will progress faster.

By the way it might have been better if Taisuke killed Hirose that ungrateful douche, so overall the I gave it 7 =))

Alive The Final Evolution is quite the experience. In a world where MMC's best friend is discount Saskue who gets Friendzoned by Discount Sakura, who gets convinced by Discount Orichimaru to join him in hopes for more power. Truly a unique experience. The story is set in modern century Earth, a random shooting stars decided to crash land(?) onto planet earth. Certain people seem to now have Evolved and gained superpowers. Not everyone who was affected by the shooting star became evolved though. They were unable to contain it and committed suicide. So a mass suicide went across the world. Our hero however cares for ... none of this shit and has only 1 job. To rescue discount Saskue from the clutches of Discount Orichimaru.

The series is split into 2 parts. The 2nd half is set after a timeskip which starts with an amnesia arc. And like many amnesia arcs its just doesn't connect. I found the story to be intriguing but also a bit complicated. I think which was a bit of a nice touch tbh. It had just the right amount of unknown ending aside (which I will get to). Alot of the characters powers also are never really explained. It feels less majestic more the author couldn't think of a reason that made sense. Nonetheless though the author combined with his nice art was able to give some insane panels and nice double page spreads.

The characters are without a doubt its strong point. Now i do think Discount Saskue was a weak villain. Characterization wise that is. He was simply someone who was literally upset over being friendzone. That was his entire thing. Thats it. Yes there was deeper meaning but honestly that's pretty much the core of his entire reasoning. NOW. Discount Voldemort on the other hand was just taking it by the storm. Every step was truly vicious. I like the fact that he wasn't stupid and was ahead of the MMC. Like he actually acted like a smart villain instead of just some random that manically laughs. Discount Voldemort is definitely one of the more entertaining villains I have seen so far... mostly. The main character is also very likeable. He actually doesn't resemble naruto as much as he resembles the MMC from Kekkaishi. Even his like Off duty job is similar kinda hilarious. Regardless the side characters are also very entertaining. Almost all of them have there own purpose. They are kinda selfish in a way people are. and it really gave them their own personality. I didn't like the FMC's character development though. She was a good character but she was really lacking in the 2nd half. I didn't like how the author developed her character. Made her less of her own person.

Fanservice was a bit of an issue for this series. Now i love naked women. I love half naked women. But this series did not need either. Now this is a minor issue considering that the author didn't really add them in serious moments but rather moments that were already light hearted. But it just kinda pulled the heroines down for me. Overall though its a minor issue considering the author didn't over do it.

Action was somewhat of a unique bag though. It was good but at the same time i wasn't good enough kind of. Now what i liked about the action is that the characters die. They die and they don't come back. Giving real weight and tension to the fights. Actually giving the MMC a run of his money. Now its not as flash as naruto or one piece its more like Psyren just better written. Also they never explain some of the characters powers. It feels less like the author was giving us the option to think rather it felt like he couldn't think of one that would make sense. So despite the fact that the action maybe a couple steps below the real great ones i mentioned i think with the death inclusion the tension kinda cranks up to 11 sort of bridging that gap.

There is also a psychological aspect to the series. Whether or not death is a curse or a blessing. Who decided the rain means sad? and though the introduction to these are fantastically presented. I think the author just never truly expanded this. Never used it to its full potential. I did enjoy this aspect however i do think this is something people have already been asked. So unless your tired of this i don't think you will like it either.

The first half of this series was really good. Discount Saskue was kinda fun. I liked the MMC and how he approached people on his travels. Who joined and what not. When i think about the first half is really more like an adventure than an action series and the really wrote it well. the 2nd arc though good and answers many questions ( and leaves some) it just didn't bring itself to the quality of the first half

**TLDR**: Manga was fantastic in the first half. But some minor speed bumps in every aspect except art. The 2nd half some moderate speed bumps in story and characters but everything else remained pretty much minor. 7/10. Also It was drawn by the same author/artist as Noragami. however Alive's author is different.

Although the story has shown a subjective idea from the beginning, I think it lacked a more conclusive touch on the premises established. What is Mitama really, how did she come about and what did she really want? What are extraterrestrials and powers really? What is Akuro and what does it mean? Points that, regardless of anything, only had to add, in the end, a lot of things just sound like a mere background to incorporate the narrative. This narrative, although it does not have a linear writing style, manages to develop very well while making a pleasant transition of arcs and spaces/times.

However some plot ... conveniences are really boring, some powers quite convenient with the moment are a good example, although the explanation that they arise from the "holes of the heart" is good as far as possible, it is clear that the author was not even a little worried about actually explaining it. The battles are more of a gimmick for the script to move forward than anything else and at times they are extremely lazy. This unfortunately reflects in other points, as in the art itself, which even being incredibly well done is not as immersive as it could be, I would say even devoid of introspective details at times.

And speaking of introspection, I would say that here the work lacks a little. Although there are several good characters that mostly just add, I felt a difficulty in seeing them in any other way than as support tools, or even develop any trace of intimacy to the point of caring about the death of some. The positive point is that the characters develop more and more, with the slight exception of the protagonist, who is above all a simple ready-made model.

The existentialist plot is great and well executed, with events that leave you intrigued and anxious with each chapter. Predictable at various times but still manages to satisfy the desire for resolved conflicts, although it lacks a little in the endings. Even with its subjectivity and some loose ends it managed to close the story well, a finished ending is still more valid than something open, regardless of any other factor.
It is definitely a work of potential, well structured and intense reading, but nevertheless pleasant. Although it prefers to develop its subjective and existential aspect more, it does not sin in being prominent and well written.

As a seinen enjoyer and also not a fan of fantasy power this manga is the only exception for me and also criminally underrated.

This manga have a dark theme like su*cide plot is intriguing. It has atmosphere of mystery. Everything happened neutrally. characters are act and think realistically like real people they also have flaws. Friendship is driving force.

Art is so pretty. Previous work of noragami's artist. It gets better every chapter!

If you like good shounen adventure manga with realistic characters to root for. Please read or im sad

It's masterpiece until they found each other. After that i just lost interest.