PSYREN Vol. 10 by Toshiaki Iwashiro (a J!-ENT Manga Review)

Toshiaki Iwashiro’s “PSYREN” is exciting and action-packed!  Find out the truth behind the the game and get some long awaited answers in “PSYREN” volume 10!  Recommended!

Image courtesy of © 2007 by Toshiaki Iwashiro. All Rights Reserved.

MANGA TITLE: PSYREN Vol. 10

STORY AND ART BY: Toshiaki Iwashiro (岩代 俊明)

FIRST PUBLISHED IN JAPAN: Shueisha, Inc.

PUBLISHED IN USA BY: VIZ Media, LLC

RATED: T for Older Teen

Available on May 7, 2013

Welcome to Psyren! Phone in and then…FIGHT TO GET OUT!

Ageha Yoshina just got transported to a warped alternate dimension where you’ve got to fight your way back to our world–or die trying.

When No. 7 was a child, she and her twin brother Miroku Amagi were subjected to inhuman experiments at the hand of the Grigori Project, a government project to study children with Psionic powers. Ageha and his friends must travel back to their own time to stop Miroku before he brings about the end of society as they know it…but the attentions of the media and the police aren’t making things any easier!

Ageha and Sakurako learn the truth behind the game that has brought them to the future.   As the two talk to the mysterious woman known as “Research Subject 7″ who was kept in the top secret federal research project, The Grigori, the only way the two are going to stop this game is by going to their present time and stopping the Grigori project.

But before they go home to their present time, they must find their other friends to find out their status.  Meanwhile, Sakurako’s memory may have appeared to be wiped, but what is most frightening for her is that inside, a more colder, darker version of herself is trying to emerge.

Find out what will happen in the thrilling Toshiaki Iwashiro action manga series, “PSYREN”!

What is “PSYREN”?

The manga series which is featured in Japan on Weekly Shonen Jump Magazine (as well as the American edition) and is reminiscent of manga such as “Yu Yu Hakusho”, “Gantz” and “Bleach” is full of action as a group of high school students are whisked into a futuristic, apocalyptic version of Japan. The only way they can get back home is by reaching a gate, but between that gate and their starting point are monsters and things waiting to kill them.

“Psyren” focuses on Ageha Yoshina, a high-school student who is known to take people’s money (10,000 yen) to provide his service and he will take care of their problem. Known for getting into fights and being a troublemaker, helping people is his good side and even at times not charging the pretty students at school for his services.

But not so supportive of his fighting is his older sister Fubuki, his guardian who is a pretty strong fighter herself and will not put up with him being late or getting in trouble.

One day, while Ageha is coming home, he hears a payphone ringing. He goes to answer it but hears nothing, but sees a phone card inside with the words “Psyren” but thinks nothing of it.

The following day, he sees his old former childhood friend Sakurako Amamiya coming into class and thinks about the old days when she was popular, friendly, social and caring. But now she’s anti-social, often coming to class with bruises and cuts and he can only wonder what is going on in her life.

Later in the day, he sees a few female students stealing her stuff and hiding it. As he goes to see what they have hidden, he realizes that the girls stole her wallet which has her “Psyren” card. As he goes to return it to her, she notices that she was frantic. As Ageha reminds her that for 10,000 yen ($100 bucks) he can help her, she cries out “Save Me” which startles him.

The following day, Sakurako had stopped showing up to school.

His friends tell him that Sakurako has been caught up with the whole “Psyren” legend and that there is a secret society and people have been disappearing. He also learns that for anyone with an unused Psyren card, people are willing to pay 5 million yen for one.

Worried about Sakurako, Ageha chooses to use the card and suddenly he is asked all these questions. The next day at school, men posing as police men are going after him, men who want his Psyren card. As he fights these men, the two are overpowering him and he runs away. While running away, his cell phone rings and while he is being chased, he disappears and ends up in an unknown location.

While he walks around the devastated area, he sees a giant caterpillar going after a man who screams for help. As Ageha goes to help, Sakurako with her sword comes out of nowhere and defeats it.

But Sakurako is very sick and before she faints in Ageha’s arms, she tells him that they need to clear the stage before they can get back home. And she asks him to please clear the stage with her.

As Ageha carries Sakurako, he seeks shelter in a building where people are gathered. He quickly realizes that the people gathering are a bunch of punks who have been wanting a Psyren card for the purpose of making money.

And within this group, each seem as if they will kill each other for the sake of making money.

When the phone rings, the group are told that they need to find a gate and everyone except Ageha and Sakurako go out and search for this gate. But when Sakurako awakens and finds out that everyone has headed towards a dangerous area, she fears that all of them will be slaughtered and feels that they need to be warned.

So, now Ageha and a sick Sakurako must hurry and get to the group before they are slaughtered. Will they make it in time?

In volume 3 of “Psyren”, Ageha, Hiryu and Sakurako are joined by two more members, Oboro Michizuki and Kabuto Kirisaki. As Oboro is out temporarily due to him developing his Psy power, an unknown being and a large worm is standing in their way of getting to the gate.

The unknown being appears to be the classmate and best friend of Hiryu Asaga who was whisked into the world of Psyren, but it is not known if he is the same person, as the guy that Hiryu knew was weak-minded and not a good fighter. The person that is awaiting them has a weapon that charges on Psy power and he is quite deadly.

But as part of the game, Ageha and friends must find a way to get to the gate and study their enemy. But if this unknown person is Hiryu’s best friend Tatsuo…the person he has been looking for all this time, will they need to kill him?

In volume 3, Ageha managed to activate the power known as Melzez Door, a pitch black sphere of blast energy that consumes energy completely and can kill everything in its path. Knowing that Ageha can probably be killed (along with his friends), Sakurako goes to Matsuri Yagumo for help.

In volume 4, as Ageha and friends are trained by these powerful children with psionic powers, during their next entry to Psyren, Kabuto Kirisaki looks for his uncle’s underground facility (which his uncle stayed in, as he feared of disaster hitting Japan). Because he was underground, Kabuto along with the others hope their may be details of what happened to Tokyo in the future and when the catastrophic disaster took place. And what they find is a video of these kids fighting against an evil group known as W.I.S.E.

Which leads us to volume 5 of “PSYREN”. In the video, one person of W.I.S.E. manages to kill the children with his sephiroth move. But while the group are watching the video, Dolkey of W.I.S.E. shows up and it leads to the first battle between Ageha and friends vs. W.I.S.E. With their new psionic powers and training, will they be powerful enough to take on a member of W.I.S.E.?

In volume 6, W.I.S.E. are shocked that Ageha defeated Dolkey and now want him to join their group. Meanwhile, having transported back to the present time, as they try to find a way to prevent the children from being killed and Tokyo from being destroyed, Kagetora Hyodo is on a mission to hunt down corrupt psionists and asks Ageha to join them. Ageha turns him down because of his goal to save the future (and he is unable to reveal the future as he or any of his friends will be killed by Nemesis Q if they reveal to anyone outside of their group of the future).

But when Kagetora Hyodo goes to hunt down the corrupt psionists, he is unaware that the group may have ties to the group that will one day become known as W.I.S.E.

Also, as Ageha tries to find what he is allowed to do to save the future without being killed, he is revealed by Nemesis Q that it is a psionic program being controlled by some other entity. But who?

In volume 7, as the group manages to rescue Kagetora Hyodo, they also run into Miroku Amagi, the leader of W.I.S.E. who intends to destroy the world in order to create a new slate.

While, Ageha and the children managed to escape and Kyle managing to be healed, because the children had contact with W.I.S.E. in the present, has now altered the future. And on the video that originally showing the children being killed by Miroku Amagi’s “Tree of Sephiroth”, the video has now changed from the children being killed by Junas and Dolkey. But on the video, they mention grandma Elmore Tenjuin dying on a plane accident in July and interesting enough, during the present time, it’s July and Elmore is about to go on a flight.

Fearing that Elmore is going to die that very day, Ageha and friends do all they can to rescue Elmore Tenjuin but because it goes against their rules of warning someone from the future, Nemesis Q appears and tries to prevent them from rescuing her.

Will Ageha and friends manage to send a message to Elmore in time and prevent her death? Or will Nemesis Q get to them first?

In volume 8, Ageha and friends are not sure if they were able to get a message to grandma Elmore in time but now being whisked to the future to fight a new Dolkey and Shiner, the crew are separate and because their power is well-known,

Ageha and Kabuto are left to fight against Dolkey, unaware if their friends are dead or alive. But with Kabuto nearly dead and Ageha’s leg being blown off, out of nowhere comes the Elmore Wood gang, the psionic children now grown up.

That can only mean that Ageha and friends were able to stop grandma Elmore from being killed and that the children would survive. But will Elmore’s orphans, now young adults, be powerful enough to take on Dolkey and Shiner?

In volume 9, after Ageha and Sakurako come into contact with now an older group of the Psionic Kids who are now teenagers, Ageha is surprised to see Kyle, Mari, Fredrika and Shao now older.

But the group is unaware that a man known as Master Amakusa has built an empire in the future with a private militia to maintain control of the food distribution system and its own caste system and are working on their own plans. Meanwhile, Ageha and Sakurako must leave to Dreameater Island to save Nemesis Q and its creator, but they end up confronting Master Amakusa’s own psionist.

But Amakusa’s plan is to kill Nemesis Q and its creator!

In volume 10, after rescuing the woman known as Research Subject 7, she reveals that she and her brother were part of the top secret federal research project, Grigori.  As the government experimented on them, she was confined in a research announcement in Tokyo and moved to Dreameaster Island where she was left alone.

Before her life was to end, she created the Nemesis Q program. But also wondering why her brother, Miroku Amagi chose a different path to destroy the world.

Meanwhile, both Ageha and Sakurako try to look for their friends.  We find out that Hiryu Asaga is working on another mission with a few new friends that he had met, while Oboro Mochizuki has changed somehow. While Kabuto Kirasaki is recuperating from his injuries and has come into contact with his subconscious known as Yoyo.

But knowing they must find this Grigori lab, Ageha and Sakurako head back home, but Sakurako’s battle wtih Amakusa reveals her memories are slowly disappearing and inside, a colder, darker version of herself wants to be released.

“Psyren” features the following characters:

Ageha Yoshina: The tough troublemaker in school who will help people with their problems for 10,000 yen. Although, he tends to not take money from pretty girls at his school. He lives with his sister Fubuki who is very tough on him. One day, while walking home, Ageha hears a payphone ringing and discovers a Psyren telephone card. Very good at fighting. He has shown amazing Psi powers, especially the devastating Melzez Door…but at this time, unable to control it.

Sakurako Amamiya: She was once a popular, smiling, sociable student. Now she has become anti-social, no longer smiling and comes to school looking as if she was beaten up. One day, a group of girls steal her purse and inside is a psyren card. Fortunately, Ageha finds it but when he returns it to her, he tells her that if she needs him, he’ll be there…for 10,000 yen. Her request to Ageha was to save her. Sakuro is the most knowledgeable when it comes to Psyren and is a powerful fighter.

Hiryu Asaga – One of the tough guys that Ageha meets when he enters the Psyren world. Hiryu has been searching for his friend and agrees to help Ageha, who saved his life in the Psyren world.

Oboro Mochizuki – One of the newer students whisked into Psyren and is developing his Psy powers. In reality, Oboro is a popular idol in Japan. Looked at as unusual by his teammates (wanting to hug them), he has the ability to cure them with they are injured.

Kabuto Kirisaki – One of the newer members in Psyren to join Ageha and friends, selfish unless it comes to helping a beautiful girl, Kabuto.

Matsuri Yagumo – A famous concert pianist and a veteran of Psyren. She was able to escape the final gate from Psyren and now tries to help those who are battling in Psyren. She is the person who helped train Sakurako and is now training the other members in controlling their powers. She wishes she can go back to Psyren.

Kagetora Hyodo – A friend of Matsuri and he adores her. He has the appearance of a yakuza member and is quite powerful. He takes part in the physical combat training of Ageha and friends. He is unaware of Psyren and was born with his psi powers.

Ian – A superior psi cure user but is not aware of Psyren. He is unfriendly and only cares about Matsuri.

Fubiki Yoshina – Ageha’s older sister and guardian. She is very strict with Ageha and doesn’t like him being late or getting into trouble. She is also a fighter and adores the idol Oboro.

Nemesis Q - A mysterious being that is sent from the future to find people worthy of using PSI and teaching them about the future and stop Psyren from occurring. Revealed to also be a psionic program to kill any helpers who threaten to reveal the future.

Elmore Tenjuin – A wealthy old woman and a clairvoyant Psychicer who’s husband Koper was disintegrated when he told her about Psyren. She now raises orphaned children with Psi abilities.

Shao – A Chinese boy who can track people and also sense their power level, as well as their true nature. He is being taken care of by Elmore Tenjuin.

Frederica – A spoiled young girl with the power of pyrokinesis. Ageha was inspired by her ability to control her devastating power. She is being taken care of by Elmore Tenjuin.

Mari – A shy girl who uses telekinesis. Often picked on by Frederica and is taken care of by Elmore Tenjuin.

Kyle – A mischievous but powerful boy who later looks up to Ageha (as they are both brash). He is being taken care of by Elmore Tenjuin.

Van – A quiet and kind boy who can heal. He is being taken care of by Elmore Tenjuin.

Dolkey – The Fifth Star Commander of W.I.S.E. who is impulsive and the first to attack Ageha and friends.

Shiner – The Third Star Commander of W.I.S.E.

Junas – Second Star Commander of W.I.S.E.

With the battle of W.I.S.E. and Ageha’s friends having been displaced around the apocalyptic Earth of the future, the two manage to rescue a woman who has answers to why they are in the future and why they have been playing this game.

A woman without a name, a telepath who has shed her emotions after being experimented on by the government, along with her twin brother, two individuals who have seeked different paths.  One to destroy the world, while one tried to create a game for sheer enjoyment.

But what if there was no lab to experiment on these two individuals, would the world be rescued?  That’s what Ageha and Sakurako are betting their life on and both know they must return to their own present time to stop it.  But as the mysterious woman allows them, through Nemesis Q to check on their compatriots, they find out they are busy on their own, some for the good, some maybe for the bad.

To make matters worse, Ageha realizes that Sakurako’s mind may have been damaged in their last battle and now her memories are fading fast.  But also someone colder/darker is trying to emerge within her.

Overall, I’m really enjoying the series and Toshiaki Iwashiro’s ability to focus on the character’s development overtime. And for volume 10 alone, what I enjoy about this series is the balance of story and action, where action-driven manga series tend to be focused on action and less story. So, it’s great to have a manga series that is driven with its storyline first and then the action. Illustrations are well-done, but it’s one of the few manga series out now where you find that good balance of story and action and once you start reading it, it’s a series that will easily captivate you and leave you craving for more!

Also, “PSYREN” is a series that is not too long (with only a total of 16 volumes) plus a two-volume “PSYREN -Another Call 2-”, so unlike action manga such as “BLEACH” or “NARUTO”, there is no worry of trying to catch up with 40-60 volumes. By the first volume, you are instantly hooked and the storylines just get better and better with each volume afterward!

Find out the truth behind the the game and get some long awaited answers in “PSYREN” volume 10!  Recommended!

PSYREN Vol. 9 by Toshiaki Iwashiro (a J!-ENT Manga Review)

Toshiaki Iwashiro’s “PSYREN” is exciting and action-packed!  As Ageha and the Psionists try to save Nemesis Q, they find out that another mysterious group of human survivors are out there with a leader that Ageha may be familiar with.  The action continues in volume 9 of Toshiaki Iwashiro’s “PSYREN”!

Image courtesy of © 2007 by Toshiaki Iwashiro. All Rights Reserved.

MANGA TITLE: PSYREN Vol. 9

STORY AND ART BY: Toshiaki Iwashiro (岩代 俊明)

FIRST PUBLISHED IN JAPAN: Shueisha, Inc.

PUBLISHED IN USA BY: VIZ Media, LLC

RATED: T for Older Teen

Available on March 5, 2013

Ageha must assemble a team of fellow Psionists to travel to the mysterious Dreameater Island to help the master of the enigmatic Nemesis Q. They’ll have to battle monsters and enemies on the treacherous journey. And their progress is being matched by Usui, a Psionist intent on destroying Nemesis Q!

With Ageha and friends changing the future and ensuring that the Psionic kids survived the future, they must act quickly and assemble a team to go to Dreameater Island in order to help Nemesis Q, but what the group doesn’t know is that there is another group out there aside from W.I.S.E. and that Ageha may know the group’s leader.

Find out who this mysterious group is in volume nine of Toshiaki Iwashiro’s action manga series, “PSYREN”!

What is “PSYREN”?

The manga series which is featured in Japan on Weekly Shonen Jump Magazine (as well as the American edition) and is reminiscent of manga such as “Yu Yu Hakusho”, “Gantz” and “Bleach” is full of action as a group of high school students are whisked into a futuristic, apocalyptic version of Japan. The only way they can get back home is by reaching a gate, but between that gate and their starting point are monsters and things waiting to kill them.

“Psyren” focuses on Ageha Yoshina, a high-school student who is known to take people’s money (10,000 yen) to provide his service and he will take care of their problem. Known for getting into fights and being a troublemaker, helping people is his good side and even at times not charging the pretty students at school for his services.

But not so supportive of his fighting is his older sister Fubuki, his guardian who is a pretty strong fighter herself and will not put up with him being late or getting in trouble.

One day, while Ageha is coming home, he hears a payphone ringing. He goes to answer it but hears nothing, but sees a phone card inside with the words “Psyren” but thinks nothing of it.

The following day, he sees his old former childhood friend Sakurako Amamiya coming into class and thinks about the old days when she was popular, friendly, social and caring. But now she’s anti-social, often coming to class with bruises and cuts and he can only wonder what is going on in her life.

Later in the day, he sees a few female students stealing her stuff and hiding it. As he goes to see what they have hidden, he realizes that the girls stole her wallet which has her “Psyren” card. As he goes to return it to her, she notices that she was frantic. As Ageha reminds her that for 10,000 yen ($100 bucks) he can help her, she cries out “Save Me” which startles him.

The following day, Sakurako had stopped showing up to school.

His friends tell him that Sakurako has been caught up with the whole “Psyren” legend and that there is a secret society and people have been disappearing. He also learns that for anyone with an unused Psyren card, people are willing to pay 5 million yen for one.

Worried about Sakurako, Ageha chooses to use the card and suddenly he is asked all these questions. The next day at school, men posing as police men are going after him, men who want his Psyren card. As he fights these men, the two are overpowering him and he runs away. While running away, his cell phone rings and while he is being chased, he disappears and ends up in an unknown location.

While he walks around the devastated area, he sees a giant caterpillar going after a man who screams for help. As Ageha goes to help, Sakurako with her sword comes out of nowhere and defeats it.

But Sakurako is very sick and before she faints in Ageha’s arms, she tells him that they need to clear the stage before they can get back home. And she asks him to please clear the stage with her.

As Ageha carries Sakurako, he seeks shelter in a building where people are gathered. He quickly realizes that the people gathering are a bunch of punks who have been wanting a Psyren card for the purpose of making money.

And within this group, each seem as if they will kill each other for the sake of making money.

When the phone rings, the group are told that they need to find a gate and everyone except Ageha and Sakurako go out and search for this gate. But when Sakurako awakens and finds out that everyone has headed towards a dangerous area, she fears that all of them will be slaughtered and feels that they need to be warned.

So, now Ageha and a sick Sakurako must hurry and get to the group before they are slaughtered. Will they make it in time?

In volume 3 of “Psyren”, Ageha, Hiryu and Sakurako are joined by two more members, Oboro Michizuki and Kabuto Kirisaki. As Oboro is out temporarily due to him developing his Psy power, an unknown being and a large worm is standing in their way of getting to the gate.

The unknown being appears to be the classmate and best friend of Hiryu Asaga who was whisked into the world of Psyren, but it is not known if he is the same person, as the guy that Hiryu knew was weak-minded and not a good fighter. The person that is awaiting them has a weapon that charges on Psy power and he is quite deadly.

But as part of the game, Ageha and friends must find a way to get to the gate and study their enemy. But if this unknown person is Hiryu’s best friend Tatsuo…the person he has been looking for all this time, will they need to kill him?

In volume 3, Ageha managed to activate the power known as Melzez Door, a pitch black sphere of blast energy that consumes energy completely and can kill everything in its path. Knowing that Ageha can probably be killed (along with his friends), Sakurako goes to Matsuri Yagumo for help.

In volume 4, as Ageha and friends are trained by these powerful children with psionic powers, during their next entry to Psyren, Kabuto Kirisaki looks for his uncle’s underground facility (which his uncle stayed in, as he feared of disaster hitting Japan). Because he was underground, Kabuto along with the others hope their may be details of what happened to Tokyo in the future and when the catastrophic disaster took place. And what they find is a video of these kids fighting against an evil group known as W.I.S.E.

Which leads us to volume 5 of “PSYREN”. In the video, one person of W.I.S.E. manages to kill the children with his sephiroth move. But while the group are watching the video, Dolkey of W.I.S.E. shows up and it leads to the first battle between Ageha and friends vs. W.I.S.E. With their new psionic powers and training, will they be powerful enough to take on a member of W.I.S.E.?

In volume 6, W.I.S.E. are shocked that Ageha defeated Dolkey and now want him to join their group. Meanwhile, having transported back to the present time, as they try to find a way to prevent the children from being killed and Tokyo from being destroyed, Kagetora Hyodo is on a mission to hunt down corrupt psionists and asks Ageha to join them. Ageha turns him down because of his goal to save the future (and he is unable to reveal the future as he or any of his friends will be killed by Nemesis Q if they reveal to anyone outside of their group of the future).

But when Kagetora Hyodo goes to hunt down the corrupt psionists, he is unaware that the group may have ties to the group that will one day become known as W.I.S.E.

Also, as Ageha tries to find what he is allowed to do to save the future without being killed, he is revealed by Nemesis Q that it is a psionic program being controlled by some other entity. But who?

In volume 7, as the group manages to rescue Kagetora Hyodo, they also run into Miroku Amagi, the leader of W.I.S.E. who intends to destroy the world in order to create a new slate.

While, Ageha and the children managed to escape and Kyle managing to be healed, because the children had contact with W.I.S.E. in the present, has now altered the future. And on the video that originally showing the children being killed by Miroku Amagi’s “Tree of Sephiroth”, the video has now changed from the children being killed by Junas and Dolkey. But on the video, they mention grandma Elmore Tenjuin dying on a plane accident in July and interesting enough, during the present time, it’s July and Elmore is about to go on a flight.

Fearing that Elmore is going to die that very day, Ageha and friends do all they can to rescue Elmore Tenjuin but because it goes against their rules of warning someone from the future, Nemesis Q appears and tries to prevent them from rescuing her.

Will Ageha and friends manage to send a message to Elmore in time and prevent her death? Or will Nemesis Q get to them first?

In volume 8, Ageha and friends are not sure if they were able to get a message to grandma Elmore in time but now being whisked to the future to fight a new Dolkey and Shiner, the crew are separate and because their power is well-known,

Ageha and Kabuto are left to fight against Dolkey, unaware if their friends are dead or alive. But with Kabuto nearly dead and Ageha’s leg being blown off, out of nowhere comes the Elmore Wood gang, the psionic children now grown up.

That can only mean that Ageha and friends were able to stop grandma Elmore from being killed and that the children would survive. But will Elmore’s orphans, now young adults, be powerful enough to take on Dolkey and Shiner?

In volume 9, after Ageha and Sakurako come into contact with now an older group of the Psionic Kids who are now teenagers, Ageha is surprised to see Kyle, Mari, Fredrika and Shao now older.

But the group is unaware that a man known as Master Amakusa has built an empire in the future with a private militia to maintain control of the food distribution system and its own caste system and are working on their own plans.  Meanwhile, Ageha and Sakurako must leave to Dreameater Island to save Nemesis Q and its creator, but they end up confronting Master Amakusa’s own psionist.

But Amakusa’s plan is to kill Nemesis Q and its creator!

“Psyren” features the following characters:

Ageha Yoshina: The tough troublemaker in school who will help people with their problems for 10,000 yen. Although, he tends to not take money from pretty girls at his school. He lives with his sister Fubuki who is very tough on him. One day, while walking home, Ageha hears a payphone ringing and discovers a Psyren telephone card. Very good at fighting. He has shown amazing Psi powers, especially the devastating Melzez Door…but at this time, unable to control it.

Sakurako Amamiya: She was once a popular, smiling, sociable student. Now she has become anti-social, no longer smiling and comes to school looking as if she was beaten up. One day, a group of girls steal her purse and inside is a psyren card. Fortunately, Ageha finds it but when he returns it to her, he tells her that if she needs him, he’ll be there…for 10,000 yen. Her request to Ageha was to save her. Sakuro is the most knowledgeable when it comes to Psyren and is a powerful fighter.

Hiryu Asaga – One of the tough guys that Ageha meets when he enters the Psyren world. Hiryu has been searching for his friend and agrees to help Ageha, who saved his life in the Psyren world.

Oboro Mochizuki – One of the newer students whisked into Psyren and is developing his Psy powers. In reality, Oboro is a popular idol in Japan. Looked at as unusual by his teammates (wanting to hug them), he has the ability to cure them with they are injured.

Kabuto Kirisaki – One of the newer members in Psyren to join Ageha and friends, selfish unless it comes to helping a beautiful girl, Kabuto.

Matsuri Yagumo – A famous concert pianist and a veteran of Psyren. She was able to escape the final gate from Psyren and now tries to help those who are battling in Psyren. She is the person who helped train Sakurako and is now training the other members in controlling their powers. She wishes she can go back to Psyren.

Kagetora Hyodo – A friend of Matsuri and he adores her. He has the appearance of a yakuza member and is quite powerful. He takes part in the physical combat training of Ageha and friends. He is unaware of Psyren and was born with his psi powers.

Ian – A superior psi cure user but is not aware of Psyren. He is unfriendly and only cares about Matsuri.

Fubiki Yoshina – Ageha’s older sister and guardian. She is very strict with Ageha and doesn’t like him being late or getting into trouble. She is also a fighter and adores the idol Oboro.

Nemesis Q - A mysterious being that is sent from the future to find people worthy of using PSI and teaching them about the future and stop Psyren from occurring. Revealed to also be a psionic program to kill any helpers who threaten to reveal the future.

Elmore Tenjuin – A wealthy old woman and a clairvoyant Psychicer who’s husband Koper was disintegrated when he told her about Psyren. She now raises orphaned children with Psi abilities.

Shao – A Chinese boy who can track people and also sense their power level, as well as their true nature. He is being taken care of by Elmore Tenjuin.

Frederica – A spoiled young girl with the power of pyrokinesis. Ageha was inspired by her ability to control her devastating power. She is being taken care of by Elmore Tenjuin.

Mari – A shy girl who uses telekinesis. Often picked on by Frederica and is taken care of by Elmore Tenjuin.

Kyle – A mischievous but powerful boy who later looks up to Ageha (as they are both brash). He is being taken care of by Elmore Tenjuin.

Van – A quiet and kind boy who can heal. He is being taken care of by Elmore Tenjuin.

Dolkey – The Fifth Star Commander of W.I.S.E. who is impulsive and the first to attack Ageha and friends.

Shiner – The Third Star Commander of W.I.S.E.

Junas – Second Star Commander of W.I.S.E.

With the latest ninth volume of “PSYREN”, what a shocker to find out that another surviving group from the future is alive and well, but is ran by former police officer Amakusa who reveals to Ageha and friends of what they were able to accomplish in those ten years and how they survived.

While we have seen Ageha and the Psionists briefly take on W.I.S.E., this time around, we are introduced to Master Amakusa and his powerful psionists Okugo and Taiga, who are sent to kill Ageha and friends.  But what Amakusa and his psionists don’t know is how powerful Ageha and friends truly are, but most importantly, Ageha has developed a new special attack!

An action-packed volume of “PSYREN”, with the introduction to a new group of humans living in the post-apocalyptic future, but as they follow a warped individual such as Amakusa, who thinks of himself a god, how will Ageha and friends measure up in battle against him?

Watch the battle unfold in volume nine of “PSYREN”!

Overall, I’m really enjoying the series and Toshiaki Iwashiro’s ability to focus on the character’s development and the actual strategy of the game and each battle. And for volume 9 alone, what I enjoy about this series is the balance of story and action, where action-driven manga series tend to be focused on action and less story. So, it’s great to have a manga series that is driven with its storyline first and then the action. Illustrations are well-done, but it’s one of the few manga series out now where you find that good balance of story and action and once you start reading it, it’s a series that will easily captivate you and leave you craving for more!

Also, “PSYREN” is a series that is not too long (with only a total of 16 volumes) plus a two-volume “PSYREN -Another Call 2-”, so unlike action manga such as “BLEACH” or “NARUTO”, there is no worry of trying to catch up with 40-60 volumes. By the first volume, you are instantly hooked and the storylines just get better and better with each volume afterward!

If you are looking for a well-written, action-packed manga series, “PSYREN” is highly recommended.

PSYREN Vol. 8 by Toshiaki Iwashiro (a J!-ENT Manga Review)

Toshiaki Iwashiro’s “PSYREN” has quickly become one of my favorite manga’s of 2012. Action-packed from beginning to end, Ageha and friends must take on the newly enhanced Dolkey and Shiner of W.I.S.E., but just when things are looking bad for the group, out of nowhere comes help.  Find out who comes to aid Ageha and friends in their fight against W.I.S.E. in volume eight of “PSYREN”. Highly recommended!

Image courtesy of © 2007 by Toshiaki Iwashiro. All Rights Reserved.

MANGA TITLE: PSYREN Vol. 8

STORY AND ART BY: Toshiaki Iwashiro (岩代 俊明)

FIRST PUBLISHED IN JAPAN: Shueisha, Inc.

PUBLISHED IN USA BY: VIZ Media, LLC

RATED: T for Older Teen

Available on January 1, 2013

A trip to the future brings Ageha face-to-face with a group of friends he thought long dead, and the story they have to tell Ageha about the events of the past decade are truly shocking. The Global Rebirthday has changed everything. Not everyone Ageha cares for has survived, and the W.I.S.E organization is more powerful than ever.

With the future altered by the Psionic kids coming into contact with W.I.S.E, a new future as shown on a video as seen by Ageha and friends show the children still being killed, but a clue left by W.I.S.E. that Grandma Elmore, the guarding of the children will be dying on an airplane flight that is to take place in a day.

But knowing that they are not able to tell anyone about the alternate future of Tokyo, Ageha and friends risk their lives in trying to find a way to keep Grandma Elmore from flying on the plane.  But while Ageha manages to take Elmore’s bag, Nemesis Q who was programmed to prevent Ageha and friends from revealing the future, transports them back to the future.

And now, the W.I.S.E. Star Commanders featuring a newly enhanced Dolkey and Shiner taking on Ageha and friends.  But already knowing about Ageha and their friends powers, do they have any chance in fighting against them?

Meanwhile, an unexpected twists takes place that will set the storyline for “PSYREN” in volume eight of Toshiaki Iwashiro’s action manga series!

What is “PSYREN”?

The manga series which is featured in Japan on Weekly Shonen Jump Magazine (as well as the American edition) and is reminiscent of manga such as “Yu Yu Hakusho”, “Gantz” and “Bleach” is full of action as a group of high school students are whisked into a futuristic, apocalyptic version of Japan. The only way they can get back home is by reaching a gate, but between that gate and their starting point are monsters and things waiting to kill them.

“Psyren” focuses on Ageha Yoshina, a high-school student who is known to take people’s money (10,000 yen) to provide his service and he will take care of their problem. Known for getting into fights and being a troublemaker, helping people is his good side and even at times not charging the pretty students at school for his services.

But not so supportive of his fighting is his older sister Fubuki, his guardian who is a pretty strong fighter herself and will not put up with him being late or getting in trouble.

One day, while Ageha is coming home, he hears a payphone ringing. He goes to answer it but hears nothing, but sees a phone card inside with the words “Psyren” but thinks nothing of it.

The following day, he sees his old former childhood friend Sakurako Amamiya coming into class and thinks about the old days when she was popular, friendly, social and caring. But now she’s anti-social, often coming to class with bruises and cuts and he can only wonder what is going on in her life.

Later in the day, he sees a few female students stealing her stuff and hiding it. As he goes to see what they have hidden, he realizes that the girls stole her wallet which has her “Psyren” card. As he goes to return it to her, she notices that she was frantic. As Ageha reminds her that for 10,000 yen ($100 bucks) he can help her, she cries out “Save Me” which startles him.

The following day, Sakurako had stopped showing up to school.

His friends tell him that Sakurako has been caught up with the whole “Psyren” legend and that there is a secret society and people have been disappearing. He also learns that for anyone with an unused Psyren card, people are willing to pay 5 million yen for one.

Worried about Sakurako, Ageha chooses to use the card and suddenly he is asked all these questions. The next day at school, men posing as police men are going after him, men who want his Psyren card. As he fights these men, the two are overpowering him and he runs away. While running away, his cell phone rings and while he is being chased, he disappears and ends up in an unknown location.

While he walks around the devastated area, he sees a giant caterpillar going after a man who screams for help. As Ageha goes to help, Sakurako with her sword comes out of nowhere and defeats it.

But Sakurako is very sick and before she faints in Ageha’s arms, she tells him that they need to clear the stage before they can get back home. And she asks him to please clear the stage with her.

As Ageha carries Sakurako, he seeks shelter in a building where people are gathered. He quickly realizes that the people gathering are a bunch of punks who have been wanting a Psyren card for the purpose of making money.

And within this group, each seem as if they will kill each other for the sake of making money.

When the phone rings, the group are told that they need to find a gate and everyone except Ageha and Sakurako go out and search for this gate. But when Sakurako awakens and finds out that everyone has headed towards a dangerous area, she fears that all of them will be slaughtered and feels that they need to be warned.

So, now Ageha and a sick Sakurako must hurry and get to the group before they are slaughtered. Will they make it in time?

In volume 3 of “Psyren”, Ageha, Hiryu and Sakurako are joined by two more members, Oboro Michizuki and Kabuto Kirisaki. As Oboro is out temporarily due to him developing his Psy power, an unknown being and a large worm is standing in their way of getting to the gate.

The unknown being appears to be the classmate and best friend of Hiryu Asaga who was whisked into the world of Psyren, but it is not known if he is the same person, as the guy that Hiryu knew was weak-minded and not a good fighter. The person that is awaiting them has a weapon that charges on Psy power and he is quite deadly.

But as part of the game, Ageha and friends must find a way to get to the gate and study their enemy. But if this unknown person is Hiryu’s best friend Tatsuo…the person he has been looking for all this time, will they need to kill him?

In volume 3, Ageha managed to activate the power known as Melzez Door, a pitch black sphere of blast energy that consumes energy completely and can kill everything in its path. Knowing that Ageha can probably be killed (along with his friends), Sakurako goes to Matsuri Yagumo for help.

In volume 4, as Ageha and friends are trained by these powerful children with psionic powers, during their next entry to Psyren, Kabuto Kirisaki looks for his uncle’s underground facility (which his uncle stayed in, as he feared of disaster hitting Japan). Because he was underground, Kabuto along with the others hope their may be details of what happened to Tokyo in the future and when the catastrophic disaster took place. And what they find is a video of these kids fighting against an evil group known as W.I.S.E.

Which leads us to volume 5 of “PSYREN”. In the video, one person of W.I.S.E. manages to kill the children with his sephiroth move. But while the group are watching the video, Dolkey of W.I.S.E. shows up and it leads to the first battle between Ageha and friends vs. W.I.S.E. With their new psionic powers and training, will they be powerful enough to take on a member of W.I.S.E.?

In volume 6, W.I.S.E. are shocked that Ageha defeated Dolkey and now want him to join their group. Meanwhile, having transported back to the present time, as they try to find a way to prevent the children from being killed and Tokyo from being destroyed, Kagetora Hyodo is on a mission to hunt down corrupt psionists and asks Ageha to join them. Ageha turns him down because of his goal to save the future (and he is unable to reveal the future as he or any of his friends will be killed by Nemesis Q if they reveal to anyone outside of their group of the future).

But when Kagetora Hyodo goes to hunt down the corrupt psionists, he is unaware that the group may have ties to the group that will one day become known as W.I.S.E.

Also, as Ageha tries to find what he is allowed to do to save the future without being killed, he is revealed by Nemesis Q that it is a psionic program being controlled by some other entity. But who?

In volume 7, as the group manages to rescue Kagetora Hyodo, they also run into Miroku Amagi, the leader of W.I.S.E. who intends to destroy the world in order to create a new slate.

While, Ageha and the children managed to escape and Kyle managing to be healed, because the children had contact with W.I.S.E. in the present, has now altered the future. And on the video that originally showing the children being killed by Miroku Amagi’s “Tree of Sephiroth”, the video has now changed from the children being killed by Junas and Dolkey. But on the video, they mention grandma Elmore Tenjuin dying on a plane accident in July and interesting enough, during the present time, it’s July and Elmore is about to go on a flight.

Fearing that Elmore is going to die that very day, Ageha and friends do all they can to rescue Elmore Tenjuin but because it goes against their rules of warning someone from the future, Nemesis Q appears and tries to prevent them from rescuing her.

Will Ageha and friends manage to send a message to Elmore in time and prevent her death? Or will Nemesis Q get to them first?

In volume 8, Ageha and friends are not sure if they were able to get a message to grandma Elmore in time but now being whisked to the future to fight a new Dolkey and Shiner, the crew are separate and because their power is well-known,

Ageha and Kabuto are left to fight against Dolkey, unaware if their friends are dead or alive.  But with Kabuto nearly dead and Ageha’s leg being blown off, out of nowhere comes the Elmore Wood gang, the psionic children now grown up.

That can only mean that Ageha and friends were able to stop grandma Elmore from being killed and that the children would survive.  But will Elmore’s orphans, now young adults, be powerful enough to take on Dolkey and Shiner?

“Psyren” features the following characters:

Ageha Yoshina: The tough troublemaker in school who will help people with their problems for 10,000 yen. Although, he tends to not take money from pretty girls at his school. He lives with his sister Fubuki who is very tough on him. One day, while walking home, Ageha hears a payphone ringing and discovers a Psyren telephone card. Very good at fighting. He has shown amazing Psi powers, especially the devastating Melzez Door…but at this time, unable to control it.

Sakurako Amamiya: She was once a popular, smiling, sociable student. Now she has become anti-social, no longer smiling and comes to school looking as if she was beaten up. One day, a group of girls steal her purse and inside is a psyren card. Fortunately, Ageha finds it but when he returns it to her, he tells her that if she needs him, he’ll be there…for 10,000 yen. Her request to Ageha was to save her. Sakuro is the most knowledgeable when it comes to Psyren and is a powerful fighter.

Hiryu Asaga – One of the tough guys that Ageha meets when he enters the Psyren world. Hiryu has been searching for his friend and agrees to help Ageha, who saved his life in the Psyren world.

Oboro Mochizuki – One of the newer students whisked into Psyren and is developing his Psy powers. In reality, Oboro is a popular idol in Japan. Looked at as unusual by his teammates (wanting to hug them), he has the ability to cure them with they are injured.

Kabuto Kirisaki – One of the newer members in Psyren to join Ageha and friends, selfish unless it comes to helping a beautiful girl, Kabuto.

Matsuri Yagumo – A famous concert pianist and a veteran of Psyren. She was able to escape the final gate from Psyren and now tries to help those who are battling in Psyren. She is the person who helped train Sakurako and is now training the other members in controlling their powers. She wishes she can go back to Psyren.

Kagetora Hyodo – A friend of Matsuri and he adores her. He has the appearance of a yakuza member and is quite powerful. He takes part in the physical combat training of Ageha and friends. He is unaware of Psyren and was born with his psi powers.

Ian – A superior psi cure user but is not aware of Psyren. He is unfriendly and only cares about Matsuri.

Fubiki Yoshina – Ageha’s older sister and guardian. She is very strict with Ageha and doesn’t like him being late or getting into trouble. She is also a fighter and adores the idol Oboro.

Nemesis Q - A mysterious being that is sent from the future to find people worthy of using PSI and teaching them about the future and stop Psyren from occurring. Revealed to also be a psionic program to kill any helpers who threaten to reveal the future.

Elmore Tenjuin – A wealthy old woman and a clairvoyant Psychicer who’s husband Koper was disintegrated when he told her about Psyren. She now raises orphaned children with Psi abilities.

Shao – A Chinese boy who can track people and also sense their power level, as well as their true nature. He is being taken care of by Elmore Tenjuin.

Frederica – A spoiled young girl with the power of pyrokinesis. Ageha was inspired by her ability to control her devastating power. She is being taken care of by Elmore Tenjuin.

Mari – A shy girl who uses telekinesis. Often picked on by Frederica and is taken care of by Elmore Tenjuin.

Kyle – A mischievous but powerful boy who later looks up to Ageha (as they are both brash). He is being taken care of by Elmore Tenjuin.

Van – A quiet and kind boy who can heal. He is being taken care of by Elmore Tenjuin.

Dolkey – The Fifth Star Commander of W.I.S.E. who is impulsive and the first to attack Ageha and friends.

Shiner – The Third Star Commander of W.I.S.E.

Junas – Second Star Commander of W.I.S.E.

All I can say is “WOW!”.  Just when you think that Ageha and friends are pretty much out for the count and that they are pretty much going to die, out of nowhere comes the Elmore Wood gang, now grown up.  And we get to see these young adult version of these kids taking on the newly enhanced Dolkey and Shiner.  Also, learning with this new alternate future, what happened to Tokyo and how the destruction happened and how the monsters were created.

I’m not going to say anything else because so much is revealed in this issue. So, if you are a fan of “PSYREN”, you will definitely love this eighth volume! And if anything, this is an action-packed issue with major developments in the storyline but also significant changes that will have a major impact in the next volume and volumes to come!

I’m really enjoying the series and Toshiaki Iwashiro’s ability to focus on the character’s development and the actual strategy of the game and each battle. And for volume 8 alone, what I enjoy about this series is the balance of story and action, where action-driven manga series tend to be focused on action and less story. So, it’s great to have a manga series that is driven with its storyline first and then the action. Illustrations are well-done, but it’s one of the few manga series out now where you find that good balance of story and action and once you start reading it, it’s a series that will easily captivate you and leave you craving for more!

Also, it’s a series that is not too long (with only a total of 16 volumes) and a two-volume “PSYREN -Another Call 2-”, so unlike action manga such as “BLEACH” or “NARUTO”, there is no worry of trying to catch up with 40-50 volumes.  By the first volume, you are instantly hooked and the storylines just get better and better!

If you are looking for a well-written, action-packed manga series, “PSYREN” is highly recommended.

PSYREN Vol. 7 by Toshiaki Iwashiro (a J!-ENT Manga Review)

Toshiaki Iwashiro’s “PSYREN” has quickly become one of my favorite manga’s of 2012. Action-packed from beginning to end, W.I.S.E has now revealed themselves in the present, the future has been altered and now Ageha and friends must take on the new and improved Fifth Star Commander, Dolkey once again!  If you love action and manga, “PSYREN” is highly recommended!

Image courtesy of © 2007 by Toshiaki Iwashiro. All Rights Reserved.

MANGA TITLE: PSYREN Vol. 7

STORY AND ART BY: Toshiaki Iwashiro (岩代 俊明)

FIRST PUBLISHED IN JAPAN: Shueisha, Inc.

PUBLISHED IN USA BY: VIZ Media, LLC

RATED: T for Older Teen

Available on November 6, 2012

 Ageha and his fellow Psionists discover that their actions in the present may be altering the outcome of the future. Now everything they know – and everyone they love – is in danger, including their mentor Elmore Tenjuin. But their attempt to save their beloved Elmore is interrupted… by a sudden, jolting return to the Psyren world!

Kagetora Hyodo was hunting for corrupt psionists and had asked for Ageha’s help.  But with Ageha pre-occupied with saving the psionic children from their death in the future, he declines.

So, Kaegetora goes on to hunt the psionists all alone and in the process, gets trapped, captured and is now being tortured.  But before he was caught, he was able to contact Ageha.

While Ageha is away from his own psionic friends, Grandma Elmore Tenjuin knows that Ageha is important for the future of the world.  She doesn’t why she has that feeling but it is in her best interest to keep him protected, so she sends out her psionic orphan children to assist in rescuing Kagetora.

As the children battled against the corrupt psionists, during the interrogation with their leader, the twisted man tells them that he is W.IS.E. and was born to take the decayed world and wipe the slate clean under the leadership of Miroku Amagi.    But the twisted man immediately is killed and his brother, who is thought to be harmless, turns out to be the true Miroku Amagi an nearly slaughters the psionic child, Kyle with his “Tree of Sephiroth! Gevurah!”.

As Miroku leaves, he nearly kills everyone with an explosive blast.

What will happen now that W.I.S.E leader has been revealed in the present time?

Find out in volume 7 of “PSYREN”!

What is “PSYREN”?

The manga series which is featured in Japan on Weekly Shonen Jump Magazine (as well as the American edition) and is reminiscent of manga such as “Yu Yu Hakusho”, “Gantz” and “Bleach” is full of action as a group of high school students are whisked into a futuristic, apocalyptic version of Japan. The only way they can get back home is by reaching a gate, but between that gate and their starting point are monsters and things waiting to kill them.

“Psyren” focuses on Ageha Yoshina, a high-school student who is known to take people’s money (10,000 yen) to provide his service and he will take care of their problem. Known for getting into fights and being a troublemaker, helping people is his good side and even at times not charging the pretty students at school for his services.

But not so supportive of his fighting is his older sister Fubuki, his guardian who is a pretty strong fighter herself and will not put up with him being late or getting in trouble.

One day, while Ageha is coming home, he hears a payphone ringing. He goes to answer it but hears nothing, but sees a phone card inside with the words “Psyren” but thinks nothing of it.

The following day, he sees his old former childhood friend Sakurako Amamiya coming into class and thinks about the old days when she was popular, friendly, social and caring. But now she’s anti-social, often coming to class with bruises and cuts and he can only wonder what is going on in her life.

Later in the day, he sees a few female students stealing her stuff and hiding it. As he goes to see what they have hidden, he realizes that the girls stole her wallet which has her “Psyren” card. As he goes to return it to her, she notices that she was frantic. As Ageha reminds her that for 10,000 yen ($100 bucks) he can help her, she cries out “Save Me” which startles him.

The following day, Sakurako had stopped showing up to school.

His friends tell him that Sakurako has been caught up with the whole “Psyren” legend and that there is a secret society and people have been disappearing. He also learns that for anyone with an unused Psyren card, people are willing to pay 5 million yen for one.

Worried about Sakurako, Ageha chooses to use the card and suddenly he is asked all these questions. The next day at school, men posing as police men are going after him, men who want his Psyren card. As he fights these men, the two are overpowering him and he runs away. While running away, his cell phone rings and while he is being chased, he disappears and ends up in an unknown location.

While he walks around the devastated area, he sees a giant caterpillar going after a man who screams for help. As Ageha goes to help, Sakurako with her sword comes out of nowhere and defeats it.

But Sakurako is very sick and before she faints in Ageha’s arms, she tells him that they need to clear the stage before they can get back home. And she asks him to please clear the stage with her.

As Ageha carries Sakurako, he seeks shelter in a building where people are gathered. He quickly realizes that the people gathering are a bunch of punks who have been wanting a Psyren card for the purpose of making money.

And within this group, each seem as if they will kill each other for the sake of making money.

When the phone rings, the group are told that they need to find a gate and everyone except Ageha and Sakurako go out and search for this gate. But when Sakurako awakens and finds out that everyone has headed towards a dangerous area, she fears that all of them will be slaughtered and feels that they need to be warned.

So, now Ageha and a sick Sakurako must hurry and get to the group before they are slaughtered. Will they make it in time?

In volume 3 of “Psyren”, Ageha, Hiryu and Sakurako are joined by two more members, Oboro Michizuki and Kabuto Kirisaki. As Oboro is out temporarily due to him developing his Psy power, an unknown being and a large worm is standing in their way of getting to the gate.

The unknown being appears to be the classmate and best friend of Hiryu Asaga who was whisked into the world of Psyren, but it is not known if he is the same person, as the guy that Hiryu knew was weak-minded and not a good fighter. The person that is awaiting them has a weapon that charges on Psy power and he is quite deadly.

But as part of the game, Ageha and friends must find a way to get to the gate and study their enemy. But if this unknown person is Hiryu’s best friend Tatsuo…the person he has been looking for all this time, will they need to kill him?

In volume 3, Ageha managed to activate the power known as Melzez Door, a pitch black sphere of blast energy that consumes energy completely and can kill everything in its path. Knowing that Ageha can probably be killed (along with his friends), Sakurako goes to Matsuri Yagumo for help.

In volume 4, as Ageha and friends are trained by these powerful children with psionic powers, during their next entry to Psyren, Kabuto Kirisaki looks for his uncle’s underground facility (which his uncle stayed in, as he feared of disaster hitting Japan). Because he was underground, Kabuto along with the others hope their may be details of what happened to Tokyo in the future and when the catastrophic disaster took place. And what they find is a video of these kids fighting against an evil group known as W.I.S.E.

Which leads us to volume 5 of “PSYREN”. In the video, one person of W.I.S.E. manages to kill the children with his sephiroth move. But while the group are watching the video, Dolkey of W.I.S.E. shows up and it leads to the first battle between Ageha and friends vs. W.I.S.E. With their new psionic powers and training, will they be powerful enough to take on a member of W.I.S.E.?

In volume 6, W.I.S.E. are shocked that Ageha defeated Dolkey and now want him to join their group. Meanwhile, having transported back to the present time, as they try to find a way to prevent the children from being killed and Tokyo from being destroyed, Kagetora Hyodo is on a mission to hunt down corrupt psionists and asks Ageha to join them. Ageha turns him down because of his goal to save the future (and he is unable to reveal the future as he or any of his friends will be killed by Nemesis Q if they reveal to anyone outside of their group of the future).

But when Kagetora Hyodo goes to hunt down the corrupt psionists, he is unaware that the group may have ties to the group that will one day become known as W.I.S.E.

Also, as Ageha tries to find what he is allowed to do to save the future without being killed, he is revealed by Nemesis Q that it is a psionic program being controlled by some other entity. But who?

In volume 7, as the group manages to rescue Kagetora Hyodo, they also run into Miroku Amagi, the leader of W.I.S.E. who intends to destroy the world in order to create a new slate.

While, Ageha and the children managed to escape and Kyle managing to be healed, because the children had contact with W.I.S.E. in the present, has now altered the future.  And on the video that originally showing the children being killed by Miroku Amagi’s “Tree of Sephiroth”, the video has now changed from the children being killed by Junas and Dolkey.  But on the video, they mention grandma Elmore Tenjuin dying on a plane accident in July and interesting enough, during the present time, it’s July and Elmore is about to go on a flight.

Fearing that Elmore is going to die that very day, Ageha and friends do all they can to rescue Elmore Tenjuin but because it goes against their rules of warning someone from the future, Nemesis Q appears and tries to prevent them from rescuing her.

Will Ageha and friends manage to send a message to Elmore in time and prevent her death?  Or will Nemesis Q get to them first?

“Psyren” features the following characters:

Ageha Yoshina: The tough troublemaker in school who will help people with their problems for 10,000 yen. Although, he tends to not take money from pretty girls at his school. He lives with his sister Fubuki who is very tough on him. One day, while walking home, Ageha hears a payphone ringing and discovers a Psyren telephone card. Very good at fighting. He has shown amazing Psi powers, especially the devastating Melzez Door…but at this time, unable to control it.

Sakurako Amamiya: She was once a popular, smiling, sociable student. Now she has become anti-social, no longer smiling and comes to school looking as if she was beaten up. One day, a group of girls steal her purse and inside is a psyren card. Fortunately, Ageha finds it but when he returns it to her, he tells her that if she needs him, he’ll be there…for 10,000 yen. Her request to Ageha was to save her. Sakuro is the most knowledgeable when it comes to Psyren and is a powerful fighter.

Hiryu Asaga – One of the tough guys that Ageha meets when he enters the Psyren world. Hiryu has been searching for his friend and agrees to help Ageha, who saved his life in the Psyren world.

Oboro Mochizuki – One of the newer students whisked into Psyren and is developing his Psy powers. In reality, Oboro is a popular idol in Japan. Looked at as unusual by his teammates (wanting to hug them), he has the ability to cure them with they are injured.

Kabuto Kirisaki – One of the newer members in Psyren to join Ageha and friends, selfish unless it comes to helping a beautiful girl, Kabuto.

Matsuri Yagumo – A famous concert pianist and a veteran of Psyren. She was able to escape the final gate from Psyren and now tries to help those who are battling in Psyren. She is the person who helped train Sakurako and is now training the other members in controlling their powers. She wishes she can go back to Psyren.

Kagetora Hyodo – A friend of Matsuri and he adores her. He has the appearance of a yakuza member and is quite powerful. He takes part in the physical combat training of Ageha and friends. He is unaware of Psyren and was born with his psi powers.

Ian – A superior psi cure user but is not aware of Psyren. He is unfriendly and only cares about Matsuri.

Fubiki Yoshina – Ageha’s older sister and guardian. She is very strict with Ageha and doesn’t like him being late or getting into trouble. She is also a fighter and adores the idol Oboro.

Nemesis Q - A mysterious being that is sent from the future to find people worthy of using PSI and teaching them about the future and stop Psyren from occurring. Revealed to also be a psionic program to kill any helpers who threaten to reveal the future.

Elmore Tenjuin – A wealthy old woman and a clairvoyant Psychicer who’s husband Koper was disintegrated when he told her about Psyren. She now raises orphaned children with Psi abilities.

Shao – A Chinese boy who can track people and also sense their power level, as well as their true nature. He is being taken care of by Elmore Tenjuin.

Frederica – A spoiled young girl with the power of pyrokinesis. Ageha was inspired by her ability to control her devastating power. She is being taken care of by Elmore Tenjuin.

Mari – A shy girl who uses telekinesis. Often picked on by Frederica and is taken care of by Elmore Tenjuin.

Kyle – A mischievous but powerful boy who later looks up to Ageha (as they are both brash). He is being taken care of by Elmore Tenjuin.

Van – A quiet and kind boy who can heal. He is being taken care of by Elmore Tenjuin.

Dolkey – The Fifth Star Commander of W.I.S.E. who is impulsive and the first to attack Ageha and friends.

Shiner – The Third Star Commander of W.I.S.E.

Junas – Second Star Commander of W.I.S.E.

“PSYREN” is a manga series that just gets better and better and now, W.I.S.E. has revealed their presence in the present time!

With the future changed but the result being the same, there is one bit of information left on the video tape about the death of Elmore Tenjuin, the guardian of the psionic children.  Seeing the power of W.I.S.E. and wanting to save the children, Ageha and friends need to find a way to warn Elmore of her pending death without Nemesis Q killing them for breaking the rules.

Meanwhile, waiting for them in the future is W.I.S.E. and a new and improved Dolkey wants a rematch against Ageha.  Once again, it’s another action-pack and thrilling volume of “PSYREN” and it is now becoming one of my favorite action manga series!

I’m really enjoying the series and Toshiaki Iwashiro’s ability to focus on the character’s development and the actual strategy of the game and each battle. And for volume 7 alone, what I enjoy about this series is the balance of story and action, where action-driven manga series tend to be focused on action and less story.  So, it’s great to have a manga series that is driven with its storyline first and then the action.  Illustrations are well-done, but it’s one of the few manga series out now where you find that good balance of story and action and once you start reading it, it’s a series that will easily captivate you and leave you craving for more!

Also, it’s a series that is not too long (with only a total of 16 volumes) and a two-volume “PSYREN -Another Call 2-”, so unlike action manga such as “BLEACH” or “NARUTO”, there is no worry of trying to catch up with 40-50 volumes.

If you are looking for a well-written, action-packed manga series, “PSYREN” is highly recommended.

PSYREN Vol. 6 by Toshiaki Iwashiro (a J!-ENT Manga Review)

Toshiaki Iwashiro’s “PSYREN” has quickly become one of my favorite manga’s of 2012. Action-packed from beginning to end, Ageha Yoshina and the psionic children must rescue Kagetora Hyodo before he is killed by corrupt psionists, who may have a tie to the future group known as W.I.S.E.

Image courtesy of © 2007 by Toshiaki Iwashiro. All Rights Reserved.

MANGA TITLE: PSYREN Vol. 6

STORY AND ART BY: Toshiaki Iwashiro (岩代 俊明)

FIRST PUBLISHED IN JAPAN: Shueisha, Inc.

PUBLISHED IN USA BY: VIZ Media, LLC

RATED: T for Older Teen

Available on September 4, 2012

 

The secrets of Psyren are nothing right now compared to going up against a team of Psionists who’ve been using their power to steal from the Yakuza! Thankfully, Ageha’s got the powerful kids from the Elmore Wood orphanage to help him. But they are just children. Will their help be enough?

In the future, Ageha Yoshina and his friends learned through a video that the group of children that has taught him how to control his power were the Earth’s last defense force to fight against an evil group known as W.I.S.E. who literally plunge the Tokyo into darkness and destruction.

But these children were very powerful, and at this time, more powerful than Ageha and his friends.

With a video they find from the future that shows the death of the children, courtesy of W.I.S.E., Ageha and friends were forced to take on W.I.S.E. Fifth Star Commander Dolkey and in the end, Ageha Yoshina was victorious.  But now, W.I.S.E. is now interested in having Ageha join them.

Meanwhile, Kagetora Hyodo received a mission to hunt down corrupt psionists and tries to enlist Ageha, but with Ageha trying to save the children and preventing Tokyo from getting destroyed.

But what Kagetora is unaware, is that the corrupt psionists may have a tie-in with a new group in development… a group known as W.I.S.E.

Find out what happens when Kagetora Hyodo takes on these corrupt psionists on his own.

What is “PSYREN”?

The manga series which is featured in Japan on Weekly Shonen Jump Magazine (as well as the American edition) and is reminiscent of manga such as “Yu Yu Hakusho”, “Gantz” and “Bleach” is full of action as a group of high school students are whisked into a futuristic, apocalyptic version of Japan. The only way they can get back home is by reaching a gate, but between that gate and their starting point are monsters and things waiting to kill them.

“Psyren” focuses on Ageha Yoshina, a high-school student who is known to take people’s money (10,000 yen) to provide his service and he will take care of their problem. Known for getting into fights and being a troublemaker, helping people is his good side and even at times not charging the pretty students at school for his services.

But not so supportive of his fighting is his older sister Fubuki, his guardian who is a pretty strong fighter herself and will not put up with him being late or getting in trouble.

One day, while Ageha is coming home, he hears a payphone ringing. He goes to answer it but hears nothing, but sees a phone card inside with the words “Psyren” but thinks nothing of it.

The following day, he sees his old former childhood friend Sakurako Amamiya coming into class and thinks about the old days when she was popular, friendly, social and caring. But now she’s anti-social, often coming to class with bruises and cuts and he can only wonder what is going on in her life.

Later in the day, he sees a few female students stealing her stuff and hiding it. As he goes to see what they have hidden, he realizes that the girls stole her wallet which has her “Psyren” card. As he goes to return it to her, she notices that she was frantic. As Ageha reminds her that for 10,000 yen ($100 bucks) he can help her, she cries out “Save Me” which startles him.

The following day, Sakurako had stopped showing up to school.

His friends tell him that Sakurako has been caught up with the whole “Psyren” legend and that there is a secret society and people have been disappearing. He also learns that for anyone with an unused Psyren card, people are willing to pay 5 million yen for one.

Worried about Sakurako, Ageha chooses to use the card and suddenly he is asked all these questions. The next day at school, men posing as police men are going after him, men who want his Psyren card. As he fights these men, the two are overpowering him and he runs away. While running away, his cell phone rings and while he is being chased, he disappears and ends up in an unknown location.

While he walks around the devastated area, he sees a giant caterpillar going after a man who screams for help. As Ageha goes to help, Sakurako with her sword comes out of nowhere and defeats it.

But Sakurako is very sick and before she faints in Ageha’s arms, she tells him that they need to clear the stage before they can get back home. And she asks him to please clear the stage with her.

As Ageha carries Sakurako, he seeks shelter in a building where people are gathered. He quickly realizes that the people gathering are a bunch of punks who have been wanting a Psyren card for the purpose of making money.

And within this group, each seem as if they will kill each other for the sake of making money.

When the phone rings, the group are told that they need to find a gate and everyone except Ageha and Sakurako go out and search for this gate. But when Sakurako awakens and finds out that everyone has headed towards a dangerous area, she fears that all of them will be slaughtered and feels that they need to be warned.

So, now Ageha and a sick Sakurako must hurry and get to the group before they are slaughtered. Will they make it in time?

In volume 3 of “Psyren”, Ageha, Hiryu and Sakurako are joined by two more members, Oboro Michizuki and Kabuto Kirisaki. As Oboro is out temporarily due to him developing his Psy power, an unknown being and a large worm is standing in their way of getting to the gate.

The unknown being appears to be the classmate and best friend of Hiryu Asaga who was whisked into the world of Psyren, but it is not known if he is the same person, as the guy that Hiryu knew was weak-minded and not a good fighter. The person that is awaiting them has a weapon that charges on Psy power and he is quite deadly.

But as part of the game, Ageha and friends must find a way to get to the gate and study their enemy. But if this unknown person is Hiryu’s best friend Tatsuo…the person he has been looking for all this time, will they need to kill him?

In volume 3, Ageha managed to activate the power known as Melzez Door, a pitch black sphere of blast energy that consumes energy completely and can kill everything in its path. Knowing that Ageha can probably be killed (along with his friends), Sakurako goes to Matsuri Yagumo for help.

In volume 4, as Ageha and friends are trained by these powerful children with psionic powers, during their next entry to Psyren, Kabuto Kirisaki looks for his uncle’s underground facility (which his uncle stayed in, as he feared of disaster hitting Japan). Because he was underground, Kabuto along with the others hope their may be details of what happened to Tokyo in the future and when the catastrophic disaster took place. And what they find is a video of these kids fighting against an evil group known as W.I.S.E.

Which leads us to volume 5 of “PSYREN”. In the video, one person of W.I.S.E. manages to kill the children with his sephiroth move.  But while the group are watching the video, Dolkey of W.I.S.E. shows up and it leads to the first battle between Ageha and friends vs. W.I.S.E. With their new psionic powers and training, will they be powerful enough to take on a member of W.I.S.E.?

In volume 6, W.I.S.E. are shocked that Ageha defeated Dolkey and now want him to join their group.  Meanwhile, having transported back to the present time, as they try to find a way to prevent the children from being killed and Tokyo from being destroyed, Kagetora Hyodo is on a mission to hunt down corrupt psionists and asks Ageha to join them.  Ageha turns him down because of his goal to save the future (and he is unable to reveal the future as he or any of his friends will be killed by Nemesis Q if they reveal to anyone outside of their group of the future).

But when Kagetora Hyodo goes to hunt down the corrupt psionists, he is unaware that the group may have ties to the group that will one day become known as W.I.S.E.

Also, as Ageha tries to find what he is allowed to do to save the future without being killed, he is revealed by Nemesis Q that it is a psionic program being controlled by some other entity.  But who?

“Psyren” features the following characters:

Ageha Yoshina: The tough troublemaker in school who will help people with their problems for 10,000 yen. Although, he tends to not take money from pretty girls at his school. He lives with his sister Fubuki who is very tough on him. One day, while walking home, Ageha hears a payphone ringing and discovers a Psyren telephone card. Very good at fighting. He has shown amazing Psi powers, especially the devastating Melzez Door…but at this time, unable to control it.

Sakurako Amamiya: She was once a popular, smiling, sociable student. Now she has become anti-social, no longer smiling and comes to school looking as if she was beaten up. One day, a group of girls steal her purse and inside is a psyren card. Fortunately, Ageha finds it but when he returns it to her, he tells her that if she needs him, he’ll be there…for 10,000 yen. Her request to Ageha was to save her. Sakuro is the most knowledgeable when it comes to Psyren and is a powerful fighter.

Hiryu Asaga – One of the tough guys that Ageha meets when he enters the Psyren world. Hiryu has been searching for his friend and agrees to help Ageha, who saved his life in the Psyren world.

Oboro Mochizuki – One of the newer students whisked into Psyren and is developing his Psy powers. In reality, Oboro is a popular idol in Japan. Looked at as unusual by his teammates (wanting to hug them), he has the ability to cure them with they are injured.

Kabuto Kirisaki – One of the newer members in Psyren to join Ageha and friends, selfish unless it comes to helping a beautiful girl, Kabuto.

Matsuri Yagumo – A famous concert pianist and a veteran of Psyren. She was able to escape the final gate from Psyren and now tries to help those who are battling in Psyren. She is the person who helped train Sakurako and is now training the other members in controlling their powers. She wishes she can go back to Psyren.

Kagetora Hyodo – A friend of Matsuri and he adores her. He has the appearance of a yakuza member and is quite powerful. He takes part in the physical combat training of Ageha and friends. He is unaware of Psyren and was born with his psi powers.

Ian – A superior psi cure user but is not aware of Psyren. He is unfriendly and only cares about Matsuri.

Fubiki Yoshina – Ageha’s older sister and guardian. She is very strict with Ageha and doesn’t like him being late or getting into trouble. She is also a fighter and adores the idol Oboro.

Nemesis Q - A mysterious being that is sent from the future to find people worthy of using PSI and teaching them about the future and stop Psyren from occurring. Revealed to also be a psionic program to kill any helpers who threaten to reveal the future.

Elmore Tenjuin – A wealthy old woman and a clairvoyant Psychicer who’s husband Koper was disintegrated when he told her about Psyren. She now raises orphaned children with Psi abilities.

Shao – A Chinese boy who can track people and also sense their power level, as well as their true nature. He is being taken care of by Elmore Tenjuin.

Frederica – A spoiled young girl with the power of pyrokinesis. Ageha was inspired by her ability to control her devastating power. She is being taken care of by Elmore Tenjuin.

Mari – A shy girl who uses telekinesis. Often picked on by Frederica and is taken care of by Elmore Tenjuin.

Kyle – A mischievous but powerful boy who later looks up to Ageha (as they are both brash). He is being taken care of by Elmore Tenjuin.

Van – A quiet and kind boy who can heal. He is being taken care of by Elmore Tenjuin.

Dolkey – The Fifth Star Commander of W.I.S.E. who is impulsive and the first to attack Ageha and friends.

Shiner – The Third Star Commander of W.I.S.E.

Junas – Second Star Commander of W.I.S.E.

What we know is that in the future, W.I.S.E. has plunged Tokyo into rubble, countless humans have been killed or experimented on and the future of Tokyo is nothing but a wasteland with monsters now occupying the land, while W.I.S.E. has literally took over the world with power and hostility toward any living human.

We also know that the children trained by grandma Elmore Tenjuin were all to die due to W.I.S.E.  but Ageha wants so badly to stop it and feels that if he can tell Elmore Tenjuin in the present, it will spare their lives.  But unfortunately, by revealing the future, will lead to his own death courtesy of Nemesis Q who is programmed to stop helpers from revealing the future.

But what is most fascinating about volume 6 is that invincible Kagetora Hyodo has met his most powerful enemy yet.  While hunting down corrupt psionists, he runs into three powerful psionists who are able to capture him and now putting him through torture.  And corrupt psionists who are working on building a new group known as W.I.S.E.

Kagetora manages to get a call out to Ageha, but with Ageha away from his friends, Elmore Tenjuin decides to let the children join Ageha in saving Kagetora.  So, this will become the first major mission of the psionic children but will Ageha and the children have the power enough to defeat these powerful psionic enemies?

It’s another action-pack and thrilling volume of “PSYREN” and it is now becoming one of my favorite action manga series!

“PSYREN”  continues to get better and better with each volume and while it does have slight similarities to “Gantz”, “Bleach” and “Yu Yu Hakusho”, I’m really enjoying the series and Toshiaki Iwashiro’s ability to focus on the character’s development and the actual strategy of the game and each battle.  And for volume 6 alone, we now get to see how powerful these psionic children are and how they will do in battle!

If you are looking for a well-written, action-packed manga series, “PSYREN” is highly recommended.

PSYREN Vol. 5 by Toshiaki Iwashiro (a J!-ENT Manga Review)

Toshiaki Iwashiro’s “Psyren” has quickly become one of my favorite manga’s of 2012. Action-packed from beginning to end, Ageha Yoshina and friends must take on the fifth star commander of W.I.S.E., the group who are responsible for the destruction of Tokyo in the future!

Image courtesy of © 2007 by Toshiaki Iwashiro. All Rights Reserved.

MANGA TITLE: PSYREN Vol. 5

STORY AND ART BY: Toshiaki Iwashiro (岩代 俊明)

FIRST PUBLISHED IN JAPAN: Shueisha, Inc.

PUBLISHED IN USA BY: VIZ Media, LLC

RATED: T for Older Teen

Available on July 3, 2012

 

Ageha Yoshina just got transported to a warped alternate dimension where you’ve got to fight your way back to our world–or die trying.

 

Visions A video recording shows a dark vision of the future, where many of Ageha’s friends are ruthlessly killed. To escape the danger posed by W.I.S.E, Ageha, Sakurako and the others must battle their way to freedom. But even if they escape, can they really fight fate and alter that treacherous future?

In the future, Ageha Yoshina and his friends learned through a video that the group of children that has taught him how to control his power were the Earth’s last defense force to fight against an evil group known as W.I.S.E. who literally plunge the Tokyo into darkness and destruction.

But these children were powerful.  With the video in their possession, the group finds out how Tokyo became a disaster and how the children fared in their fight against W.I.S.E. in volume 5 of Toshiaki Iwashiro’s hit manga series “Psyren”.

What is “PSYREN”?

The manga series which is featured in Japan on Weekly Shonen Jump Magazine (as well as the American edition) and is reminiscent of manga such as “Yu Yu Hakusho”, “Gantz” and “Bleach” is full of action as a group of high school students are whisked into a futuristic, apocalyptic version of Japan. The only way they can get back home is by reaching a gate, but between that gate and their starting point are monsters and things waiting to kill them.

“Psyren” focuses on Ageha Yoshina, a high-school student who is known to take people’s money (10,000 yen) to provide his service and he will take care of their problem. Known for getting into fights and being a troublemaker, helping people is his good side and even at times not charging the pretty students at school for his services.

But not so supportive of his fighting is his older sister Fubuki, his guardian who is a pretty strong fighter herself and will not put up with him being late or getting in trouble.

One day, while Ageha is coming home, he hears a payphone ringing. He goes to answer it but hears nothing, but sees a phone card inside with the words “Psyren” but thinks nothing of it.

The following day, he sees his old former childhood friend Sakurako Amamiya coming into class and thinks about the old days when she was popular, friendly, social and caring. But now she’s anti-social, often coming to class with bruises and cuts and he can only wonder what is going on in her life.

Later in the day, he sees a few female students stealing her stuff and hiding it. As he goes to see what they have hidden, he realizes that the girls stole her wallet which has her “Psyren” card. As he goes to return it to her, she notices that she was frantic. As Ageha reminds her that for 10,000 yen ($100 bucks) he can help her, she cries out “Save Me” which startles him.

The following day, Sakurako had stopped showing up to school.

His friends tell him that Sakurako has been caught up with the whole “Psyren” legend and that there is a secret society and people have been disappearing. He also learns that for anyone with an unused Psyren card, people are willing to pay 5 million yen for one.

Worried about Sakurako, Ageha chooses to use the card and suddenly he is asked all these questions. The next day at school, men posing as police men are going after him, men who want his Psyren card. As he fights these men, the two are overpowering him and he runs away. While running away, his cell phone rings and while he is being chased, he disappears and ends up in an unknown location.

While he walks around the devastated area, he sees a giant caterpillar going after a man who screams for help. As Ageha goes to help, Sakurako with her sword comes out of nowhere and defeats it.

But Sakurako is very sick and before she faints in Ageha’s arms, she tells him that they need to clear the stage before they can get back home. And she asks him to please clear the stage with her.

As Ageha carries Sakurako, he seeks shelter in a building where people are gathered. He quickly realizes that the people gathering are a bunch of punks who have been wanting a Psyren card for the purpose of making money.

And within this group, each seem as if they will kill each other for the sake of making money.

When the phone rings, the group are told that they need to find a gate and everyone except Ageha and Sakurako go out and search for this gate. But when Sakurako awakens and finds out that everyone has headed towards a dangerous area, she fears that all of them will be slaughtered and feels that they need to be warned.

So, now Ageha and a sick Sakurako must hurry and get to the group before they are slaughtered. Will they make it in time?

In volume 3 of “Psyren”, Ageha, Hiryu and Sakurako are joined by two more members, Oboro Michizuki and Kabuto Kirisaki. As Oboro is out temporarily due to him developing his Psy power, an unknown being and a large worm is standing in their way of getting to the gate.

The unknown being appears to be the classmate and best friend of Hiryu Asaga who was whisked into the world of Psyren, but it is not known if he is the same person, as the guy that Hiryu knew was weak-minded and not a good fighter. The person that is awaiting them has a weapon that charges on Psy power and he is quite deadly.

But as part of the game, Ageha and friends must find a way to get to the gate and study their enemy. But if this unknown person is Hiryu’s best friend Tatsuo…the person he has been looking for all this time, will they need to kill him?

In volume 3, Ageha managed to activate the power known as Melzez Door, a pitch black sphere of blast energy that consumes energy completely and can kill everything in its path. Knowing that Ageha can probably be killed (along with his friends), Sakurako goes to Matsuri Yagumo for help.

In volume 4, as Ageha and friends are trained by these powerful children with psionic powers, during their next entry to Psyren, Kabuto Kirisaki looks for his uncle’s underground facility (which his uncle stayed in, as he feared of disaster hitting Japan). Because he was underground, Kabuto along with the others hope their may be details of what happened to Tokyo in the future and when the catastrophic disaster took place.  And what they find is a video of these kids fighting against an evil group known as W.I.S.E.

Which leads us to volume 5 of “PSYREN”.    In the video, one person of W.I.S.E. manages to kill the children with his sephiroth move.

But while the group are watching the video, Dolkey of W.I.S.E. shows up and it leads to the first battle between Ageha and friends vs. W.I.S.E.  With their new psionic powers and training, will they be powerful enough to take on a member of W.I.S.E.?

“Psyren” features the following characters:

Ageha Yoshina: The tough troublemaker in school who will help people with their problems for 10,000 yen. Although, he tends to not take money from pretty girls at his school. He lives with his sister Fubuki who is very tough on him. One day, while walking home, Ageha hears a payphone ringing and discovers a Psyren telephone card. Very good at fighting. He has shown amazing Psi powers, especially the devastating Melzez Door…but at this time, unable to control it.

Sakurako Amamiya: She was once a popular, smiling, sociable student. Now she has become anti-social, no longer smiling and comes to school looking as if she was beaten up. One day, a group of girls steal her purse and inside is a psyren card. Fortunately, Ageha finds it but when he returns it to her, he tells her that if she needs him, he’ll be there…for 10,000 yen. Her request to Ageha was to save her. Sakuro is the most knowledgeable when it comes to Psyren and is a powerful fighter.

Hiryu Asaga – One of the tough guys that Ageha meets when he enters the Psyren world. Hiryu has been searching for his friend and agrees to help Ageha, who saved his life in the Psyren world.

Oboro Mochizuki – One of the newer students whisked into Psyren and is developing his Psy powers. In reality, Oboro is a popular idol in Japan. Looked at as unusual by his teammates (wanting to hug them), he has the ability to cure them with they are injured.

Kabuto Kirisaki – One of the newer members in Psyren to join Ageha and friends, selfish unless it comes to helping a beautiful girl, Kabuto.

Matsuri Yagumo – A famous concert pianist and a veteran of Psyren. She was able to escape the final gate from Psyren and now tries to help those who are battling in Psyren. She is the person who helped train Sakurako and is now training the other members in controlling their powers. She wishes she can go back to Psyren.

Kagetora Hyodo – A friend of Matsuri and he adores her. He has the appearance of a yakuza member and is quite powerful. He takes part in the physical combat training of Ageha and friends. He is unaware of Psyren and was born with his psi powers.

Ian – A superior psi cure user but is not aware of Psyren. He is unfriendly and only cares about Matsuri.

Fubiki Yoshina – Ageha’s older sister and guardian. She is very strict with Ageha and doesn’t like him being late or getting into trouble. She is also a fighter and adores the idol Oboro.

Nemesis Q - A mysterious being that is sent from the future to find people worthy of using PSI and teaching them about the future and stop Psyren from occurring.

Elmore Tenjuin – A wealthy old woman and a clairvoyant Psychicer who’s husband Koper was disintegrated when he told her about Psyren. She now raises orphaned children with Psi abilities.

Shao – A Chinese boy who can track people and also sense their power level, as well as their true nature. He is being taken care of by Elmore Tenjuin.

Frederica – A spoiled young girl with the power of pyrokinesis. Ageha was inspired by her ability to control her devastating power. She is being taken care of by Elmore Tenjuin.

Mari – A shy girl who uses telekinesis. Often picked on by Frederica and is taken care of by Elmore Tenjuin.

Kyle – A mischievous but powerful boy who later looks up to Ageha (as they are both brash). He is being taken care of by Elmore Tenjuin.

Van – A quiet and kind boy who can heal. He is being taken care of by Elmore Tenjuin.

Dolkey – The Fifth Star Commander of W.I.S.E. who is impulsive and the first to attack Ageha and friends.

Shiner – The Third Star Commander of W.I.S.E.

Junas – Second Star Commander of W.I.S.E.

W.I.S.E. has plunged Tokyo into rubble, countless humans have been killed or experimented on and the future of Tokyo is nothing but a wasteland with monsters now occupying the land, while W.I.S.E. has literally took over the world with power and hostility toward any living human.

But while the future has been plunged into disaster, Ageha and friends have been sent to the future to possibly avert the disaster and lead them to this confrontation with W.I.S.E.

And now, with Ageha and friends are learning their special “enhance” powers, their first battle with Dolkey, Fifth Star Commander of W.I.S.E. takes place in this action-packed vol. 5 volume of “PSYREN”.

What is most impressive of this volume is that we see each member showcasing their power.  Some who don’t know how much power they have but what is most interesting is seeing these hidden powers of Sakurako Amamiya, Kabuto Kirisaki finally discovering one power and that is to see hidden blasts as clear as day, while Oboro Mochizuki, who is known as a healer, is starting to show a chilling side to his personality and power.  But most impressive is seeing Ageha Yoshina with this enormous power which he is starting to learn how to control after his training (featured in volume 4).

But now that Ageha and his friends have revealed themselves to W.I.S.E., we know that things are going to be tougher and deadly for Ageha and friends.  And now, they will need to find a way to use their power to not only defend the world they know in the present time, but to fight the powerful star commanders of W.I.S.E. in the future.

Overall, “Psyren” continues to get better and better with each volume and while it does have slight similarities to “Gantz”, “Bleach” and “Yu Yu Hakusho”, I’m really enjoying the series and Toshiaki Iwashiro’s ability to focus on the character’s development and the actual strategy of the game and each battle.  Definitely one of my favorite action manga to read in 2012 and I can’t wait for volume 6!

If you are looking for a well-written, very cool action-packed manga series, “Psyren” is highly recommended.

PSYREN Vol. 4 by Toshiaki Iwashiro (a J!-ENT Manga Review)

Toshiaki Iwashiro’s “Psyren” has quickly become one of my favorite manga’s of 2012.  At first, the manga series seemed a bit banal with its action/alternate world storyline but the more the storyline progresses, you realize how deep, complex and enjoyable “Psyren” truly is.  Volume 4 answers the question of what happened to future Tokyo and the people who are responsible for the destruction.  This is one volume that fans will definitely not want to miss!

Image courtesy of © 2007 by Toshiaki Iwashiro. All Rights Reserved.

MANGA TITLE: PSYREN Vol. 4

STORY AND ART BY: Toshiaki Iwashiro (岩代 俊明)

FIRST PUBLISHED IN JAPAN: Shueisha, Inc.

PUBLISHED IN USA BY: VIZ Media, LLC

RATED: T for Older Teen

Available on May 1, 2012

Melzez’s Door Ageha’s fully aware of how little he understands his newfound abilities. But when a mysterious millionaire introduces him to a group of Psionist kids who also have powers, his training ramps up and his confidence grows. Has he learned enough to survive? A glimpse into the dark future has him not so sure.

What caused the epic disaster in Tokyo and when did it take place?  These questions are answered in the latest volume 4 of Toshiaki Iwashiro’s hit manga series “Psyren”.

The manga series which is featured in Japan on Weekly Shonen Jump Magazine (as well as the American edition) and is reminiscent of manga such as “Yu Yu Hakusho”, “Gantz” and “Bleach” is full of action as a group of high school students are whisked into a futuristic, apocalyptic version of Japan. The only way they can get back home is by reaching a gate, but between that gate and their starting point are monsters and things waiting to kill them.

“Psyren” Storyline

“Psyren” focuses on Ageha Yoshina, a high-school student who is known to take people’s money (10,000 yen) to provide his service and he will take care of their problem. Known for getting into fights and being a troublemaker, helping people is his good side and even at times not charging the pretty students at school for his services.

But not so supportive of his fighting is his older sister Fubuki, his guardian who is a pretty strong fighter herself and will not put up with him being late or getting in trouble.

One day, while Ageha is coming home, he hears a payphone ringing. He goes to answer it but hears nothing, but sees a phone card inside with the words “Psyren” but thinks nothing of it.

The following day, he sees his old former childhood friend Sakurako Amamiya coming into class and thinks about the old days when she was popular, friendly, social and caring. But now she’s anti-social, often coming to class with bruises and cuts and he can only wonder what is going on in her life.

Later in the day, he sees a few female students stealing her stuff and hiding it. As he goes to see what they have hidden, he realizes that the girls stole her wallet which has her “Psyren” card. As he goes to return it to her, she notices that she was frantic. As Ageha reminds her that for 10,000 yen ($100 bucks) he can help her, she cries out “Save Me” which startles him.

The following day, Sakurako had stopped showing up to school.

His friends tell him that Sakurako has been caught up with the whole “Psyren” legend and that there is a secret society and people have been disappearing. He also learns that for anyone with an unused Psyren card, people are willing to pay 5 million yen for one.

Worried about Sakurako, Ageha chooses to use the card and suddenly he is asked all these questions. The next day at school, men posing as police men are going after him, men who want his Psyren card. As he fights these men, the two are overpowering him and he runs away. While running away, his cell phone rings and while he is being chased, he disappears and ends up in an unknown location.

While he walks around the devastated area, he sees a giant caterpillar going after a man who screams for help. As Ageha goes to help, Sakurako with her sword comes out of nowhere and defeats it.

But Sakurako is very sick and before she faints in Ageha’s arms, she tells him that they need to clear the stage before they can get back home. And she asks him to please clear the stage with her.

As Ageha carries Sakurako, he seeks shelter in a building where people are gathered. He quickly realizes that the people gathering are a bunch of punks who have been wanting a Psyren card for the purpose of making money.

And within this group, each seem as if they will kill each other for the sake of making money.

When the phone rings, the group are told that they need to find a gate and everyone except Ageha and Sakurako go out and search for this gate. But when Sakurako awakens and finds out that everyone has headed towards a dangerous area, she fears that all of them will be slaughtered and feels that they need to be warned.

So, now Ageha and a sick Sakurako must hurry and get to the group before they are slaughtered. Will they make it in time?

In volume 3 of “Psyren”, Ageha, Hiryu and Sakurako are joined by two more members, Oboro Michizuki and Kabuto Kirisaki. As Oboro is out temporarily due to him developing his Psy power, an unknown being and a large worm is standing in their way of getting to the gate.

The unknown being appears to be the classmate and best friend of Hiryu Asaga who was whisked into the world of Psyren, but it is not known if he is the same person, as the guy that Hiryu knew was weak-minded and not a good fighter. The person that is awaiting them has a weapon that charges on Psy power and he is quite deadly.

But as part of the game, Ageha and friends must find a way to get to the gate and study their enemy. But if this unknown person is Hiryu’s best friend Tatsuo…the person he has been looking for all this time, will they need to kill him?

Volume 4

In volume 3, Ageha managed to activate the power known as Melzez Door, a pitch black sphere of blast energy that consumes energy completely and can kill everything in its path.  Knowing that Ageha can probably be killed (along with his friends), Sakurako goes to Matsuri Yagumo for help.

Meanwhile, as Ageha and friends are trained, during their next entry to Psyren, Kabuto Kirisaki looks for his uncle’s underground facility (which his uncle stayed in, as he feared of disaster hitting Japan).  Because he was underground, Kabuto along with the others hope their may be details of what happened to Tokyo in the future and when the catastrophic disaster took place.

“Psyren” features the following characters:

Ageha Yoshina: The tough troublemaker in school who will help people with their problems for 10,000 yen. Although, he tends to not take money from pretty girls at his school. He lives with his sister Fubuki who is very tough on him. One day, while walking home, Ageha hears a payphone ringing and discovers a Psyren telephone card. Very good at fighting.  He has shown amazing Psi powers, especially the devastating Melzez Door…but at this time, unable to control it.

Sakurako Amamiya: She was once a popular, smiling, sociable student. Now she has become anti-social, no longer smiling and comes to school looking as if she was beaten up. One day, a group of girls steal her purse and inside is a psyren card. Fortunately, Ageha finds it but when he returns it to her, he tells her that if she needs him, he’ll be there…for 10,000 yen. Her request to Ageha was to save her.  Sakuro is the most knowledgeable when it comes to Psyren and is a powerful fighter.

Hiryu Asaga – One of the tough guys that Ageha meets when he enters the Psyren world. Hiryu has been searching for his friend and agrees to help Ageha, who saved his life in the Psyren world.

Oboro Mochizuki – One of the newer students whisked into Psyren and is developing his Psy powers. In reality, Oboro is a popular idol in Japan. Looked at as unusual by his teammates (wanting to hug them), he has the ability to cure them with they are injured.

Kabuto Kirisaki – One of the newer members in Psyren to join Ageha and friends, selfish unless it comes to helping a beautiful girl, Kabuto.

Matsuri Yagumo – A famous concert pianist and a veteran of Psyren.  She was able to escape the final gate from Psyren and now tries to help those who are battling in Psyren.  She is the person who helped train Sakurako and is now training the other members in controlling their powers.  She wishes she can go back to Psyren.

Kagetora Hyodo – A friend of Matsuri and he adores her.  He has the appearance of a yakuza member and is quite powerful.  He takes part in the physical combat training of Ageha and friends.  He is unaware of Psyren and was born with his psi powers.

Ian – A superior psi cure user but is not aware of Psyren.  He is unfriendly and only cares about Matsuri.

Fubiki Yoshina – Ageha’s older sister and guardian. She is very strict with Ageha and doesn’t like him being late or getting into trouble. She is also a fighter and adores the idol Oboro.

Nemesis Q - A mysterious being that is sent from the future to find people worthy of using PSI and teaching them about the future and stop Psyren from occurring.

Elmore Tenjuin – A wealthy old woman and a clairvoyant Psychicer who’s husband Koper was disintegrated when he told her about Psyren.  She now raises orphaned children with Psi abilities.

Shao – A Chinese boy who can track people and also sense their power level, as well as their true nature.  He is being taken care of by Elmore Tenjuin.

Frederica – A spoiled young girl with the power of pyrokinesis.  Ageha was inspired by her ability to control her devastating power.  She is being taken care of by Elmore Tenjuin.

Mari – A shy girl who uses telekinesis.  Often picked on by Frederica and is taken care of by Elmore Tenjuin.

Kyle – A mischievous but powerful boy who later looks up to Ageha (as they are both brash).  He is being taken care of by Elmore Tenjuin.

Van – A quiet and kind boy who can heal.  He is being taken care of by Elmore Tenjuin.

“Psyren” Vol. 4 is another exciting and possibly the most important manga volume series that fans should not miss!

Not only are a good number of characters (important characters) introduced in this volume but we also learn more about the disaster in Tokyo and who were responsible, but also who were involved in the rebellion against those who caused the catastrophic disaster in Tokyo.

While the previous volumes focused on the action and the characters in the Psyren world (future post-apocalyptic Tokyo), this volume focuses on the characters as they show their real lives but also the training and powers that the others have and also knowledge that other Psi users were born with their abilities and have no idea that Psyren exists (note: Anyone who goes to Psyren can not tell anyone about it or they will  automatically be disintegrated).

But as this series starts to take shape, in the past, I have mentioned how this series reminded me of “Bleach” and “Yu Yu Hakusho” but you also now get a “Gantz” like storyline as the group are transferred to the Psyren World which there are those who use their Psi powers for evil.

So, this fourth volume is important as it introduces us to these people who were born with these powers and most likely will have an important connection to Ageha and friends as the storyline progresses.

Overall, “Psyren” continues to get better and better with each volume and while it does have slight similarities to “Gantz”, “Bleach” and “Yu Yu Hakusho”, I’m really enjoying the series and Toshiaki Iwashiro’s ability to focus on the character’s development and the actual strategy of the game and each battle. Each volume, the story gets better and better and it has now become one of my favorite manga’s of 2012.

If you are looking for a well-written, very cool action-packed manga series, “Psyren” is highly recommended.

PSYREN Vol. 3 by Toshiaki Iwashiro (a J!-ENT Manga Review)

Toshiaki Iwashiro’s “Psyren” is definitely one of the better manga series available in the U.S. that manages to combine an in-depth story, battle strategy with a great dose of in-your-face action!  Definitely recommended!

Image courtesy of © 2007 by Toshiaki Iwashiro. All Rights Reserved.

MANGA TITLE: PSYREN Vol. 3

STORY AND ART BY: Toshiaki Iwashiro (岩代 俊明)

FIRST PUBLISHED IN JAPAN: Shueisha, Inc.

PUBLISHED IN USA BY: VIZ Media, LLC

RATED: T for Older Teen

Available on March 6, 2012

Dragon Ageha returns to the treacherous Psyren world, where he and his fellow players are instantly under attack. To survive, they’ll have to use every resource they can. But Ageha’s crew are showing signs of fever, meaning their psionic powers are awakening at the worst possible time!

“Bad-ass”!  These are words I describe Toshiaki Iwashiro’s manga series “Psyren”.

The manga series which is featured in Japan on Weekly Shonen Jump Magazine (as well as the American edition) and is reminiscent of manga such as “Yu Yu Hakusho”, “Gantz” and “Bleach” is full of action as a group of high school students are whisked into a futuristic, apocalyptic version of Japan.  The only way they can get back home is by reaching a gate, but between that gate and their starting point are monsters and things waiting to kill them.

“Psyren” Storyline

“Psyren” focuses on Ageha Yoshina, a high-school student who is known to take people’s money (10,000 yen) to provide his service and he will take care of their problem. Known for getting into fights and being a troublemaker, helping people is his good side and even at times not charging the pretty students at school for his services.

But not so supportive of his fighting is his older sister Fubuki, his guardian who is a pretty strong fighter herself and will not put up with him being late or getting in trouble.

One day, while Ageha is coming home, he hears a payphone ringing. He goes to answer it but hears nothing, but sees a phone card inside with the words “Psyren” but thinks nothing of it.

The following day, he sees his old former childhood friend Sakurako Amamiya coming into class and thinks about the old days when she was popular, friendly, social and caring. But now she’s anti-social, often coming to class with bruises and cuts and he can only wonder what is going on in her life.

Later in the day, he sees a few female students stealing her stuff and hiding it. As he goes to see what they have hidden, he realizes that the girls stole her wallet which has her “Psyren” card. As he goes to return it to her, she notices that she was frantic. As Ageha reminds her that for 10,000 yen ($100 bucks) he can help her, she cries out “Save Me” which startles him.

The following day, Sakurako had stopped showing up to school.

His friends tell him that Sakurako has been caught up with the whole “Psyren” legend and that there is a secret society and people have been disappearing. He also learns that for anyone with an unused Psyren card, people are willing to pay 5 million yen for one.

Worried about Sakurako, Ageha chooses to use the card and suddenly he is asked all these questions. The next day at school, men posing as police men are going after him, men who want his Psyren card. As he fights these men, the two are overpowering him and he runs away. While running away, his cell phone rings and while he is being chased, he disappears and ends up in an unknown location.

While he walks around the devastated area, he sees a giant caterpillar going after a man who screams for help. As Ageha goes to help, Sakurako with her sword comes out of nowhere and defeats it.

But Sakurako is very sick and before she faints in Ageha’s arms, she tells him that they need to clear the stage before they can get back home. And she asks him to please clear the stage with her.

As Ageha carries Sakurako, he seeks shelter in a building where people are gathered. He quickly realizes that the people gathering are a bunch of punks who have been wanting a Psyren card for the purpose of making money.

And within this group, each seem as if they will kill each other for the sake of making money.

When the phone rings, the group are told that they need to find a gate and everyone except Ageha and Sakurako go out and search for this gate. But when Sakurako awakens and finds out that everyone has headed towards a dangerous area, she fears that all of them will be slaughtered and feels that they need to be warned.

So, now Ageha and a sick Sakurako must hurry and get to the group before they are slaughtered. Will they make it in time?

Volume 3

In volume 3 of “Psyren”, Ageha, Hiryu and Sakurako are joined by two more members, Oboro Michizuki and Kabuto Kirisaki.  As Oboro is out temporarily due to him developing his Psy power, an unknown being and a large worm is standing in their way of getting to the gate.

The unknown being appears to be the classmate and best friend of Hiryu Asaga who was whisked into the world of Psyren, but it is not known if he is the same person, as the guy that Hiryu knew was weak-minded and not a good fighter.  The person that is awaiting them has a weapon that charges on Psy power and he is quite deadly.

But as part of the game, Ageha and friends must find a way to get to the gate and study their enemy.  But if this unknown person is Hiryu’s best friend Tatsuo…the person he has been looking for all this time, will they need to kill him?

“Psyren” features the following characters:

Ageha Yoshina: The tough troublemaker in school who will help people with their problems for 10,000 yen. Although, he tends to not take money from pretty girls at his school. He lives with his sister Fubuki who is very tough on him. One day, while walking home, Ageha hears a payphone ringing and discovers a Psyren telephone card. Very good at fighting.

Sakurako Amamiya: She was once a popular, smiling, sociable student. Now she has become anti-social, no longer smiling and comes to school looking as if she was beaten up. One day, a group of girls steal her purse and inside is a psyren card. Fortunately, Ageha finds it but when he returns it to her, he tells her that if she needs him, he’ll be there…for 10,000 yen. Her request to Ageha was to save her.

Hiryu Asaga – One of the tough guys that Ageha meets when he enters the Psyren world. Hiryu has been searching for his friend and agrees to help Ageha, who saved his life in the Psyren world.

Oboro Mochizuki – One of the newer students whisked into Psyren and is developing his Psy powers.  Will he be any use to Ageha, Hiryu and Sakurako?

Kabuto Kirisaki – One of the newer members in Psyren to join Ageha and friends, selfish unless it comes to helping a beautiful girl, Kabuto has not developed any Psy powers and is often left behind in battle.

Fubiki Yoshina – Ageha’s older sister and guardian. She is very strict with Ageha and doesn’t like him being late or getting into trouble. She is also a fighter.

Nemesis Q - A mysterious being that is sent from the future to find people worthy of using PSI and teaching them about the future and stop Psyren from occurring.

I know that when it comes to manga series, there are a bunch of stories about one brash young man who tends to get in trouble a lot in school but is also a person with a good heart and will protect the people that he cares about. It’s a typical storyline plot that we see from time-to-time in manga but “Psyren” is an intriguing concept.

I kind of liken the story to a series to “Yu Yu Hakusho” and “Bleach” meets “Gantz”…but the concept is a enjoyable and entertaining storyline as you have your strong-willed, troublesome protagonist Ageha Yoshina, concerned about his missing childhood friend, finds a mysterious card and whisked away in a new land where things look as if it has been devastated and sure enough, he finds his missing friend.

And the concept is that each time they are whisked away to this new land (which is future Japan), they must accomplish a goal and make it to the gate before they can return back home. Until the next round of Psyren begins.

With this third volume of “Psyren”, the story begins to focus on Hiryu Asaga as we get to know what kind of past that he had with his friend Tatsuo and that he was not exactly the strong guy that he is seen today.  With the addition of two more members to the group, it’ll be quite interesting as Kabuto is more of the character that keeps running his mouth, while Oboro is the bishoujo character who may have a thing for Ageha.

But this third volume, like the previous two volumes of “Psyren” is full of action, maybe not as gory as volume 1 but we get to see more of what is going on in Psyren and also Nemesis Q and what he has done with some of the humans who have been defeated.  But most importantly, we get to learn more about the “Enhance” power modes, a new development in Ageha’s power but also how Oboro’s power will help the team in the long run.

Overall, “Psyren” continues to get better and better with each volume and while it does have slight similarities to “Gantz”, “Bleach” and “Yu Yu Hakusho”, I’m really enjoying the series and Toshiaki Iwashiro’s ability to focus on the character’s development and the actual strategy of the game and each battle.  Each volume, the story gets better and better and it’s becoming one of my favorite manga’s of 2012.

If you are looking for a well-written, very cool action-packed manga series, “Psyren” is highly recommended.

PSYREN Vol. 1 by Toshiaki Iwashiro (a J!-ENT Manga Review)

An intriguing action shonen manga series by Toshiaki Iwashiro receives its graphic novel release in America!  Entertaining, action-packed and fun, the first volume of “Psyren” is recommended!

Image courtesy of © 2007 by Toshiai Iwashiro. All Rights Reserved.

MANGA TITLE: PSYREN Vol. 1

STORY AND ART BY: Toshiaki Iwashiro (岩代 俊明)

FIRST PUBLISHED IN JAPAN: Shueisha, Inc.

PUBLISHED IN USA BY: VIZ Media, LLC

RATED: T for Older Teen

Available on October 4, 2011

“Save me!”

Those were Sakurako Amamiya’s last words to her friend Ageha Yoshina before she mysteriously went missing. Now Ageha’s on a quest to find her. He’s convinced that the mythical Psyren Secret Society has something to do with the recent rash of disappearances, and now he seems to be caught up as a player in their very deadly game…

Bad-ass!  Words to describe Toshiaki Iwashiro’s manga series “Psyren” which will be released by Viz Media in Oct. 2011 and was featured in Japan on Weekly Shonen Jump Magazine (as well as the American edition).

Reminiscent of manga such as “Yu Yu Hakusho” and even “Bleach”, “Psyren” is one of those stories featuring a student who just tends to get himself in trouble but somehow finds his way in fighting things that are not necessarily human.  It’s the basis of the manga series which revolves around the character Ageha Yoshina.

Ageha is a high-school student who is known to take people’s money (10,000 yen) to provide his service and he will take care of  their problem.   Known for getting into fights and being a troublemaker, helping people is his good side and even at times not charging the pretty students at school for his services.

But not so supportive of his fighting is his older sister Fubuki, his guardian who is a pretty strong fighter herself and will not put up with him being late or getting in trouble.

One day, while Ageha is coming home, he hears a payphone ringing.  He goes to answer it but hears nothing, but sees a phone card inside with the words “Psyren” but thinks nothing of it.

The following day, he sees his old former childhood friend Sakurako Amamiya coming into class and thinks about the old days when she was popular, friendly, social and caring.  But now she’s anti-social, often coming to class with bruises and cuts and he can only wonder what is going on in her life.

Later in the day, he sees a few female students stealing her stuff and hiding it.  As he goes to see what they have hidden, he realizes that the girls stole her wallet which has her “Psyren” card.  As he goes to return it to her, she notices that she was frantic.  As Ageha reminds her that for 10,000 yen ($100 bucks) he can help her, she cries out “Save Me” which startles him.

The following day, Sakurako had stopped showing up to school.

His friends tell him that Sakurako has been caught up with the whole “Psyren” legend and that there is a secret society and people have been disappearing.  He also learns that for anyone with an unused Psyren card, people are willing to pay 5 million yen for one.

Worried about Sakurako, Ageha chooses to use the card and suddenly he is asked all these questions.  The next day at school, men posing as police men are going after him, men who want his Psyren card.  As he fights these men, the two are overpowering him and he runs away.  While running away, his cell phone rings and while he is being chased, he disappears and ends up in an unknown location.

While he walks around the devastated area, he sees a giant caterpillar going after a man who screams for help.  As Ageha goes to help, Sakurako with her sword comes out of nowhere and defeats it.

But Sakurako is very sick and before she faints in Ageha’s arms, she tells him that they need to clear the stage before they can get back home.  And she asks him to please clear the stage with her.

As Ageha carries Sakurako, he seeks shelter in a building where people are gathered.  He quickly realizes that the people gathering are a bunch of punks who have been wanting a Psyren card for the purpose of making money.

And within this group, each seem as if they will kill each other for the sake of making money.

When the phone rings, the group are told that they need to find a gate and everyone except Ageha and Sakurako go out and search for this gate.  But when Sakurako awakens and finds out that everyone has headed towards a dangerous area, she fears that all of them will be slaughtered and feels that they need to be warned.

So, now Ageha and a sick Sakurako must hurry and get to the group before they are slaughtered.  Will they make it in time?

“Psyren” features the following characters:

Ageha Yoshina: The tough troublemaker in school who will help people with their problems for 10,000 yen.  Although, he tends to not take money from pretty girls at his school.  He lives with his sister Fubuki who is very tough on him.  One day, while walking home, Ageha hears a payphone ringing and discovers a Psyren telephone card.  Very good at fighting.

Sakurako Amamiya: She was once a popular, smiling, sociable student.  Now she has become anti-social, no longer smiling and comes to school looking as if she was beaten up.  One day, a group of girls steal her purse and inside is a psyren card. Fortunately, Ageha finds it but when he returns it to her, he tells her that if she needs him, he’ll be there…for 10,000 yen.   Her request to Ageha was to save her.

Hiryu Asaga – One of the tough guys that Ageha meets when he enters the Psyren world.  Hiryu has been searching for his friend and agrees to help Ageha, who saved his life in the Psyren world.

Fubiki Yoshina – Ageha’s older sister and guardian.  She is very strict with Ageha and doesn’t like him being late or getting into trouble.  She is also a fighter.

Nemesis Q - A mysterious being that is sent from the future to find people worthy of using PSI and teaching them about the future and stop Psyren from occurring.

I know that when it comes to manga series, there are a bunch of stories about one brash young man who tends to get in trouble a lot in school but is also a person with a good heart and will protect the people that he cares about.  It’s a typical storyline plot that we see from time-to-time in manga but “Psyren” is an intriguing concept.

I kind of liken the story to a series to “Yu Yu Hakusho” and “Bleach” meets “Gantz”…but the concept is a enjoyable and entertaining storyline as you have your strong-willed, troublesome protagonist Ageha Yoshina, concerned about his missing childhood friend, finds a mysterious card and whisked away in a new land where things look as if it has been devastated and sure enough, he finds his missing friend.

And the concept is that each time they are whisked away to this new land (which is future Japan), they must accomplish a goal and make it to the gate before they can return back home.  Until the next round of Psyren begins.

So far, the first volume was quite intriguing but how it all plays out and if its a manga series worth following, it’s too early to say.  But I do enjoy the storyline, character designs and also curious about what has happened to Japan in the distant future and why these monster or supernatural beings are in this land.  Especially what this Psyren is all about?

I’m quite confident to say that I do enjoy these type of shonen manga series and if you enjoy “Yu Yu Hakusho” or “Bleach”, this is probably a manga series that will be to your liking.

Overall, “PSYREN” does have the banality of past manga series but has a plot element that makes it different and entertaining.  So, I’ll give this first volume a  thumbs up and I definitely look forward to the next volume!

Recommended.