Pandemonium: Wizard Village

[TrishaCat]

It occurred to me that I'm late on making a thread for this here. I made one a while back on FAF and apparently forgot about it. 

Have any of you read Pandemonium: Wizard Village? Its a Japanese webcomic later published as a manga made by the criminally underrated and ignored Sho Shibamoto. Its about a cat named Zipher who is out traveling the desert in search of a city made up of people known as variants, strange deformed beings said to have magical unexplainable powers. With him he carries a heavy box, with which he seems to care about deeply. He collapses in exhaustion only to be rescued by one such variant, a fox? girl named Domika, against the will of the villagers there. Why was Zipher searching for this village, and what does he intend to do there? What is inside his box that makes him care about it so much that he would drag it with him through the desert? What sort of magical powers do these variants have, and why do they live off from the rest of the world?

Its a very interesting read and I constantly found myself in awe at some of the twists, reveals, and just in general major events that happen in the story. Its only 12 chapters long, with each chapter being about 30 pages in length, so it can be read in full in about 2 hours I think. Despite its short length, it doesn't feel rushed. All the characters have an amazing amount of effort put into their characterization, making sure to give them each a distinct and memorable personality. I found that impressive given the short span of the work. The shortness also means that the story is constantly moving and engaging. No time is spent in the manga that's wasted; everything holds importance.

The artwork is also very unique, having this sort of brown rustic look and yet looking new at the same time. Its got a lot of detail, and the way the eyes of the characters are drawn helps give them a strange otherworldly feel, all the while everything else about them makes them look less menacing and more like normal characters. The characters themselves are also very expressive. Its usually very clear when they're showing any sort of strong emotion, and it makes it very fun to look at. Its a beautiful artistic masterpiece in a work in my opinion, and it seems strange to me how unknown it is, despite the amount of effort put into it. Just look at it:

Well, what do you think? Have any of you read it?

 

Edited April 4, 2016 by Battlechili