PACT

A sci-fi manga about a bomb defuser who must keep his promise to stop terrorists who are trying to end the world with nitrogen bombs.

This is a strange manga to say the least. I think Shinnosuke Kuji is a talented artist but his design skills leave a lot to be desired. Most of the story takes place deep underwater and you have people fighting with gatling guns, rocket launchers and M-16 rifles and it’s just a weird choice to use weapons you can recognize in unbelievable environments. The series is filled with these kinds of unoriginal choices that really prevent it from standing on it’s own.

I think the themes of self-sacrifice to fulfill promises are well done with various characters dragging their bloody bodies to help defuse the bombs. Unfortunately they never really answers questions about the terrorists because the series ended at 5 volumes. In the final chapter it says ‘End Part 1′ so I suppose they might revisit this series in the future. But personally I don’t think it’s worth it. Kuji seems like a talented manga artist and I feel like he should just try something else.

~dakazu