I was looking for some new fighting manga, and after reading some of the popular content, I got sick of all the big-breasted fanservice-girls and just randomly clicked on a name in the list. It happened to be Gamaran. I was so happy to read a shounen manga with no big-breasted fanservice girls!

The story picks up really fast. which in my opinion, is not a bad thing at all. I don't want to read long boring intros about the characters. You dive straight into the action, and it's exciting all the way.

What I really like about this manga is the way the action is drawn. It is very clean and the style makes sure you know in which direction the character is moving in. You won't read the manga and think; "Just what in the world did they pull off in this frame?". The action is really easy to follow, so you don't become confused about the scenes and it ties up pretty nicely in the end.

The second thing I like about this manga is that the main character (Gama) has no problem killing people. He does seem to have morals though; he doesn't like it that innocent bystanders get killed. I think he will only kill people that willingly put themselves in dangerous situations in which they COULD be killed. He seems to have no problem killing off people like that. Plus he doesn't want to kill anyone that can't defend himself either.

I also like how the main character, while really strong and fast - still gets hurt! And he doesn't just recover in a few days like most shounen main characters do, he is dragged into fights with previous battle wounds that slow him down. It's a nice realistic touch.

I've read 21 chapters so far and the action is really nice. Aside from Gama, there hasn't been anyone in the series that seems interesting though, or has appeared long enough on the screen to spark any interest in me. Well I guess there's that guy who stalks Gama and narrates and explains Gama's moves, but that's about it.

I have high hopes for this manga; it's been a great read so far.

... Last updated on October 22nd, 2009, 9:02am

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

The protagonist is just in his teens. Most people would be suspect that he would be one of those cliche shounen characters who does not kill. Its rather the opposite he still retains that childish personality but shows no fear of killing when he fights.

The plot is rather original and the action is awesome. The art is great. Gamaran is worth the read.

... Last updated on June 17th, 2009, 1:55am

Whereas I thought this would be a cliche fighting manga with just another tournament, the author clearly knows what he's doing.

Enemies will use various strategies with their weapons to corner their opponent and go for the kill even against a kid. They will ignore all morals just to spread their school's name. When you think there is no way the main character could survive a blow that would strike all critical areas of his body, he would barely survive recieving minimum damage. This is really realistic, fast paced fight scenes using any method to win including ambushes and the like. Weapons will also get worn down in fights against various other weapons. People can die at any time in this manga.

The fight scenes are just incredible with many types of fighting styles all used to their maximum potential. The author definitely knows what he is doing.

... Last updated on July 1st, 2009, 9:30pm

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.

This may happen to be the best manga series to come out of Weekly Shonen Magazine so far this year.

Gamaran has a rather original plot, despite being set in Feudal Japan; the pacing of the story is well done, the actions are great and it has a set of great characters shown so far.

Even though it may remind readers of a certain manga from WSJ, I can assure you Gamaran is nothing like that series and as far as I know, Gamaran will probably be around for a long while.

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.

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

Having been reading manga for over ten years, I find the "Tournament arc" in any battle manga as one of the laziest ways of coming up with a story line.

This manga starts with a tournament arc right off the bat. Frankly, I was immediately turned off reading the series. Basically it's like this: "Introduce main character, tell him there is a tournament for strong people, protagonist goes to fight because he wants to become stronger". Not an ounce of originality plot wise.
Moving on, the art is pretty good and the action is nice and gives off the feeling of excitement battle mangas should provide. The flashbacks for characters introduced in one chapter and killed in the next one are completely pointless and they don't really make the manga any deeper(I ended up skipping through some of them).
Currently I've put this series on stand by to read when I have nothing interesting to read. I'll say that this is above the average shonnen manga because of the art, action and the fact that people actually die.

... Last updated on July 13th, 2012, 1:35pm

This is great! I super love this manga! Cheating, Shortcut, Backstabbing. this is the first manga where fair play is disdained and murdered. utterly fun!