ReviewMa! Is This a Review?

Hooray! We’re less than 2 weeks until Christmas, and one week until the apocalypse!

Wait. That doesn’t sound right. We can’t have the end of the world before Christmas; I still have games to import! But yeah, end of the world? Before Christmas? Not gonna happen. I already have a fair list of gifts I want to give to people this year, and a good list of things to get for myself (insert evil laugh here). Hopefully my idea of achieving a Vita for this holiday will come to fruition but only time will tell (and a budget as well). But since I’m on the topic of apocalypses, let’s talk zombie(s); Is This A Zombie? to be exact.

Ever since this series was released by Yen Press back in March this year, its been on my “manga purchase top priority list”. To be fair, though, a lot of series’ release dates sneak up on me, forcing me to make a daunting decision before purchase. My latest choice being between book three of Is This A Zombie? and Haganai. Of course, I chose book three of Is This A Zombie?, but when I get my hands on Haganai expect a review.

Is This A Zombie? tells the story of Ayumu Aikawa, our main protagonist. He was brutally murdered by an unknown assailant until the shady necromancer known as Eucliwood Hellscythe resurrects him from the dead as a zombie. As he searches for his killer, he runs into an erupting battle between “Magikewl Girl” Haruna and what’s known as a “Megalo” (which are your basic over-sized demonic animals). Haruna emerges from the battle “victorious” as it ends with Haruna losing her powers (and clothes).  Ayumu later finds out that, along with being a zombie, he’s also taken the powers of being a “Magikewl” girl/guy/zombie.

What really interests me in this series would have to be its sense of what I call “mid-consistency”.  Within most of the series’ chapters, it does follow the main premise of the story for a fair percentage of the time, but don’t be surprised if it suddenly cuts off for a side-story. Be wary of that as you go along. Oh, and by the way, while Yen Press did label this under a mature rating, it’s not worth it by any means. It’s not particularly laden with fanservice, but it’s not bad enough to the point of the rating that its received. Similar to the anime of the same name, the art also is fairly good. It’s not anything amazing, but it’s not too bad either. The detail is added with most of the characters, and the backgrounds aren’t complete eye-sores. Like most of Yen Press’s mangas, the translations also stay accurate to the original material.

For those looking for a consistent story throughout the volumes, it’s highly recommended that you steer clear of this series. This series has a very random feel to it that’ll either make you want to continue until your heart’s content or just drop the series in its entirety. The first three volumes are available now for the (Yen Press increased) price of 11.99.

+: Some good art/storyline also is pretty solid too
-: Inconsistent Story/the big ol’ M rating
Overall: B