Released: 2010, on going
Rated M for Mature
Authors/Artists: Zheng Jian He & Deng Zhi Hui
Authors/Artists: Zheng Jian He & Deng Zhi Hui
Synopsis: It isn't about the guy on the cover of vol.1 there ^, it's about his son Wu Geng/Ah Gou who is the heir to the Kingdom of Shang which has been oppressed by the Gods for centuries when his father (man on cover) rebels against them. The great Emperor of Shang loses the war and his son is sold into slavery by their enemies, the Kingdom of Zhou. He discovers that his mother was a Goddess and that he himself is half-God (did someone say Hercules?) He takes it upon himself to finish his father's mission to destroy the Gods' rule over humanity but he cannot do it alone, on his quests he meets a defact group of Gods and the Dark Ones, the sworn enemies of the Gods.
So far the manchua is on Season III, it is fully colored and drawn exceptionally well. My only real complaints are that it's open to anime/manga stereotypes such as yelling out attacks as the characters attack, talking way too much at times when words aren't needed, naming attacks and guy falls in love with girl he first meets although, in here, it's extremely different and works and there's no real romance in the manchua anyway. 105 chapters are released and it isn't ending anytime soon but I can see a definite ending in the future so hopefully it won't be like Inuyasha where it went on and on and on and on.
However, it is very interesting, many characters are very surprising or have surprising back stories. It isn't a philosophical comic or anything but it has a better storyline than most martial arts comics, and no worthless panty shots! Plus the main character, Wu-Geng/Ah Gou really matures through the chapter so it's character development you can actually see although there are a few bland characters like Bai Cai who is Wu-Geng/Ah Gou's wife. I don't see the point of her, I thought perhaps that she was a human descendant of the Dark Ones but there's no real detail.
I don't know how accurate these Gods represent Chinese folklore or mythology other than that the eldest and leader of the Great Gods is Tian (天,which means Heaven) who controls two dragons and Tian was a bad ass. You see Tian once in the beginning and then again in Season II towards the end. You see him seldom between the two Seasons where he has little to say. Actually, this comic has very little to do with Chinese folklore/mythology but look at that artwork and those colors!
Wu-Geng/Ah Gou (black haired kid) and his Uncle Zi Yu (white haired man) fighting one of the Great Gods in his domain of a zombie city. Zi Yu was first in line to become the Emperor of Shang but after losing the love of his life to his younger brother, he just gave up the throne to his brother in favor of traveling the world to forget his emotional pain. He is the greatest swordsmen in their world and is the only one capable of killing the Gods.
Zi Yu fighting Tian the eldest, strongest of the Great Gods. He is the last Ancient God, even in ancient times, his power was so great that the other Gods all turned on him and in his rage of being betrayed by his kin whom he was loyal to, killed all of the other Gods. He created the new generation of Gods that ruled over the era of the Emperor of Shang's rebellion and continues to rule over humans afterwards. Tian has one son and has only married once although he does have a consort. His son is very interesting and is part of a major plot twist so I won't be revealing who or what he is but his consort is a straight up bitch. I like Tian, he doesn't care about humanity, he is very laid back, in fact he's been asleep for hundreds of thousands of years and only wakes up twice in the comic. This page here ^ is the second time he was awakened.
Ni Tian ErXing, the Great General of the Dark Ones, the Dark Ones are the natural enemies of the Great Gods but they aren't demons or anything demonic. The Dark Ones once lived on Earth until they were removed by the Ancient Gods and were forced to live in Hell, since then they have harbored a great hatred for the Gods. They are prone to a disease called Petrification Sickness which turns their bodies into stone, it was inflicted upon them by the Gods. In Hell, they lived in various tribes and some lived in solitude until Ni Tian ErXing rallied them together as one people and one army. Their goal is to destroy all the Gods and live on Earth again. He's my favorite character, with his ninja mask on. He is very calm, even compassionate and understanding. He is the strongest of his race which is how he became the Great General.
It's a bad ass manchua and it deserves more love and more people reading it.
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