Title: Karneval – Volume 1
Alternate Title: カーニヴァル / K∀RNEVAL
Written by: Touya Mikanagi
Published by: Chuang Yi Publishing Pre Ltd.
Distributed by: Madman Entertainment
Language: English
Pages: 194
Cost: $AUD 14.95
Classification: No Classification Provided
Previous Reviews: This is the first volume
Special Thanks: A big thanks goes to Madman Entertainment for providing a review copy of the book!
This isnt a series I would usually pick off the shelf personally, however, it is a new series on our shelves, and it was one of the more interesting looking ones (As well as one of the only new Volume 1 titles being released over here this month). Unfortunately for some of you, I believe that this title is only for distribution in the regions of ANZ (By Madman) and Singapore (By Walter Agency).
After reading this, I can say that this title in particular would be more suitable to the shoujo demographic (Females, Mid-late teens), however this title did seem to be well suitable to all gender and age groups, since there is no bromances or shirtless guy scenes in it…. however of course it will all depend on your preference in a manga. This manga is based around the action genre, however they add some sarcastic comedy throughout it which is a nice touch and encourages you to read on.
Anyway, if you want to know more about this title, then please read on for my review of Karneval, by Touya Mikanagi.
When innocent country boy, Nai sets foot into the sordid, cutthroat realm of the city, he might as well have painted a target on his own back. Kidnappers, murderers and desperados abound, waiting to take advantage of a boy guileless enough to believe blood is merely ‘red water’. When he is framed for a murder, it is the bandit gareki who bails him out. Being a shrewd and sharp-eyed thief, however, Gareki’s motives are less then pure. Nai is looking for a friend who has disappeared and left behind something particularily intriguing – an I.D bracelet from the organisation named ‘Circus’, the country’s supreme defense agency. While Gareki has his sights set firmly on the bracelet, ‘Circus’ in turn, has shifted its eye onto the duo as well.
The one major fault in the storyline starts right at the beginning. You sort of start right in the middle of a storyline where Nai is captured by someone called Lady Mine, and this is all within the second page. After the first chapter which I seemed to spend mostly trying to figure out what character is what and what is going on, it actually turned out to be some pretty decent storytelling. Essentially it surrounds two individuals, Nai and Gareki who have teamed up to travel the country in search of Karoku, someone who is Nai’s “family” and gave him a bracelet which symbolizes membership of Circus. Circus is the name of the countries defense agency and also doubles as a circus and is filled with a number of less then serious looking recruits.
The storyline of this volume focuses on the two of them running from the law after Nai is framed for shooting a police office, and has the police, individual groups and Circus all after him, all for different reasons. The storyline flows well and does not dwell on unimportant information for an extended period of time, and it felt like everything placed had a purpose, unlike other manga which seem to like filler content every few chapters (But hey, it is the first volume, so it still could happen).
For the most part, the storyline exclusively follows Nai and Gareki as they travel to another town on their journey, however later in the series, the other, what can be implied as three main characters are introduced, including the child-like in personality Gareki, the level-headed and only female seemingly in the storyline Tsukumo and a seemingly eccentric man named Hirato, however not much character development is done on them in this volume. Thankfully, none of the characters personalities are too similar, so it leaves a lot of potential for their personalities to clash which each other in the future volumes.
The storyline ends on a sort of cliff-hanger which doesn’t seem irrelevant. Overall, this volume had a really decent storyline.
The character designs implemented in this series are of an extraordinary standard. In no scene to their skimp on the quality and instead deliver well detailed character designs in facial expressions and clothing design. The facial expressions are varied and well represent the situation the characters are in (Touya Mikanagi does seem to have an exceptional skill at doing the pissed off expression) and the clothing designs for all the characters vary when a clothing change would be warranted in real life. Actual, character designs were also rather good, and the hair and overall facial structure well suit the personalities of the characters. Environment designs on the other hand are so-so, whilst there are a number of scenes that do offer some decent backdrops, for the most part, it excessively utilized the white space of the pages which left me overall disappointed in some parts. For the environment backdrops that were done, they were well designed and gave off an impression that most of the towns were slightly run-down but bustling towns.
In terms of extra content, there was a considerable amount considering a volume of this size:
- A “slipcover” for the book, which once removed, has a small funny comic on both sides on the proper cover of the book.
- A comment from Touya Mikanagi
- A coloured front and chapter list page.
- Each chapter introduction page has some rather good artwork on it…. more aimed at the female demographic at times, but still good.
- Three bonus chapters
- Special thanks from Touya Mikanagi
Considering the great character design in this series, I would have loved to see some character plans included as extra content, however what was given in this book was enough.
Personally, whilst I most probably wouldn’t have ever thought of picking it up if Madman hadn’t kindly supplied it, I am actually glad I got the chance to read it since in comparison to other manga that I have seen in the genre, it is of a rather good standard. Yes, I will admit, it is more aimed at the female demographic in my opinion, however a male reading it would not feel too uncomfortable reading it and would most probably find it an enjoyable read. I can recommend this series to everyone after a new manga to read.
Final Score
Storyline: B
Characters: B
Design: B+
Extras: B+
Personal Opinion: B+
Overall Score: B+
