The third volume of “Legendz” takes the action up a notch as the storyline shifts from school battles to even more heavy hitting battles in which the trainer can become seriously hurt and injured. But also new revelations are in store in “Legendz” vol. 3. Highly recommended!
Image courtesy of © 2003 by Makoto Haruno, Rin Arai. 2003 WIZ. All Rights Reserved.
MANGA TITLE: Legendz Vol. 3
STORY AND ART BY: Story by Rin Arai (平井 隣) and Art by Makoto Haruno (春野 ã¾ã“ã¨)
FIRST PUBLISHED IN JAPAN: SHUEISHA
PUBLISHED IN USA BY: VIZ Media
RATED: A for All Ages
RELEASE DATE: November 1, 2005
Ken and his rival Kaoruko recover the mysterious crystal that will prove her scientist father isn’t a crackpot. But Leo, the ringmaster of the Legendz Carnival, has other ideas and will do anything to get his hands on it. Their explosive duel finally releases the true power of the Golden Soul Figure, but will it be enough to stop the forces of Darkness that are closing in on Ken and his friends?
Ken and Kaoruko have managed to survive the Legendz Carnival so far but now, Leo Engokuin, the person responsible for the Legendz Carnival has arrived to take them on.
But quickly both individuals learn that there is more to the Legendz Carnival and that bigger enemy is waiting for them.
Find out what happens in Rin Irai and Makoto Haruno’s third volume of “Legendz”!
What is “Legendz”?
In 2003, artist Makoto Haruno and writer Rin Hirai’s manga “Legendz” was serialized in Shueisha’s “Monthly Shonen Jump”.
The manga series would lead to an RPG game, a toy, card game and an anime series titled “Legendz: Tale of the Dragon Kings”. While the anime series would run 50-episodes, the manga series would only last four graphic novels due to “Monthly Shonen Jump” shutting down.
But for those who love RPG and also “Pokemon” will surely find “Legendz” to be a short and entertaining manga series.
“Legendz” takes place in Japan and an early 21st century discovery of proof that the mermaid, the werewolf and the yeti did exist and the data from these creatures were secretly analyzed and researched and some of the results from that research would lead to a game called “Legendz”.
“Legendz” is game in which a soul figure (data of a legendary creature) is set into a Talispod. Each talispod allows people to monitor the Legendz data and results of battle, a jog switch with three settings which include reborn (battle), soul figure (raise) and eject (off).
We are introduced to students of Ryudo Elementary School Fifth Grade Class A and Ririko Yasuhara uses a mermaid named Tetty to defeat Shunsuke Dekai. While Hideaki Hiyama records the data for the school Legendz Tournament.
While Shunsuke is sulking about his loss, he meets a boy near the river who teaches him the fundamentals of “Legendz” and that a talispod must be set in the right environment but the boy also explains that Legendz inside the Soul Figures are living creatures and they need care and training.
Inspired by the boy, Shunsuke begins training his werewolf but his brother, Hosuke Dekai, a bully who claims to be a genius Legendz wielder, beats his brother up and tells him he must win the tournament.
The following day, an injured Shunsuke asks Ririko for her mermaid but she refuses. Then Hosuke shows up demanding her Legendz and takes it from her. But out of nowhere comes the boy that Shunsuke met earlier and the boy tells Hosuke to return the Legendz to its owner because if the owner’s heart is crying, the Legendz is crying too.
Hosuke laughs and tells the boy that Legendz are nothing but data and then both the boy and Hosuke challenge each other to a Legendz duel.
As Hosuke unleashes his troll, the boy unleashes his windragon, Shiron and in battle, the boy wins.
The boy reveals himself to be Ken Kazaki, a new student who loves Legendz.
And as Ken Kazaki has shown his power and love for his Legendz Shiron, the stakes have now changed in vol. 3 of “Legendz” as both Ken and Karuoku must fight to protect their Legendz against Legendz Carnival organizer, Leo Engokuin.
But as Ken wants to grow with Shiron and train together to become powerful, Karuoko tries to protect a crystal that has important data which Leo is after. And why is he so interested in Ken and why did he put together this Legendz Carnival? What is he up to?
“Legendz” may receive comparison to anime such as “Pokemon” and “Digimon” as people compete in battles using a mythological beast, which have turned out to be real and are now implemented as data in the game of “Legendz”.
But as some people believe they are data, there are some players who believe the Legendz they train to be living souls. And for Ken Kazaki, he has a positive soul of wanting to train and grow with his Legendz named Shiron.
Ken looks at his Legendz as his best friend and intends to stay with it as along as he can and train and love his Legendz, unlike others who see Legendz as data or just a game.
And because of that bond and training, Ken has made a powerful Legendz that he has trained under various weather settings and his dedication to training Shiron has made him one of the better Legendz players which his new friends have come to admire.
But as Ken has been given the “Soul Figure” which has given him and Shiron incredible power, Ken doesn’t want it. Ken tries to tell everyone that he wants to win his way using his and Shiron’s own power in taking on rivals which others feel he’s behaving foolish.
But now he must use it in his battle against the powerful Leo Engokuin, the leader of the Legendz Circus. And when Ken and Shiron tap into the power of the “Soul Figure”, the stakes have changed for Ken as the battles now go beyond high school matchups but a battle for life and death as the “Saga Legendz” is revealed!
Without spoiling anything of volume 3, I can only talk about the first chapters which is the battle between Ken and Karuoko versus Leo but what happens afterward changes the whole landscape of “Legendz” and beyond a regular game between junior high students training their Legendz monsters and battling each other.
It now becomes a major battle as the Legendz users can get injured and possibly killed. So, the stakes are much higher than before!
The artwork by Makoto Haruno is well-done! Character designs and action scenes are well-drawn and Rin Irai’s story is much deeper than most children’s manga, so for the most part, “Legendz†is a series that will appeal to readers of all ages but there is no doubt that the level of action and violence is a bit higher this time around.
Overall, the third volume of “Legendz” is awesome and the storyline has definitely changed from what I was expecting to be a standard children’s manga series to something different, with action and storyline taken up a notch. Also, there are more revelations featured in this third volume!
“Legendz” vol. 3 is highly recommended!