Kansen Rettou

Within 24 hours of examining a patient presenting influenza symptoms, the patient dies from multiple-organ failure, followed by several others who have shown the same symptoms. Soon after, the mysterious virus quickly spreads across the country, and as the death toll rises, even the highly trained medical experts in Japan with all the most advanced medical technology available to them are at a loss over how what this virus is and how it spreads. Soon, the whole country goes into lock down trying to contain the virus as it continues to spread all over the world, doing whatever they can to further prevent it's spreadwithin their own country. Unfortunately as I was reading through this manga, it felt like the highlight reel or an edited down version of a much longer story, as it goes from scene to scene without much of a proper transition, making the pacing of the whole thing feel very rushed as it quickly takes the reader from situation to situation without stopping to give them some breathing room. I'm assuming that the manga was trying to go for a breakneck speed to make you feel as tired as the scientists, politicians, as well as the population at large in the manga as they have to go through trying to find a cure for the virus as well as try to prevent it from spreading and have to watch the world around them suffer from something so awful, but it just feels like it still needed a few scenes to allow the manga to breath and give the reader a much needed break every so often as well as give a few of the characters a scene or two for the reader to get to know them better, even briefly, which could easily help reinforce just how much the characters have to hurry to prevent the spread of the virus. At only one volume in length, the story might have been just too limited by it's short length, and probably should have been given another volume or at least another few chapters for it to not feel so rushed. But the highlight of the manga is the art, done by Masasumi Kakizaki, who was also the author of the manga, as it really shines through, as it gives the manga some much needed weight to the situation that it's presenting. Masasumi Kakizaki's art is very visceral and detailed, and it really added some impact to seeing the effects of a large scale virus killing millions of people, as uncomfortable as it might be. Kansen Rettou isn't my favorite out of Masasumi Kakizaki's work that I have read of his, and that's probably because it tried to bite off a bit more than it can chew with it's scale, especially since it ended up being so short, but with Masasumi Kakizaki's recognizable confronting art style, it does give what little there is some impact.

(Check my profile for a link to my personal site containing more up-to-date reviews and bonus media!) Written May 28, 2019 12:00 am EST --- Nurse, use the defibrillator. Infected Island is nowhere near the levels of stupidity on display in Emerging, but in exchange, it's much more boring. Though it has the same premise of tracking a plausible super-virus outbreak, the one-volume restriction hurts it a lot. The focus of the story is almost entirely on the virus's impact on a single hospital, and thus doesn't take the concept anywhere close to its full potential. Without looking at things like the virus's evolution or resulting political drama, InfectedIsland loses a lot of breadth and suspense. We already know the death toll at the start of the story and can assume the virus is stopped by the end. There's not much to keep reading for, other than to see the growth of two barely-defined characters. All in all, pretty dull. Nothing insulting like Emerging, but not as fun, either. Just goes to show the complexities of judging art. However, don't believe for a second that I respect Emerging more after reading Infected Island—this one was just out of its depth from its beginning, before even considering its execution.

Kakizaki, tal y como acostumbra en sus historias, usa el melodrama barato y la victimización para sus escenas dramáticas, cosa que realmente vuelve muy infantil toda la tensión del show, la premisa es interesante, pero los personajes cadecen totalmente de lógica, y la manera en la que el autor aborda el conflicto es bastante descafeinada, además, al tratarse sobre una pandemia, y habiendo vivido una recientemente, este manga ha envejecido muy mal. Lo mas destacable de la obra, es su arte, que aún no siendo la mejor del autor, sigue teniendo un nivel de ilustración muy bueno. En resumen, particularmente creo que esta es unade las peores obras de Kakizaki, solo recomendada para los más fanáticos del autor. ENG: Kakizaki, as is his custom in his stories, uses cheap melodrama and victimization for his dramatic scenes, which makes the tension of the show feel very childish. The premise is interesting, but the characters completely lack logic, and the way the author handles the conflict is quite watered down. Furthermore, given that it deals with a pandemic, and having recently experienced one, this manga has aged very poorly. The most noteworthy aspect of the work is its art, which, while not the author's best, still maintains a very high level of illustration. In short, I personally believe this is one of Kakizaki's worst works, only recommended for the author's most devoted fans.