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First review, so here goes nothing:

Mouryou no Yurikago, or Cradle of Monsters in English is an interesting departure from the standard zombie plotline in many ways. First and most notably the fact that the manga takes place on a capsized sinking cruise ship, which, in addition to meaning the cast must contend with both the living dead and escape before the ship sinks, it also means that, unlike most zombie media, firearms are not available to the cast.

Secondly, the zombies featured are neither the Night of the Living Dead-esque "slow zombie" or the 28 Days Later "fast zombie", but are a new, more dangerous ... breed, the "sentient zombie", which are as intelligent as normal humans, and are capable of wielding weapons or even setting traps. Not to mention possessing the usual superhuman strength and durability.

The more dangerous nature of the zombies, lack of firearms, and the constant impending threat of the ship sinking into the depths give Mouryou no Yurikago a sense that the cast are in far greater danger than than in some other zombie media.

That said, Mouryou no Yurikago is not without its faults. The characters are OK, but they run the typical zombie fare of male lead, female lead/love interest, psychopath who is as dangerous as the zombies etc. While I liked Mouryou's plot a little more, I thought that Highschool of the Dead's characters has a lot more personality and stood out more.

The artwork is fairly good, but really, not out of the ordinary. Overall, I give Mouryou no Yurikago an eight out of ten.