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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
Moved along. Storytelling a little scrappy and unclear. Could do with better, clearer motivations. Sticking with it.
This story never slows down, it's like the entire world is in the balance and at any moment it could tip, the whole time. I mean there was some nice flashback scenes of Mikey as a kid, but other than that, it's a whole lot of tension, cool magic and ass kicking. Totally dig the art too.
This is a review for Birthright Vol. 1-7, which I read in one long blast. This is a modern fantasy story where a boy named Mikey gets mysteriously whisked away to a dark fantasy realm where he is tasked with fulfilling a prophecy to be the Chosen zone to defeat the God-King Lore. Meanwhile, Mikey’s family falls apart in the aftermath of the missing person case, so when Mikey magically reappears all grown up and transformed into a jacked Conan the Barbarian, talking about how he has to hunt down magical war criminals in this world, that’s when the story really begins.
The good here is that the art is often very pleasant to look at me does a good job of carrying the visual aspects of the story. And there are moments when the story flirts with breaking out of genre conventions, and make one think we’re about to get into seriously interesting territory.
The bad is the story never quite pulls that promise off, and the entire things feels really hidebound within a lot of fairly tired fantasy tropes. Add to that a family dynamic subplot that never feels that genuine, and bad guys who are fairly one-dimensional, and the end result is a story that after seven volumes feels like only two, because the story never really advances that much or make us care that much about the proceedings. An ongoing sub-story of flashbacks only reinforces the parts of the story that don’t exactly work, so the end result is something that had a lot of talent and promise within it, but it never quite gets over the edge into something that throws aside its various crutches.
At this point, it’s impossible to tell when the series intends to conclude, but honestly? After the first seven volumes, it doesn’t really matter. All we’ve been lead to expect going forward is more fighting/not fighting among Mikey and his brother, more awkward and forced family strife drama, and more talk about a fantasy world forever at war. It just feels like none of it really matters.
The good here is that the art is often very pleasant to look at me does a good job of carrying the visual aspects of the story. And there are moments when the story flirts with breaking out of genre conventions, and make one think we’re about to get into seriously interesting territory.
The bad is the story never quite pulls that promise off, and the entire things feels really hidebound within a lot of fairly tired fantasy tropes. Add to that a family dynamic subplot that never feels that genuine, and bad guys who are fairly one-dimensional, and the end result is a story that after seven volumes feels like only two, because the story never really advances that much or make us care that much about the proceedings. An ongoing sub-story of flashbacks only reinforces the parts of the story that don’t exactly work, so the end result is something that had a lot of talent and promise within it, but it never quite gets over the edge into something that throws aside its various crutches.
At this point, it’s impossible to tell when the series intends to conclude, but honestly? After the first seven volumes, it doesn’t really matter. All we’ve been lead to expect going forward is more fighting/not fighting among Mikey and his brother, more awkward and forced family strife drama, and more talk about a fantasy world forever at war. It just feels like none of it really matters.
Onto the next volume! Things are getting interesting now!
Onto the next volume! Things are getting interesting now!
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Finally, the family comes together, but not without a great cost.
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix