Gamaran is awesome because the author sticks to what he does best - well drawn, exciting, old-school fight scenes made even better by being believable. The pacing is fast, so if you're reading it straight through you really start wanting a breather with something slower. But I can also see how this would be great if you're reading on a weekly basis; you'll know that Gamaran will always deliver.

Artistically, some characters start to blur and he's not exactly breaking new ground stylistically. Gamaran really shines when it comes to storytelling and panelling. Everything is clear and concise, even in the middle of a complex fight scene.

Plot-wise, the beginning was very typical shounen. Young lad sets out on journey to kick some ass, powers up to kick ass, etc etc. While I did enjoy this because the author was very blunt about what the series was about (the tournament was unpretentiously about whoever was the strongest), the constant fights were definitely getting old after a while. But since the timeskip (chapter 84,85), things have gotten a bit more complex with intrigue, betrayals, etc. Now I'm actually interested in reading about something other than fights in this series.

There's somewhat of a lack of deep insight into characters' motivations and feelings beyond what you would generally find in shounen. I'm of two minds with this - it doesn't make for memorable characters, but there's also no wishy-washy moralising.

In the end, I like Gamaran because it's unpretentious. It's purely about awesome fights. If you want anything more than that, look elsewhere.

Its above average, but not more than that. Its not a 9 or 10 (great) series. It boils down to this: train to become a bad@ss, train more become a bigger bad@ss, train some more become a Super Sayan, etc, etc. <yawn> Doesn't have much of a plot outside of training except for this: dude wants power, other dudes want revenge on dude who wants power. <snore> So what else does it have? Great drama? Not really. Deep martial arts philosophy? Nope, unless you count "must get stronger", which you see in every shonen fighting manga. Romance? none. Humor? a tiny bit. So, what does it have going for it? Well, it does have its moments where it can get exciting action wise, and sometimes the description of how some techniques work are interesting. I also think the art is pretty good and the action is drawn well. The only weakness about the art is some characters look like others, but have different hair. I think this will mainly appeal to shonen action junkies that really like a lot of action, which is fine but I prefer a little more than that. After 85 chapters I put it down.

... Last updated on February 27th, 2012, 10:35pm

This manga is awesome. It is not entirely like a stereotypical shonen. In my opinion, a stereotypical shonen is Fairy Tail -- don't put Gamaran in the same category. This series is way more mature, realistic (still creative though), and bloody than most shonen.

... Last updated on October 15th, 2011, 5:54pm

From the start it was typical shounen, I beat you up by training harder than you, basically. Now he's fighting people who have taken steroids and still beating them because of his training. This is pretty common but I've never seen this in a samurai-era manga.So not only is there no suspension of disbelief but now it makes it seem like it's trying to give them super strength and speed.The manga isn't bad but it looks bad when seen through objective eyes.

This is perhaps my favorite manga out there right now. It's unique in that its one of the few(only?) Shounen manga where the main character actually kills. The series has fantastic actions scenes, awesome characters and a solid plot. It's a weapon based martial arts shounen, so its not particularly inventive, and there are no female characters who are involved in any of the action(realistically) but everything else is rock solid. It's a fantastic shounen. I won't give this a rating since I don't rate manga until I've read 100 chapters but I recommend this series to any who like action manga. After the first 3 volumes or so you'll be hooked on this series.

It's interesting at first, but then becomes pretty tedious. Main guys beat the craps outta each of rivals. And including some ridiculous explanation about martial art techniques. There are plenty of better manga, Kenshin is a vivid example. Also, Samurai Deeper Kyo is a similar one. Recommend to those love swordsmanship. If you want something different, don't try this or you are gonna be disappointed.

If you like action this is the best manga. If you like heated drama between family and rivals this is the best manga. If you like a martial storyline that doesnt have pointless boring filler chapters(bleach) and a manga that gets straight to the Point(kick fucking ass allday) THIS IS THE BEST MANGA. Ive never been this excited for upcoming chapter before in my lIfe. The author better not fuck this up

The manga itself reminds me of Rurouni Kenshin but without the annoying "i won't kill anybody" thing. And the plot with the evil superhuman father reminds me of Grappler Baki. But I was always annoyed with Baki being an idiot and having no skills at all and still being overhyped by those around him while getting pwned by his opponents all the time and somehow still winning miraculously at the end.
Opposed to that Gama is a much more likable character with real skill and fighting genius. And the other Ogame members are great too. Sometimes funny, sometimes cool. With their own personalities and backgrounds.

great pacing, ever growing cast of characters and groups, almost non-stop action, and a little edge of mystery
also i like how they dont go on long preachy speeches during fights, and how its ok for characters to die.

... Last updated on October 1st, 2010, 12:51am

A slightly above average shounen manga. Similarities to certain other manga aside, Gamaran is somewhat unique for this day and age. The manga takes a turn back in time on how martial arts shounen used to be. The art is nice, and the swordplay lessons are very intriguing. It does however, get somewhat repetetive after time, and there really isn't much more going on except for the fact that the protagonist goes about winning duels, with a slight background plot. That being said, it is a simple read for those who enjoy the good old days when katanas were all that was needed to make a shounen successful.