Even with the heart of a monster, does that truly mean they are all that different from a Human? Can such a beast feel love, and have a sense of justice that's even greater than that of a humans?

This is a story of Players, genetically modified beings that have the appearance of humans but will transform into terrifying beasts that seek to slaughter any and all humans that are in their path but are bound to a law set in place by a mysterious organization. In comes ZET, an incredibly powerful being whose goal is to destroy every single player, good or evil, and fix the mistakes of his creator. ZET isn't just a mere Player himself, he's something so much more. Yet ZET is not alone in this fight, there is a wide cast of characters; some who seek to become heroes of justice, some who seek the truth, and others who want to be freed from the shackles of society.

In a sense this manga is very similar to Devilman, suffering from a handful of similar issues but shares in much of it's strengths. If you loved the concept of Devilman but wanted something that had less exposition, and had more time to develop it's world and characters with similar themes then this manga is for you.


REVIEW:

This manga does have some real flaws as well as highlights and I believe the review by the Machinist really does nail them quite on the head, however my review will go slightly more into spoiler territory compared to his review.


Flaws:

The character writing in this manga can be incredibly tropey, with the main romance being kind of shoe horned in and the later story beat(s) really come out of nowhere and don't really give you the feeling that they were properly earned. Despite that fact I do actually enjoy the interactions that come from the romance and all characters.

Next I want to discuss the perverse usage of death/sex of the women in this manga. It's tonally very dissonant and its usage comes off as incredibly edgy; and thankfully in only one, albeit major, segment of the story. For the period of time that it has this fetishization it does feel incredibly uncomfortable and is used as motivation for a character and it just falls flat on its face. There's only a handful of those moments, and the event(s) that follow really do over shadow the flaws of that portion.

Finally I'm gonna go over some of the general flaws in the story/characters, which I have few of but are worthy of note. First: Most all of the main antagonists are pretty weak. They have a distinct lack of personality besides Haitani. The rest of them are pretty forgettable, while the smaller antagonists/henchman are far more memorable due to their stunning designs and (usually) great fights. Plus the major antagonist, the leader of EVOL, barely gets any screen time and then just fades into black very soon after he was introduced (which was his goal anyways, but it feels like wasted potential). Tl;dr the actual stories antagonists are pretty weak. Aside from that the plot itself fine, character motivations are usually pretty believable.

I don't dislike the characters by any means, I think most are written to be very solid. It's just that Jin and Kouga really do carry this story on their back.

Also the ending is kina mid. It's by no means bad, but it's not terribly satisfying and leaves more to be desired.

Pros:

The art in this manga is jaw droppingly beautiful. The quality of the art ranges from incredibly solid, to stunning amounts of depth. The monster designs are phenomenal, evoking fear and disgust with the way many of them warp the human body or will leave your jaw glued to the floor. Each of the characters has a very pronounced style that reflects their personalities: for instance Jin has a casual but crude look, Tanaka has a very rebellious appearance, Kouga always looks suave and sleek etc etc. Point is the designs are unique and solid.

It's punctuated with phenomenal hyper detailed art that you can't help but stare at for minutes in order to really absorb the depth and care poured into each scene. Not to mention the way that emotion is so powerfully displayed through facial reactions, really selling the more intense and heart breaking story beats.

I do want to praise the story and character writing here. While I did mention that it is definitely flawed and succumbs to tropes, I would say it does more good than it does bad. Characters are, for the most part, very interesting albeit they don't all grow too noticeably the whole way through; usually having minor developments along the way aside from Kougas major developments throughout the whole story. Haitani is my favorite antagonist in this story, and his interactions with Jin really do save the weaker moments in the ladder half of the story.

The pacing is very good, but I will note there are a handful of time skips that are very abrupt in the early chapters.


Conclusion:

Does this manga deserve the 9 I gave it? To be honest, I don't think so, if I were to be more critical and fair this manga is more like a low 8 high 7; but I'm incredibly biased and loved this manga to the point where I believe that personally it's a 9. By no means is this manga meant for everyone, and I'd imagine it'll be very divisive on whether or not you will actually enjoy this manga. Are the flaws glaring? Absolutely. But at no point did it ever really turn me away from reading it, but instead displayed to me that the manga had serious potential but needed heavy investment and time to really capitalize on it; which it only does a real handful of times. Despite all of that, PLEASE give this manga a chance: I truly think it is worth your time. And if you've dropped this manga, I totally understand why you would; but maybe give it another shot? You might find yourself enjoying it a bit more than you might've expected.