Iwgp - Ikebukuro West Gate Park Volume 1

By Ira Ishida and Sena Aritou

The story focuses around the 21 year old Makoto, a cool and level headedmember of the G-boys gang. Makoto, talented with defusing tense situations andkeeping his friends out of harm's way possibly stumbles into more than he canhandle. Is Makoto really in over his head? His new girlfriend's just been foundmurdered and a turf war is escalating between the two rival gangs. Volume one of Ikebukuro starts with Makoto meeting a couple of girls at aNew Year's Eve party, one of which he falls in love with. One month later she isfound strangled to death and Makoto feels guilty for hearing her die over hisphone while not being able to do anything about it. He vows to use hisunderground connections, the "G-boys," to catch the murderer. Soon after hefinds the likely culprit -- a perverted old doctor -- but as the storyunravels Makoto finds out the old man's innocent and the plot thickens, uncovering the twisted shocking truth Comes with a dust jacket.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1569709866
• ISBN13: 9781569709863
• Release Date: September 2004
• Publisher: Digital Manga Publishing
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 8.3"
• Age Range: 16 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 11 and higher

Customer Reviews

For Mature Audiences Only

I usually don't read this genre of books; i mostly read love stories and action mangas but the the descripition of this book was very interesting to say the least. I am glad I bought this. This story line is great, the drawing is very nice and characters are very loveable. This book is very much for mature audiences and that was one of the things that made me get this. I was looking for something with a more grown up attitude and this book has it. I will be getting vol. 2.

Beautifully drawn, a little strange. Good stuff.

The thing that first hit me about this manga is that the artwork is absolutely stunning. The slightly larger-than-normal size adds to this effect, making the book a really beautiful thing to read. The plot is a bit adult in nature, and there is enough adult-oriented material in the book to merit an R rating if such a thing existed for books. Not recommended for younger audiences. While the storyline is sometimes a little hard to follow, it starts playing out into a very good detective/vigilante tale that shows real promise for future volumes. I recommend that adult readers who are fans of Japanese drama (particularly the one this manga was based on) pick this title up.