Shinyaku Seisho

This manga changed my life. I was Christian all my life. But I really didn't care much about Christ or my life. When I picked this manga from the bookstore I never realized how much it would change it. It's truly an inspirational tool Recommended for Christians and Non-Christians alike!. While I would have wished for a more graphical and realistic crucifixion. I can't complain. It's an absolute Master Piece for me and it will always have a soft spot on my heart. Because of this. I finally realized I wish to do Christian Anime and Manga!. LONG LIVE LORD JESUS!

The Holy Bible has been in many formats. Cartoons, Movies, Comics, Audio Tapes and Music is just a few of them. But finally, it has reached Japan's most popular format ever: Manga. The first two books are made after the new testament (Jesus and Paulus) and mostly consists of a light-hearted tone, while the three latter ones are made after the old testament. Rape, murder and torture are just some of the keywords describing these.

Story: 7/10
The story itself are very interesting and proves that the bible belongs in manga format. There are shocking scenes, heart-breaking scenes and even grotesque happenings. The manga version of the bible is probably the most interesting way get your fill. Every book features a couple of short-stories, while most of the pages consists of a journey made by the character on the cover of the book.

Art: 6/10
The first two books looks very amateurish. The drawings are simple and you will often encounter scenes where people's eyes are set too far apart, while some has their mouth set too high on their faces. The coloring is horrible, due to the fact that everything looks like it was colored in paint. However, the three latter books improves this and gives each manga a more watercolor-like color, which is easier on the eyes. The art is highly improved and handsome/cute characters actually look handsome/cute.

Character: 5/10
Every character has his/her unique behavior pattern, but with a common goal: Spread God's messages. It is, however, hard to distinguish the characters. Most of the characters has the exactly same face, but with a different hair color. Heck, some characters even have the same hair-style, but with a different color. It is also very hard to remember which one is which, as every manga introduces about 20+ new characters, each with a name completely different from another. If there weren't a character's list at the end of the book, it would be nearly impossible to identify them.

Enjoyment: 6/10
The bible is huge and it is hard to adopt everything into a 5-volume manga series, about 300 pages each. Most of the story is told through text-boxes instead of the characters, as a way around this. This may seem lazy, but it is most likely the only way to get every major event told. Because of this, the books are quite text-heavy and there is limited present character involvement. The three latter books improves this and feature more speech bubbles, which also makes each book more interesting to read.

Overall: 6/10
Manga surely makes the bible a lot more interesting to read, and may succeed in getting the teen audience involved and manga-enthusiasts involved in Christianity. The third book (Melech) are probably the most interesting one, as this one features the most shocking events in the bible: The wrath of God, punished by death. However, the many faults makes it far from a perfect manga adaption. It is a good read, but nothing more than that.

There is no doubt that the best version of the bible is the light novel however, the manga adaptation is still pretty good. The art looks like someone saw anime for the first time and then tried to recreate it. Even though it isn't the best I still think that it has a certain charm to it. The way the stories are portrayed could be improved, but it's still pretty decent. The character designs are pretty questionable at worst and plain at best, but considering that they were just trying to mangafy characters in from the bible, that's to be expected. The best bible Anime adaptation out there only covers the Crucifixion arc, but I hope that this manga will inspire anime studios to adapt the rest of the series.

Well, its my first time writing a review. I don't usually write any reviews, but since no one has wrote any here, then i guess i'll try. ^_^

Just one thing, this manga is actually the story of the birth of Christ and his life, what he goes through and finally the crucifiction.

Of course, for Christians, and non-christians, i highly recommend this manga. I agree that if you read from the Bible, its not so entertaining. Furthermore, having the manga, with illustrations and all, will certainly be much more fun to read. Just don't get me wrong, reading from the Bible provides clearer details.

Overall, this manga isn't too bad. The art is not too bad either. And the characters may be a bit too many and leave you confused, but at the end of the manga, there is a character introduction that will make all the characters clearer to the reader.

I guess that's all for here. I hope this review won't sound too bad, after all, i'm not an expert in writing these things. Just my opinion on the manga.

Finally, to all of you, give this manga a try. I'm sure it'll be okay. ^_^

Summary: Manga Muunity is from NEXTmanga ministry who resides in Japan and each of the manga is translated into English for the American audience. It covers Genesis 1-Exodus 15 and is the third book in the 5 manga bible series but is chronically the first book. In this manga, the characters tell the story of the Bible through their words rather than having narration giving it a manga feel.

Plot: It takes us from the from creation to the fall of man and ends up with Moes departing from Egypt. Basically, multi-stories told into one.

Art: The art style is done by Ayo Azumi for the first 3 books, each of the characters is drawn in the usual manga style which it gives it unique flavor from other Christian comics that it slightly more memorable and a bit different. All the background art draws you in the story but unlike most manga, this one is fully colored.

Pacing: This where I feel the manga does not do as good of job which I mean the stories of creation go way to quick and by the time you get to know one of the characters he or she dies and they introduce another one. This manga covers a lot of material but maybe just too much at once. This where I think the pacing should have been a tad slower to give a more memorable experience to each character and give better explanations in other areas.

Sound effects: They were well paced and served the story very well

fanservice: There no nudity and everything is censored every well with Adam and Eve, talks about getting wives and has once science with Jacob and Leah in bed but nothing showed but is implied.

Negatives: I don't really have any other than the pacing going to quick.

Side note: Unlike traditional manga where you read right to left, in the this-this manga you can read left to right so it easier on the American audiences, plus down at the bottom you have scriptures you follow through in your translation of the bible.

Conclusion: This is a great manga of the bible that tells the story of Genisis and teaches us about creation, where we came from and Isreal history. I thoroughly enjoy this manga myself, though the pacing might be a little fast for young children, its an excellent part 1 in the series if you have someone who likes manga or a bible in comic form.