The manga had a great start with brilliant character development. The plot is great though it was a little more shallow after the first arc. This manga is definitely worth reading.

when i first read the first pages i really found it not so interesting, but i still decided to read further.
and i'm really happy to read it further , because it got more and more exciting. Now i really want more!!!!!!!!
it's just so great. New characters appeared and the art gets more and more adorable!!!
can't wait for the next scanlates!!!!!!!!!

dude you cant blame the manga for not being original most mangas arent orginal they are base from different ideas people put into their believes and also the characters base from the authors perspective gives them the right to make the character believe what they should because they live through their own lives with different experiences

I started reading this because of a friend (seriously, this manga has way too little love... it deserves SO much more) and today, I read it up-to-date. As in, all 15 volumes (found some Chinese raws for the later ones that weren't translated.) And I have to say, after 15 volumes, I DEFINITELY want more. It is just that good, I'm telling you.

I don't know why the heck people would call this "unoriginal" and "save-the-princess" or whatever. I for one have no complaints. I think the plot is definitely interesting and fresh, with lots of plot twists, action, and a lot of depth. The characterization is so realistic, and I don't think any of their angsty pasts were overdone. There's also some good humor added in once every few panels, so it's not all gory and depressing like you'd think from reading the summary.

I, personally, am IN LOVE with the art. Aside from some shonen-ish short miniskirts and big boobs or whatever, it's really good art. I really like the mangaka's style, he's amazing at the perspectives and the angle shots and the action scenes. Some mangakas, you can totally tell they have no idea how to draw a person punching or throwing a high kick, but with Alive, it's just PERFECT.

Now I just wish that they could release the next volume soon 'cuz THAT WAS A CLIFFY!!!!111 I really hate those.

I haven't read it yet and I don't rate anything I haven't actually read a few pages of.

This looks like a great manga to me. The art is awesome and the main char,. kinda reminds me of Kyo from Blood+! XD
Reading the summary, I'm instantly pulled into this and can't wait to start reading. Horror/Mystery is literally my fav because it always keep me on edge wanting to see what will happen next. And I like making guesses and solving things on my own.

This kinda gives me the feel of Death Note for some reason... -.- heh hehh
Anyway, I'm totally giving this a try and I hope anyone who comes across this page reads it too!

P.S.(to "Trov") - GANTZ makes me feel like barfing... -.-; I can't get the intestines outta my head. I regret watching the series on Anime Network, but the storyline is very GOOD as well as the art in the anime.

Pretty good so far. Definitely worth checking out.

-Rah

The beginning was promising: suicides, mysteries ... I thought maybe there was something psychological and seinen, but, turns out it's just sci-fi, and insted of advance technology, the aliiens brought us special abilities like magic, sort of like Flame of Recca, you know, fire, ice, gravity and stuff. I continued reading just to see why people kill themselves smilling. I had to endured reading until I got the author's message in the last chapter, because it was hardly enjoyable:

CONS:
- Plot: an MC destinied to kill the main antagonist, but unlike in Berserk, Monster, or 21 century boys, this one just has no plot at all. The MC could have just killed the anta in the first 10 chapters and call it a day, but somehow, it lasted almost 90 chapters, just explaining unrelated stuff and introducing more and more characters doing uncessary things. Everything in the beginning was to lead to their decisive battle, but then nothing happened, and the anta just slept for 2 years so the author can introduce more characters serving no plot purpose whatsoever... and in the end, nothing happened either. All abilities are gone. Buff. We return to chapter 0, yeah, before chapter 1 when the story started, everyone just goes about their daily like as if nothing ever happened.

MC: just your typical stupid, easy going goody 2 shoes. His role is to defeat the devil and save the princess, but instead of fighting the boss, he just wished for it. or something along the lines. He has no character growth at all, from beginning to end, it was like this: 'the anta's gone too far, i've got to stop him', then when they met: 'why can't we just all be friends', then the dude kills more people, he goes 'the anta's gone too far, i've got to stop him' again. Yes, in the end, he doesn't even let others kill the anta for him and still wished things never changed.

Heroines: The main is heroine is exactly like Peach from Mario. She has no characters. Just a pretty face waiting to be rescued. And as if she weren't bland enough, she were brainwashed, to be even more empty and silly: she doesn't try to run away from the bad guys, she stick to them. The second heroine, Nami, is your typical tsundere, the idol of the school who somehow got the hot for the MC. About 1/3 of the story was about their romance, since her attractiveness is a pull to keep readers continued reading. Besides that, she also serve no plot purpose, the story would be the same if she weren't there, as the MC chose the first Peach anyway.

Main anti: a loser. He's such a loser you don't wanna bother dealing with him. A bullied kid who doesn't fight back, because he doesn't wanna do stuff to others which he doesn't wanna done to him. Yet, deep down, he wants to kill them all, so it's just that he doesn't have the guts to fight. He loves the Peach heroine, but doesn't have the balls to even express his feelings, and just blame the MC, who helps his useless ass, for his suffering, until he received a power from outer space which lets him kill people like ants, he feels all better and superior, and kipnap Peach himselve, though he never touches her, so the poor kid may be impotent, sexually frustrated, or bisexual and is actually in love with the MC but knowing he can't have his love realized either way, he wants to kill everyone to be alone. Not sure if he knows this or not, fastest way to achieve that is for him to just kill himselve save us our time.

Sub anti: I feel sorry for the old man. He schemes, plans, manipulates others to die for his goal. He does that until his death by a falling telephone pole while never achieving his goal.

PROS:
Good art work. ~3-5 hot gals.

CONCLUSION
To save you time, I'll just tell you the author's message: Life sucks. But go on living anyway.

There, I just save days to read through ~90 chapters of this manga. Seriously though, do read this manga, if you have nothing better to do with your life.

loved the manga. I have read this over and over again for the joy of it. It took me two tries to finish it, that's true, but it still has become one of my favorites. If you like the genres, there's no reason to avoid it. There is never enough gore, but this was good. It allows people who don't like gore to enjoy it too. SO, it made me really mad to hear that the planning of making this into an anime was canceled. In 2008 they announced it, and my feels when through the roof. Then they turn around and said No... T.T "According to the Monthly Shonen Magazine editors, production on the anime project was suspended last year due to the delisting of the Gonzo anime studio from the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Gonzo was co-producing the anime with another studio, AIC. The people involved did their best to revive the project after Gonzo's delisting, but to no avail." - ANN (Anime New Network)

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!