Zero

OhHaiDer :]


Freedom..
So close yet so far.
And the days seem long without you
Anyway
Today I bring you
Zero~


Zero


Story & Art: Kei Toume
Publisher: Scholar (1995), Sony Magazine (1999), Gentosha (2002)
Rating: 16+
Synopsis: (mangaupdates.com) In the middle of a high school assembly, all of the students suddenly collapse. The one behind it all is a girl named Mao who holds a grudge. She's out for revenge against the entire school!


Art Review: 3/5


I don't think for this sort of story which is all plot development and action, the art won't add much to the story itself. Although the fact that the class president has really thick eye brows and all the girls have really odd wiry necks that once again remind me of a giraffe (I'll spare you the redundancy of linking yet another giraffe. Or will I?)


Story Review: This is just another one of those stories where there's the really creepy girl in a school, no one talks to her, and then she gets suicidal or creepy. However a wonderful twist occurs in this story and she instead performs a mass murder of the students. She gassed everyone at an assembly. Makes me somewhat wonder just what the hell a pharmacy guy is doing, allowing her to get her hands on something that could kill humans just by breathing it in. The story turns to a bit of a back flash of the last couple weeks or days, doesn't really specify. I actually grew to like Mao and support her in her insanity. Although I hate these sort of plots where these popular people go to do something stupid and illegal and then they send the creepy girl and she ends up getting arrested just because of them. It makes me want to staple bagels to my face and remove them with a pitchfork. Because every one in this school was kind of an asshole I guess she went berserk. But what's so cool about it is that she literally captures the school. She takes the janitor and security robots (no seriously, what the hell is with the security of Japanese schools? Although that's awesome.) She gives them chainsaws and pistols and tasers and chases the rest of the living students. It kind of reminds me of Left For Dead 2 or something. Yashiro dies by heroicly giving time to the other students (I can't for the life of me remember their names.) But then again people dying like that reminds me of the constant joke people make with the following scenario: "NOOO [insert name]" "I'm hurt real bad" "Don't die" "Go on without me...." "OK" *leaves* ''I DIDN'T MEAN IT THAT WAYYY" I wonder about how she gets the chainsaw, but then later we find that she has a bomb set to blow up the school. Where on earth does a high school student get a bomb, anyway? The male (still don't know his name and don't care) does meet up with Mao and he tries to kill her but realises that he's just the same if he kills for revenge and Mao takes his sword and kills himself. He carries off the class president all dramatic like and an explosion goes off behind him. I really enjoyed this manga, very actiony and a change from the romantic cutesy things I've been doing. I kinda wish it was longer and had more of Mao's insane ventures. But that's just me.


8/10