Hello my friends, duskmon12 here ready to fulfill all of your manga reviewing needs.
So before we get to the review lets talk a bit. I'm so glad it's finally Friday. This week has been so stressful and on top of that, I've got two papers to do this weekend and two exams I need to study for.:x
Don't worry about me though, it's nothing I can't handle.:)
So anyways, I didn't leave a hint this week which means there was nothing for anybody to guess. But I will be continuing the guess that review game today. I'll leave a hint at the end of this post and you'll be able to make your guess. The first person to correctly guess the series gets the option of choosing the next series I review (after the one I hinted at of course) and will also receive the Extra Special Mystery Prize!!!:shock:
So without further ado, let's get down to business. This weeks review is (drum-roll please)..........
Double Arts
Imagine holding the hand of someone you like as you walk down the street. The sun is warm, the air is fresh, and you're holding the hand of a very close friend. Now imagine if someone else came along and told you that if you ever let go of that friends hand, they'll die. :|
This is Double Arts. Kind of.
The story takes place in a world that's threatened by an ancient disease called Troy which infects its victims with a deadly poison and slowly increases the poison levels in that persons body until it reaches a point where the person begins to experience seizures and then vanishes, leaving behind nothing but their clothes. The disease is spread through touch, leaving families of the victims unable to comfort their loved ones as they slowly die.
There is no cure for this deadly disease, the only thing that can extend the person's life are the Sisters. There are certain girls who hold a high level of tolerance to the disease. Even when infected, they may still live out a long normal life. By touching those who are infected they can absorb some of the poison into their bodies and can extend that person's life at the cost of shortening their own.
One sister, Elraine Figarette (Elle for short), visits a small town to treat an infected person. After treating a victim, she is suddenly struck by the seizures, she is about to die until a boy grabs her hand. Suddenly the seizures stop and all of her symptoms disappear. The boys name is Kiri and for some reason he isn't effected by Troy even after grabbing her hand. Upon consulting the Sister's headquarters, she is advised to bring Kiri to them. The fact that Kiri is immune to the disease gives them hope that they have finally found a cure to Troy. The only catch is that Kiri can't let go of Elle's hand even for a second or her symptoms will return and she'll die.
That means they have to be touching each other while sleeping, taking a shower, and going to the bathroom.
Later on it's revealed that Kiri has a special ability. When touching somebody else, his and the person he's touching strength, speed, and abilities are doubled. When touching another person their abilities double again and so on. He dubs this mysterious ability 'Flare'.
Besides the challenge of performing every day tasks while holding hands, they also must deal with attacks from Gazelle.
No not that kind of gazelle. :P
The Gazelle organization is a group of assassins that for unknown reasons targets the sisters and anything else that may prevent the spread of Troy. Gazelle learns of Kiri's ability and how he is immune to Troy. Fearing that he may hold the cure to the disease, the entire organization begins to target Elle and Kiri.
The title Double Arts is explained later in the series. In order to defend themselves from Gazelle, Elle and Kiri have to develop a way of fighting that allows them to remain touching. In other words, they come up with a new martial art called 'Double Arts'.
Now if you've been reading my blog then you know that the series was cancelled last week.:cry:
The series only reached 23 chapters so you should be able to read it in a couple of hours.
This was an excellent series that was cancelled before it got a chance to reach its prime. The characters are clever, the story is fascinating, and the fight scenes are visually appealing.
There is always a possibility that the series will be continued someday, the creator implied that he might start it up again if he gets the chance. I certainly hope so, there are too many unresolved things left up to our imagination. I'm all for a story where the fans get to imagine what happens next, but there are too many mysteries left.
I do have to give the creator a lot of credit. Despite Shonen Jump telling him, "Hey we don't like your series, wrap it up in one chapter.", he did an excellent job of creating a final chapter despite all of the unresolved issues.
Bottom line, it should never have been cancelled in the first place. Stupid Shonen Jump:evil:.
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So what did you think. I decided to dedicate this to the creator of Double Arts, Naoshi Komi, whose series just got cancelled, my fellow Double Arts fans who just lost one of their favorite series, and finally my loyal fan Nicasso_, my newest fan Evolution_666, and the few other people out there who have commented on my reviews. Thanks for giving me the motivation to continue doing my best to write these.
I really enjoy doing this, it's a nice hobby to do in my spare time and it's fun planning out what I'll write for each one. Plus I get to share some of my favorite series with all of my friends.
So now that the thanks are out of the way, it's time to give the hint of the week. This time I'm just giving you guys a one word hint. Here it is:
Ferret
That's it, good luck guessing next weeks selection.
See all of you later.
Note: I realize that the official translation of Kiri's name is actually Kili. I just think Kiri sounds better, so don't think I made any unintentional mistakes.
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