Read Pure Trance Junko Mizuno 9780867198782 Books

Product details Hardcover 192 pages Publisher Last Gasp (September 1, 2019) Language English ISBN-10 0867198788

Pure Trance Junko Mizuno 9780867198782 Books Reviews

• Love the artwork. The story is extremely dark but I enjoyed it. I could not put it down once I started. Its a quick read, about 1 to 2 hours nonstop. I recommend this book to mature audiences because the characters are either topless or in extremely suggestive outfits.
• I adore this book!! I have reread this book so many times. The story is just mind grabbing and the artwork is beautiful
• Gift for my daughter. She loves it.
• If you're a fan of Junko Mizuno, you pretty much NEED this in your collection.
• For those looking at this purely from the title, Yes, this is indeed inspired by or a compliment to the "Pure Trance" CD volumes; we're told this on the inside flap of the book though anything else it has to do with the music other than the name isn't told, but none of that matters.
  
  This book is an insanely fun, gory, violent and yes, cute, traipse through the mind of Mizuno. Her distinct style lies in between typical over-drawn shojo characters and excessive violence dubbed "kawaii noir". At first glance, it much closer to the shojo style of things but Mizuno really has a short temper with such shallow and frivolous characters and her way of cutting them up and putting them in their place is fun and, if you look deeper, maybe a critique on her own culture a bit. But on the surface level it's still great.
  
  This was Mizuno's first full-length manga, expanded from an original story of the same name. Sometime in the future, the world's inhabitants went underground from the fallout of a past war. Now, society is run much the same way, though all the communities are sustained with capsules instead of edibles. The allegory here is almost preachy, but ISN'T because it's always fun and never forced down your throat, heh-heh. When the psychedelic overworld meshes with the insanely cute of the underworld you have some damn fine art on your hands. Mizuno is a great artist, and one of the only drawbacks of such a book is the fact that it is in black and gray - a minor complaint, but one all the same for anyone who has seen Mizuno work with color!
  
  Another reason for my rating of only four stars is the story itself. It's not very meaty and at times is pretty predictable. It also closes without much of any closure at all, but you're driven to flip through at least a second time for the "Pure Trance Trivia" at the bottom of most every page (which Mizuno recommends you only read after you've completed the story, and I recommend the same). Another small complaint is the apparent sameyness of some of the characters. Most are easily distinguished but when the girls start mixing up their wardrobe it might force you to flip back a few pages to the wonderful, full-page drawings at the beginning of each chapter. Wait, that's no complaint at all!
  
  All in all, this is a great addition to any avant-horror collection and will probably reveal even more fun on repeated readings. Mizuno's head is full of all the psychedelia-tainted nightmares and ghosts that roam the streets of Shinjuku. When ko-gal blood flies, everyone loves it.
• I'm a fan of Junko Mizuno, so I was more than willing to get Pure Trance since I already have Cinderalla.
  It is the future and World War III has ruined the earth's surface, causing mankind to retreat underground in large cities. Due to a food shortage, people have to eat Pure Trance and meat is outlawed.
  Like all of Junko Mizuno's works, the art style is cartoonish, giving a retro, pop art and 80s cartoons aimed towards girls like Strawberry Shortcake, as well as underground comix like Cherry.
  The story is interesting to say the least. It can be difficult to understand at times, since Mizuno is vague on character details. For example, the villain of the story, The Director, is never explored. It is never revealed why she is insane and murderous. And how did she rise to power? As for characterization, Mizuno's characters tend to fall a little flat. The main character is always a sweet, innocent girl. The villain is either insane or malicious on some level. Everyone else is a smoking, drinking cutie pie or bizzare on some level. However, if you're looking for depth in characters, trying reading some Tezuka. Another thing is that there is absence of male characters most of the time, except for two. That's right. TWO. The other thing is that they look alike. I digress.
  Pure Trance is worth reading if you want a crash-course in introducing yourself to the world of Junko Mizuno. I would suggest at least picking it up and trying it out to see if you would enjoy the art style.
  
  Plot B
  Characters B-
  Art A
  Readability B (You may end up re-reading this one)
  On average B (try the library)