Manga Review: Break Hands

Title: Break Hands
Author: Sasaki Minoru
Release: Monthly
Status: Complete
Genre: Seinen, Fantasy
Art: B
Originality: B
Story: B
Characters: B
Humor: B
Action: A

Impression: This takes place in a world where these mysterious stones called star rocks exist and by embedding them into their bodies, people can gain abilities unique to each individual. One such individual is the main character of the story, a promising young militant whose brother and father are of higher standing in their military force. One day however, the older brother he looked up betrays their country, kills their father and kidnaps the princess. After going through all the chaos that his brother and his allies had caused, he embarks on a mission to chase down his brother and rescue the princess carrying with him the intention of avenging his father death. It started off pretty well, establishing the characters and plot quite well but then, for some reason, it rushed off to its end with an ending that just turned everything on its head. Characterization, plot, premise, pacing. All of that got screwed over by the introduction of a never mentioned villain that happens to be the cause of everything that happened since the beginning of the series, bringing along a sudden power up worthy of Kubo Tite with her. I’m guessing the manga got axed for one reason or another and that’s real shame since the manga probably wasn’t even anywhere near its halfway point. Not sure if I should recommend this otherwise good series because of the horribly disappointing ending.