.hack//Alcor, Warcraft: Death Knight & DN Angel Vol. 13 - Manga Review

The aspect of mixing pop culture tends to show the balance needed to maintain certain storylines and branding. Tokyo Pop's latest forays base existing perceptions with the abilities of what makes a story and what doesn't..hack//Alcor This story highlights a side perception of the PK players who seeks to up their quotients based on experience and kills. The angle that this narrative takes is a girl Nanese, who in trying to up her points, falls in love with a guildmaster named Silabus whom she must work to get the attention of. Hanging in the background is Alkaid who is working against her in the battle of PKing. What Nanese comes to learn is to depend on her friends which is a specific lure of this world. The narrative twirls a little too much despite a swift perception of art and pace which, although interesting in certain battles, doesn't create any unmistakable images.World Of Warcraft: Death Knight This manga, by comparison, which is more American based in terms of its writer and artist, has a much darker tone which is reflective of the narrative style. This story follow Thassarian who joins his kingdom's army to fight but is told that he is not leadership material. He is a soldier born to take orders. His mother doesn't want him to leave. But when he follows his prince onto the dark seas they are attacked by the scourge which is an army of the undead. The prince is taken. T goes to find out what happened to him while ordering the men to defend the encampment. He is then turned into a Death Knight who serves the Lich King and ceases to be Thassarian. He comes back and attacks his kingdom. His master orders him to kill a woman who turns out to be his mother who recognizes him. This is a very specific plot point and gives the book an undeniable weight because of the heavy burden heaped upon this man-turned-beast. A sliver of the good side, much like “Star Wars” comes into play.On the battlefield approaching another kingdom, T sees a vision of his father who died on the same field where they are arising the dead to fight. His father shows him that the Lich King can be defeated by the light. Thassarian wakes up along with some of his brethen. He decides that his biggest motivation is to kill that which enslaved him. He gets the kingdom he once lived in to take him back albeit the locals are against it. He then goes out and kills for a different master although his sister now looks for him after hearing of his living presence. He finds out that within the top of the kingdom lurks conspiracy which almost sends him to his doom and realizes that he cannot depend on anyone. He rises his own dead soldier Lurid to serve him and takes off on his own to take down the Lich King.In disassembling his enemy's mind, he finds that his enemy is himself. He promises his sister he will return but the evil that created the mind of the Lich King still exists. The overarching story is quite inventive and intense and the frames are filled with a plethora of different visions, all going on at the same time. With the abundance of elements running through each frame, this chapter is a quick read and doesn't require prior knowledge of the world for enjoyment.DN Angel #13 The aspect of light vs. dark angels in this world is commiserated purely by the thought of romantic feelings. Dark is the bad guy who seems to get the adulation of Risa, who is the focus of romance for all the boys. The reality is that Dark is moving against what she thinks he really is which is her knight. In fact it is the white angel in the figure of Toshi who is truly the one who is her savior despite the fact that she doesn't want to see it. The great aspect of this manga beyond the aspect of shadow coloring is the aspect that the human form of Dark himself is facing psychological problems across the board which he cannot control. When against his own thoughts, Dark accepts Risa's love and reciprocates, he sets a plan is motion which brings the story to a visceral and climactic cliffhanger. While the beginning of this volume starts a little shaky on story, some of the images despite being word-light, integrates the feelings necessary without overcomplicating the plot pushing it towards a divisive climax.