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How far would you go to accomplish your goals? Would you stake your life against ruthless wyverns and fiendish dragons with only a blunt blade and a few companions to depend on? That is the duty of a Monster Hunter.

Reminiscent of his other works, Hiro Mashima delivers an uncomplex short series packed full of predictable outcomes and uninspired tropes, based on the popular role-playing game, Monster Hunter. Taking big steps in the start of the manga and mainly appealing to fans of the game ultimately leads to a second half that falls flat.

Prior knowledge of the game itself is not necessary to follow and understand ... the story, as the majority of the aspects taken from Monster Hunter are explained in some detail. However, being familiar with the weapon types and monsters adds some level of enjoyment and nostalgia. Fans should expect to see some manga-original features as well, such as new wyverns and hunting methods.

Typical of shounen series, Monster Hunter Orage delivers a mediocre story set-up primarily as a way to initiate battles. Shiki, a young hunter who bears the Mark of the Sealed Hunter, is in search of Miogaruna, a powerful elder dragon of myth. The story centers around his path to achieving said goal, on his way tackling less powerful monsters whose difficulties grow from one to the next. Shiki eventually forms a four person team including the three other main characters.

The main issue with the story is its lack of complexity and uninspired development. Once paired with lack-luster characters, we have a shameless romp of predictable combat and calculated actions. Despite this, Orage can be mindlessly enjoyed as long as you don't mind the (welcomed) long chapters that sadly fail to do proper justice to the pleasing art and Monster Hunter background.

Shiki Ryuuhou, the duel-sword wielding protagonist of the story plays the role of your quintessential shounen hero, fairly implicative of Natsuno, the protagonist of Mashima's Fairy Tale, go-lucky and simplistic; Shiki offers nothing new in terms of shounen male leads. However, he is the most developed character, so then why is he not the most interesting of the cast? This is mostly due to his static personality, which manages to not take anything away from the story, while also not exactly adding anything.

Irie Jescar, the stories main heroine and longsword wielder, is nothing particularly interesting, and rather, could be considered annoying just for how simplistically boring and unmoving her personality, her traits, and her mentality are. More so a foil to Shiki, Irie does not hold up as what one would expect in a female lead, despite having a good amount of development to her history and family.

Sakuya and Kuron take a backseat in the story as side characters, and helpful assets for Shiki reaching his goal, but despite being less important story wise, they are in fact much more interesting and entertaining. Sakuya, a bowgun wielder, plays a large role in the second and third chapters of the manga as a blacksmith's daughter who helps Shiki and Irie upgrade their equipment. Sakuya has perhaps the most fascinating history of the cast, and you might find yourself rooting for her from the moment she is introduced. Sadly, after her primary chapters, she becomes nothing more then the sweet girl shooting bullets from far away behind the frontlines, of the battles and of the story.

Kuron, a gunlance wielder and one of two antagonists in the plot, takes the role of the high-standing villain and rival to our hero. A somewhat cliché personality and poorly developed back-story lead to a dull climax in his character focused chapters. Full of potential, but unsuccessfully used to the strengths of his character, Kuron fails to deliver the impact a villain should have.

The strongest and most redeeming factor of Monster Hunter Orage is its wonderfully drawn art. Battles are beautifully executed, as the characters almost seem to move from panel to panel. The art manages to pull in the reader and leave you wanting to see more. Landscapes and towns are drawn with fine details, and a lot of time is put into the creatures. Despite the cast's mediocre attributes, their character designs are done fairly well and bring a fresh breath of liveliness and harmony with the story.

If you're interested in a shounen series with admirable battles and really don't want to invest time into a long, complex story, Monster Hunter Orage manages to deliver in the areas that you're probably reading for. However, Orage fails to deliver the necessary development and captivation to keep you reading for aspects beyond the external. A marvelously drawn adventure that succeeds as nothing more then a showcase for shounen merriment.