Title: 07 Ghost

Author: Yuki Amemiya

Artist: Yukino Ichihara

Chapters: 1-50 (Ongoing)

Summary

Teito Klein is an orphan who is a promising student at an elite military academy. This academy trains their students to use a type of magical power called Zaiphon in order to be well-crafted soldiers of the Empire. Casted out by other students for his past life as a slave, though his real past is a mystery, his only friend Mikage helps his survive the day. However, all does not goes well for Teito once he learns of the Empire’s secret. He soon realizes there is a power to save or destroy the world and the Empire ruthlessly is after it. He journeys to find this source of power and his past with the help of three mysterious priests.

Sorry for the half-assed summary. Very busy this week.

Why You Should Read It

There is so much going on in the story it would be a spoiler if I said anything. Though the first chapter has some familiar elements like a child of prophecy, amnesia hiding a secret life, or homosexual undertones, there is something about the series that just engages me to read more (though not so much the homosexual part). And this engagement is the plotlines to the story. There is so much happening throughout the story (Empire on Teito’s tail, Teito trying to remember past, the 7 Ghost mythology, etc.) that keeps me on my feet the whole time reading. Some people may not like complex plotlines, but I think it’s a very special element in 07 Ghost which does a good job keeping everything together.

For those who like shounen manga, this is not so far from the actually thing. Though it is a joesi type manga, that does not mean it’s “watered down” to let female readers in on the action. On the contrary, it has just as much action as a regular shounen title. But there is a downside to this approach.

Downside

The main characters are all male. Is that bad? No, but I don’t know why many of the male characters have feminine characteristics. They are a little too caring if you ask me. This is probably not a big deal to others, but it just seems odd to me (especially with religious connections to the story). But then again, I have not read a lot of manga where the characters are the same gender (except for Claymore…somewhat). There are some female characters, but they are either stock characters or foils. For those who don’t know, a foil is a character that is only in the story to make another character look better. Kind of like the black material that surrounds diamond rings in those velvet box. There is one female character introduced in the manga, but she is buried in the later chapters.

The distinguishing features of characters is problematic. Hair and accessories are what separates one character from the other. I’m not good with names though I’m much better with appearances. But when two or more characters have a similar hair style, I can’t really tell who’s who. Bother bother.

Even though this is a male dominated manga title, 07 Ghost has some interesting plot lines going for it. The manga was well worth it. Just give the first chapter a read.