Ray

Reviewed by William "Tony" Cooley
March 21, 2006

Author: Akihito Yoshitomi Artist: Akihito Yoshitomi Publisher: ADV Manga Website: Click Here Review Rating: 8 out of 10

Having recently come off a Trauma Center: Under the knife playing binge on my Nintendo DS, I was really excited to see a new volume of Ray in stores recently. Ray is a manga about a young woman with bionic eyes who is an excellent surgeon under pressure. She works for a mysterious benefactor who supports her search for the people who took her eyes, and her memories. As a child Ray was raised by an organization that raised orphaned children and harvested their organs for sale. Ray is now hoping to find the man who sold her eyes, and to shut the organization down.

This series is created and drawn by Akihito Yoshitomi and is a little over two years old, so the art direction is current and fresh. The stories feature a few action sequences that provide a nice break from the dialogue, and the surgical sequences are never too graphic. The translation seems to go well with the mood established in the stories, and I am enjoying the series quite a bit.

In the age of shoujo books, ninja books, and anything with an anime series getting licensed; Ray could be one of those sleeper hits that gets passed over very easily. The story is compelling without being too complicated, and the series is only 7 tankoubon long. I like short series because their stories move along quickly and get to the point. The art style makes good uses of block coloring which is a nice change of pace from hyper-realistic shading used in a typical "whodunit" mystery manga. If you are looking for something different that won't break your wallet, this is the series for you!

More Cover Art (click image to enlarge) :