The Isolator Vol 3
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher!
Minoru has decided to join the fight against the Ruby Eyes that threaten humanity across the world. Soon after, reports come in about a violent Ruby Eye who has a history with Yumiko. This dangerous man's name is--Incinerator.
Things are certainly starting to get interesting this volume, as we head to the SFD base where we meet Isa the Deputy Chief and we get to learn a lot of the science behind the third eyes and the powers and so on, plus we get to explore Minoru's power a bit more and the theories behind it. Minoru is finally given his own code name, and he's now part of the team and it's going to be interesting to see him fitting in with all of them, especially considering the deal he's made.
Isa isn't the only new character we get to meet this volume, we get to meet Olivier too, he's deceptively nice but in actuality he's kind of an a-hole. I get his point but still, I'm not sure I'm going to like him.
Meanwhile someone's after Yumiko and something's ogg with Minowa causing Ogu to go to Minoru for help. There's a couple of heart wrenching moments in this volume, particularly the glimpse in to Yumiko and her past which explains quite a bit about her character actually. There's an intense chase that has you on edge, and an ominous moment or two as something bigger is alluded to when it comes to the bad guys. I also...dare I say it...feel like Minoru and Yumiko are bonding and maybe even....friends?
This volume really felt like an episode of Criminal Minds to be honest, we have a team of people trying to track down a killer, this one just happens to have powers!
The Isolator Vol 2
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher!
Mysterious objects from space have landed, embedding themselves within human beings around the world and granting them impossible powers according to their deepest wishes. Seventeen-year-old Utsugi Minoru's only wish is to be able to live apart from the world and events around him. But will he remain the same after experiencing his new powers--and new dangers?
Oh you guys, poor old Minoru would like to live his life "peacefully without anything happening at all"...he's in for a rude awakening. He really starts to come to terms with his new reality in this volume I think, coming to terms with what he is now, and what he can do and what it means and so on. He has to work out what he wants before joining up with the group and it's an interesting thought process from him.
We get a lot of background on Biter that actually made me feel kind of bad for him...very briefly. Very, very, briefly. He's still super creepy and in need of being dealt with I'm not going to lie. So luckily enough, Minoru has his showdown with Biter...again. I was expecting the whole thing with Biter to be drawn out so I was quite surprised to see the turn events took this volume. The Isolator has a really nice pace to it and it keeps the story moving forward.
This volume is mostly action, and the fights and powers and how they're used are all very well drawn! I'm forever happy when I come across a manga that portrays those scenes well because I've seen a fair few where the art for battle scenes has been...questionable. Shall we say. Minoru is the main focus of the volume and we only see Yumiko and DD briefly towards the end, but we do get to meet Himi, the guy in charge! I liked the focus on Minoru and him sorting everything out, and wrestling the problem around. His price for joining is....interesting to say the least, and I guess we'll see if he sticks with it though.
Volume 2 is the volume that prepares us for things really getting started. We've been introduced to the world and the main characters, as well as what's going on with it all and our MC has finally decided to suit up and join the fight. There's still so much I want to know, and that we have to discover and I'm anticipating next volume getting us more acquainted with the organisation, as well as introducing us to some more characters as we delve deeper in to the plot. These first two volumes are kind of just the opening chapter, if you will!
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The Isolator
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher!
Mysterious objects from space have landed, embedding themselves within human beings around the world and granting them impossible powers according to their deepest wishes. Seventeen-year-old Utsugi Minoru's only wish is to be able to live apart from the world and events around him. But will he remain the same after experiencing his new powers--and new dangers?
I'm going to admit that I had no idea Reki Kawahara was doing another series until this popped up! I've completely missed the light novels! So I was super excited to get to review the manga. Especially as everyone and their dog are going to see Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale and you know...it's not out here until April. April. Not that I have anyone to go with to see it because no-one else likes it *cries*
Side note: who else is intrigued by the whole "SAO will return" thing that's been reported at the end of the movie? Season 3 oorrr....an adaption of Progressive!? Interested in your thoughts guys!
So anyway, with SAO withdrawal, I eagerly dived in to this. In The Isolator, three months ago mysterious 'third eyes' came to Earth and attached/embedded themselves in to select people. Some where red, aka 'Rubies' and some where black, aka 'Jets'. Thus we have our good guys in the Jets and the bad guys in the Rubies. From this first volume we get to know Minoru Utsugi, who has a tragic past and is a Jet. We meet him, get to know his situation, meet his would be friend, get the lie of the land. There's plenty of intrigue scattered throughout and then we meet the organisation of Jets trying to protect innocent people from the Rubies. And then that's it...and I don't know about you guys, but I was left wanting more!
I have to say, as someone who's read the SAO manga....the art in this is so much better, sorry! It was actually pretty gorgeous and I'm looking forward to seeing more of it. I'm one of the few people who watched the anime and then went to the manga and light novels, and I found the art in SAO to be jarring to say the least. So I was happy to see some brilliant art work for this new series!
I was intrigued from the start, what happened to Utsugi? What's his power? And then who was the weird dude with the teeth? I kept wanting to know more, and I thought it was interesting to see the villain being the one to tell us about Utsugi's powers properly! I thought the pacing was well done, the premise is interesting and has a lot of potential for future volumes. The characters we've met so far are intriguing, I suspect there's a lot more to what happened to Utsugi's family and I'm waiting to see what! I'm intrigued to know more about Yumiko too!
By the end of the volume, I was pretty much fully invested, and eager to learn more. For the first volume in a new series, I think it's off to a brilliant start! It'll draw you in, catch your interest, and you'll be lost to the story! I'm very excited to see how this is going to progress and develop over the next few volumes! Dare I say it may be better than SAO?
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