Review: Limit, Vol. 1 by Keiko Suenobu
Limit Vol. 1
by Keiko Suenobu
When a school bus flies off a mountain road en route to a summer retreat, the results are disastrous. Only a few students from the high school class survive: Mizuki Konno, a girl always friends with the right people; Haru Ichinose, a member of Konno's elite clique; Chikage Usui, a quiet girl beloved by her parents, Chieko Kamiya, a cold pragmatist; and Arisa Morshige, the class oddball. After years of being picked on by girls like Kanno, Morishige immediately asserts dominance - and since she's the only one with a weapon, she becomes the mad queen of the small band. As the girls wait for rescue, tensions mount as old rivalries, fear and a lust for power begin to take control. As the voice of reason, Kamiya does her best to keep things calm, but Morishige's instability and the trauma of losing their classmates threaten to send everyone off the edge.
I really think this series is off to a great start! It's basically "Lord of the Flies" with Japanese high school girls. It's a really interesting study of the social structure of the high school student, and what happens when that is violently disrupted.
Some of it makes me laugh- it turns out that the ostracized class weirdo is, in fact, quite strange and perhaps her classmates were extremely justified in avoiding her. Some girls crack under the pressure/loss of the social hierarchy. Others carry on more or less as before.
Kanno, the main protagonist, is interesting because like most of us, she is neither wholly good or bad. Her manifesto for high school was to swim with the current, never becoming too attached but always remaining middling popular. Until the crisis hits, she had no idea how distant she'd become from her classmates, but now that she's aware it'll be interesting to see if she tries to "fit in" with the rest of the survivors or charts her own path. She's sympathetic because she's very realistic, neither saint or evil sinner. I look forward to seeing what choices she makes as survival mode kicks in and supplies run out.
4.5 out of 5 stars
To read more about Limit Vol. 1, buy it or add it to your wishlist click here.
Peeking into the archives...today in:
2012: The Thirteen by Susie Maloney
2011: Flowers in a Storm, Vol. 1 by Shigeyoshi Takagi
2010: Fallen by David Maine
2009: Sorrow Wood by Raymond L. Atkins
2008: Guernica by Dave Boling
by Keiko Suenobu
When a school bus flies off a mountain road en route to a summer retreat, the results are disastrous. Only a few students from the high school class survive: Mizuki Konno, a girl always friends with the right people; Haru Ichinose, a member of Konno's elite clique; Chikage Usui, a quiet girl beloved by her parents, Chieko Kamiya, a cold pragmatist; and Arisa Morshige, the class oddball. After years of being picked on by girls like Kanno, Morishige immediately asserts dominance - and since she's the only one with a weapon, she becomes the mad queen of the small band. As the girls wait for rescue, tensions mount as old rivalries, fear and a lust for power begin to take control. As the voice of reason, Kamiya does her best to keep things calm, but Morishige's instability and the trauma of losing their classmates threaten to send everyone off the edge.
I really think this series is off to a great start! It's basically "Lord of the Flies" with Japanese high school girls. It's a really interesting study of the social structure of the high school student, and what happens when that is violently disrupted.
Some of it makes me laugh- it turns out that the ostracized class weirdo is, in fact, quite strange and perhaps her classmates were extremely justified in avoiding her. Some girls crack under the pressure/loss of the social hierarchy. Others carry on more or less as before.
Kanno, the main protagonist, is interesting because like most of us, she is neither wholly good or bad. Her manifesto for high school was to swim with the current, never becoming too attached but always remaining middling popular. Until the crisis hits, she had no idea how distant she'd become from her classmates, but now that she's aware it'll be interesting to see if she tries to "fit in" with the rest of the survivors or charts her own path. She's sympathetic because she's very realistic, neither saint or evil sinner. I look forward to seeing what choices she makes as survival mode kicks in and supplies run out.
4.5 out of 5 stars
To read more about Limit Vol. 1, buy it or add it to your wishlist click here.
Peeking into the archives...today in:
2012: The Thirteen by Susie Maloney
2011: Flowers in a Storm, Vol. 1 by Shigeyoshi Takagi
2010: Fallen by David Maine
2009: Sorrow Wood by Raymond L. Atkins
2008: Guernica by Dave Boling