i don't know what the hell had the others been reading, because the second arc rock my socks off! i feel this is even better that the first arc. just because it dont have a perfect happy ending you all diss it? what the hell? i love it especially because it don't try to sugar coat things. i know i'm a monster for saying this, but in a way i'm glad the mangaka write the last chapters in his death bed, it give such depth of feelings to the conclusion.

all the other aspect of the manga is amazing too. the art is pretty at the start and became progressively beautiful and detail until the end. the picture of destruction and death on the last few chapters were done in such detailed and artistic manner. the characters are interesting, from the villains to the hero. well, i feel the side characters are more interesting than the main character, but i always feel the same with most of the manga i had read. their thought, quirk and motivation...it pleases me they are dynamic and flexible with their emotions and actions. the fights are pretty cool. the pacing is brilliant, i was at the edge of my seat throughout and i finished this manga in one swoop. the theme from the first until the last chapter never waver, and the conclusion tie up nicely with the title.

the only real hangup for me is that in the second arc, the 'family' is hazy in origin. i can't understand how such family come into being, from such a person...but it just a minor issue. but others may feel the inconclusive romance a bigger hangup but since i don't care about that, it don't matter to me.
this is very heavily recommended!

... Last updated on March 22nd, 2012, 7:01am

Mann I love this manga. Really interesting and the drawings are beautiful. The first ark is well plotted touching, and sometimes funny. They did a good job with the character backgrounds, each character had their reasons to be who they were. But arc 2 was truely a fail, there was many fail characters and had powers they didn't deserve. The little speedy girl really got.on my nerves man I would have liked it better if it ended at arc 1

Wow, yesterday, I wanted to pick up a new manga just for fun, but little did I know I would finish all 82 chapters in one day! It was THAT addicting. At first, I was tempted to drop the manga after the first few pages because the art didn't appeal to me that much, but boy am I glad that I kept going! The art gets SOOO much better, that I read more slowly because I wanted to look at the drawings more.

Plot wise, I really liked the story. Granted, the man character like many people said before is a lot like Naruto, or your average shounen hero. However, I still like Taisuke a lot. The whole suicide virus thing I thought was very original, and I kept wanting to find out what happens next. I also liked the first arc better, but the second arc was still good. There were a few times when I actually laughed out loud, which doesn't happen for me usually.

I don't think anyone should complain about the ending, because I think if you've read enough mangas, you would know that EVERYONE complains about endings, usually anyways. It's hard to end a really great manga, and everyone's expecting something crazy. But I liked the ending, because it's very nice and calm--I think it's a perfect closure. Plus, we all know the writer of the story finished this manga on his deathbed, so the ending really reflects what he was thinking and going through. Of course, I also had few questions about a lot of things that happened, because it seems like everything was so complicated with Mitama, and in the end, things ended up way more simply than I thought would have happened, given the complexity of the plot and the rising action/climax...but yeah, that doesn't change the excitement I had reading it, and I wouldn't rate it lower because of few what seems like plot holes/ambiguities.

So what are you doing? Go and read this exciting manga!

I personally loved this manga and was so amazed when I heard the story of its author( who died from cancer in a good way...). I didn't think there were so much people hating it so, now, I'm kind of reflecting on what I thought. I read some of the hate comments just to be sure and now I've made my mind. I won't back down that this could be considered a masterpiece. Though the first part is better than the second the story held itself good. Hirose should have had his character developed better than that, it's true. And, the ending had some confusing parts I think. But what I truly loved and which didn't bother me at all though it seems to have bothered some is that this manga, just as dramatic and crazy may the situation get, it kept itself as a bright kind of story. through good and bad times, never did the story become dark and too mysterious to be understood. That's the best way I coulp put it into words, period.
and, about the art, it's top notch. especially starting vol 7 or so. It's a shame the author died, he could have brought an even better piece. May he rest in peace ~

... Last updated on January 22nd, 2012, 1:23pm

All I can say is that I love this manga. Just by chance I checked it out from the library and before I knew it, I was addicted to it. I love the storyline because it did not bore me, and personally I like the artwork. I love the characters in Alive. Each character has his/her issues but they're not depressed or anything. Yeah the suicidal thing is kinda weird but it's ok. It's now one of my favorite manga. I'm planning to buy all the volumes.

I for one loved it. It made me cry, laugh, sigh, and smile. This is in my top favorite mangas and I don't see how its bad. I actually liked the story plot and the artwork at first was okay but it improves a lot in time. The characters were amazing, and the villains were great too. So this is a must read!

I loved the manga. It took me two tries to finish it, that's true, but it still has become one of my favourites. So who cares about the comments badmouthing it, just read it. If you like the genres, there's no reason to avoid it. The rating is good as well, so what's stopping you?

Fear because there might be a lot of gore? Or because it's partly also about suicide? There's no reason to, it's a shounen manga after all, not some seinen. Fear because it's not original? Veto! In my opinion, it's farly original for a shounen - especially near the end! Try it out, especially if you like shounen! (Romance and shoujo fans might feel a little neglected though)

Other than Naruto and Bleach, I've never tried Shonen mangas much. This one actually was interesting and had me hooked. But that's mainly because of my interest in a lot of fights, blood, action etc. And the plot line is really good-- at least to me.

One another note I especially liked it because


Hopefully it still keeps me engaged later in the series.

http://i25.mangareader.net/alive-the-final-evolution/11/alive-the-final-evolution-582368.jpg
http://i21.mangareader.net/alive-the-final-evolution/11/alive-the-final-evolution-582369.jpg

.. happened

This has gotta be the stupidest, laziest, cheesiest, panels I've ever read in my history of manga-reading. I seriously want to fly to Japan and feed the author's children to cannibalistic hookers for the reconstructive surgery I had to undergo after my palm collided with my face. I'm usually good at keeping away from horribly-executed mangas, but I gave this one a shot because of the interesting beginning and its false hopes of potential

To sum it up, this manga is an enormous piece of shit, disguised as a potentially good read. Don't stray too close, unless you wanna end up with shit stains on your face for the rest of your life

P.S.
I highly recommend Parasyte if you've already suffered from this manga. It's about the same concept (parasites coming to earth) but MUCH more well-done

... Last updated on August 9th, 2011, 2:15am

So i agree with the rest that the first arc was amazing. I really liked it, and the second arc was much weaker in comparison. Putting that aside it was still a very good story. The only real flaw I saw, which others stated, is the goals/desires of the characters...some were never explained and others changed. The one thing that bothered me the most was Hirose.
I mean at first it made sense that he resented being helped all the time and never doing anything...and that he wished he could atract Megu, but in the end it seemed that he was truely just trying to kill Taisuke....I think that if Hirose was more clear of a character in the second arc, along with some of the emotions that were brought out from the first arc this story would be much better. But I still give it a 8 out of 10