Alice In The Country Of Hearts Vol. 3, Warcraft: Mage, Warcraft: Dragons Of Outland Vol. 1 & Deadman Wonderland Vol. 2 - Manga Review

Differentiation of quest might be the suffering equation of these new releases from Tokyo Pop but the structure always permeates with the love of a girl, foreign, foe or otherwise.Alice In The Country Of Hearts Vol. 3 In the continuing vision, Alice becomes more aware of her surroundings but the definition of each of the characters begins to shift. The Clockmaker and Blood work against each other on the hard sell to Alice which tugs at her heartstrings since the bad boy always wins out. The most overplayed element continues to be Peter Rabbit who doesn't understand the balance between his cute form and the reality of his service to the Queen. Dee & Dum come off as the most interesting in this volume as their bloodthirst comes to full bloom. Alice also begins to show signs of losing her faith in the real world and the fate of her sister seems to rest within possibly falling in love with the former king. Good story points abound but not truly exciting art to balance the test.Warcraft: Shadow Wing - Dragons Of Outland Vol. 1 This new entry accelerates beyond the mere dragon tale of fire and brimstone. By creating an outsider rebel who is, by relativity, in love with an elf-like female creature who also takes the form of the blue dragon, actions become a little more interesting because there is a different emotional and mental dynamic to the process from all sides. Even though the warrior trying to prove again his mettle is already skating on thin ice, he betrays his leader's wishes to prove a bigger truth. The elf is completely egocentric which actually helps her pervasiveness in this all-male world. When she and the warrior pass through to another dimension, a certain degree of disbelief goes along with the proceedings. However the aspect of the nether dragons who are both real and not allows for an interesting story structure in terms of a new race of dragons at the whim of a madman (which is not all that necessarily true). Disappearing into the depths of a magic filled cave system creates a quest for the elf female that might be interesting. The art especially with the dragons is exceptionally detailed and epic on certain levels.Deadman Wonderland Vol. 2 The boy that would be a massacre tries to find his way further through the maze of this prison amusement park. With Shiro, whose true nature beyond her swirling bodysuit has not been revealed, the key with Ganta is learning to control or at least know how to use his blood power. The quest behind this volume continues with his obsession with finding The Red Man which eventually he believes to be on Level G. However this mission is set as a trap for him to face off against Senji who is a vicious opponent nicknamed The Crow. Senji almost defeats him in a cage match with Ganta pulling together a surprise amount of power in the last second. This is fueled by the realization that the lawyer that had him convicted in behind the promotions in the prison. Red Man is waiting but Ganta is not ready. While the Cage Match is engaging, it is the post aspect with the other Dead Man crew coming out of the woodwork to help Ganta use his credits and watch the punishment of Senji (where he gets his eye plucked out ) that gives a more viable tenacity in the story.World Of Warcraft: Mage Taking an altered perspective from the dragon intelligence, this story approaches the tension of the flying city of Darahan under siege which faces a threat from the inside. The plot centers on Arahon who discounted by his warrior family sought to become a mage, a protector of magic. The dragons and their lords send mage hunters which can all but penetrate the city. A rogue mage who also happens to be Arahon's lost uncle calls to his nephew after many years to release him from the Violet Halls prison facility which handles special inmates under the city which uses magic to keep them inert and incapabale of causing problems. Arahon frees his uncle and then proceeds to help him find a magic spell book within the city's library all the while feeding his ego of becoming a great sorcerer. Arahon only too late realizes the two-faced natured of his relative's cunning which only seeks to destablize the floatiing city and bring it crashing down. The final moments involve Arahon barely restraining his uncle so the resident teach can put him down. Unfortunately the texture of his win does not prove the cleverness at which he reached his conclusion. The art swirling around the grim city is light but also foreboding bringing to mind more of a "Heavy Metal" influence without the benefit of lurid colors.