This review is for the entire 12-volume series.

Although it's notorious for becoming quite graphic in later series, it's very slow-paced and is not exploitative in any sense. If you want gore and sex, there are countless guro, horror and hentai manga that will provide much more than Shadow Star. Nothing really shocking happens until about the 7th volume which is censored anyway in the Dark Horse release.

Anyway, this series is completely unique. A real puzzle. It never, ever went where I expected it to, and I had a lot of expectations, given the familiar setup. The pacing and plotting were so utterly unusual that it actually becomes somewhat confusing and it seemed to consciously avoid crowd-pleasingly dramatic plot developments. There are many, many characters and they'll come in and come out of the story seemingly arbitrarily, playing completely unexpected roles in the plot. For instance, there are a lot of subplots that seem very important at first but are resolved in a volume and the relevant characters are never seen or heard from again. Also,

Spoiler

the bad guys turn out to be total pushovers and there is barely a final showdown to speak of. Another interesting example is the death of the knife-wielding push-dragon guy at the start of the series, and his missing body. Readers are left to assume he will return later in the plot, more powerful and evil than ever. But when he does finally return he doesn't really play much of a role and he's certainly not an adversary

. Anyway, I can't understate how bizarre the plotting and pacing is. I've never read anything like it. Most events seem almost arbitrary.

I will reiterate that this is a very slow-paced series and could be quite frustrating for some. Truly dramatic moments are very few and far between. Most of it just seems to meander along with its huge cast of characters (many of which happen to look almost the same) towards some unknown goal. I will say that it's worth sticking with. Though unlike other plot points, the ending itself was not entirely unexpected, it is very satisfying.

Despite the slow and deliberately unsatisfying pacing, this is an amazing series. Despite the initially familiar concept (kids with magical creatures), it is completely unique. Kitoh also does an excellent job at maintaining thematic unity throughout and expressing his complex ideas uniquely and subtly. Perhaps my favourite example of this is when Norio the cross-dresser gives his life to save his best friend Takeo. He loves him unrequitedly and has a secret but biologically impossible wish to bear his child. As he gives his life for Takeo, his dragon also dies, briefly forming a large foetus on its side as a representation of his secret wish and his love for his friend. It's gorgeous. Yes, moments like these are rare in Shadow Star, but they are very potent. Although most of the series is very unemotional and lacks cheap dramatic plot developments, once in a while it is truly heart-rending.

Anyway, if you have a lot of patience and an appreciation for originality and thematic complexity, go ahead and read Shadow Star. It might be a bit of a slog but hopefully you'll appreciate it in the end.

This review is for the entire 12-volume series.

Although it's notorious for becoming quite graphic in later series, it's very slow-paced and is not exploitative in any sense. If you want gore and sex, there are countless guro, horror and hentai manga that will provide much more than Shadow Star. Nothing really shocking happens until about the 7th volume which is censored anyway in the Dark Horse release.

Anyway, this series is completely unique. A real puzzle. It never, ever went where I expected it to, and I had a lot of expectations, given the familiar setup. The pacing and plotting were so utterly unusual that it actually becomes somewhat confusing and it seemed to consciously avoid crowd-pleasingly dramatic plot developments. There are many, many characters and they'll come in and come out of the story seemingly arbitrarily, playing completely unexpected roles in the plot. For instance, there are a lot of subplots that seem very important at first but are resolved in a volume and the relevant characters are never seen or heard from again. Also,

Spoiler

the bad guys turn out to be total pushovers and there is barely a final showdown to speak of. Another interesting example is the death of the knife-wielding push-dragon guy at the start of the series, and his missing body. Readers are left to assume he will return later in the plot, more powerful and evil than ever. But when he does finally return he doesn't really play much of a role and he's certainly not an adversary

. Anyway, I can't understate how bizarre the plotting and pacing is. I've never read anything like it. Most events seem almost arbitrary.

I will reiterate that this is a very slow-paced series and could be quite frustrating for some. Truly dramatic moments are very few and far between. Most of it just seems to meander along with its huge cast of characters (many of which happen to look almost the same) towards some unknown goal. I will say that it's worth sticking with. Though unlike other plot points, the ending itself was not entirely unexpected, it is very satisfying.

Despite the slow and deliberately unsatisfying pacing, this is an amazing series. Despite the initially familiar concept (kids with magical creatures), it is completely unique. Kitoh also does an excellent job at maintaining thematic unity throughout and expressing his complex ideas uniquely and subtly. Perhaps my favourite example of this is when Norio the cross-dresser gives his life to save his best friend Takeo. He loves him unrequitedly and has a secret but biologically impossible wish to bear his child. As he gives his life for Takeo, his dragon also dies, briefly forming a large foetus on its side as a representation of his secret wish and his love for his friend. It's gorgeous. Yes, moments like these are rare in Shadow Star, but they are very potent. Although most of the series is very unemotional and lacks cheap dramatic plot developments, once in a while it is truly heart-rending.

Anyway, if you have a lot of patience and an appreciation for originality and thematic complexity, go ahead and read Shadow Star. It might be a bit of a slog but hopefully you'll appreciate it in the end.

I'm oversimpifying, but Shadow Star is what would happen to Pokemon if it were in the horror genre... Junior high aged kids have these creatures with special powers. Sadly, not all kids are nice or well adjusted. Some of them are pretty terrible people.

I like the manga (and the anime series) a lot, but it's pretty brutal content-wise. A lot of stuff ends up happening out of panel or off screen. Not so much in this volume. But later on? Watch out.