Monster Hunter: Flash Hunter, Vol. 1

Monster Hunter Flash #1

by Keiichi Hikami

Hunting giant man-eating beasts is no job for the weak-hearted, but along with courage, it takes skill and experience to be a good Hunter. It also takes good teamwork. Raiga and his comrades are experts now, but when they started down the path of the Monster Hunter, they lacked these qualities. When they head off to confront the dragon-like Queropeco, they quickly learn that this flaw could cost them dearly…

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Action, Graphic Novels, Teen, Comic Book

224 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 10, 2013

Reviews

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not too sure what I think of this first volume. It shows some potential but it did not draw me in either.

There are several elements of a traditional adventure party. The variety of character specialties, getting quests from the local tavern, etc. I really enjoyed that. I am struggling with the time setting. The lifestyle is but some of the gear and weapons seem higher tech and that has never been a choice blend for me unless done JUST right.

As for characters, so far Raiga and Tolche show potential but Keres so far is blah. I hope he gets better. The monsters were just weird. Some looked like they fit in, others seemed like they didn't belong. They artistic style in how they are drawn doesn't blend with the rest.

While I get this was an intro volume, I feel more world backstory is needed or at least major character building, before I can truly enjoy it. I will be giving volume 2 a chance though, as this was a fast read.

*I was given a copy of this in exchange for a fair/honest review*

[Ash (BooksToAshes) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars!

Loving this so much! I got chills when Rathian showed up. A seriously good manga for Monster Hunter fans, might be a little confusing for people who don't know the franchise but still really good artwork and very similar to the games :)

[Online Eccentric Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

Monster Hunter: Flash Hunter is a manga serialization of the popular game and novels by Keiichi Hikami. The story centrally features a somewhat dimwitted but very exuberant young man who wants to become a master monster hunter. He'll fight all kinds of fearsome beasts, each with their own unique strengths and weaknesses, as he works to create his own team. Monster Hunter may be a bit of a 'monster of the week' type of manga but that shouldn't be too surprising since it is based upon a battle game. This first volume delves into the origin story of how Raiga got his team.

Story: Young Raiga idolized a hunter from his village and decided he would also protect people from monsters when he grew up. Several years later, he is still a bit of a rookie but finds a great team to join and from whom to learn the skills of the trade. When they break up right after he joins, however, he finds himself paired with a testy gunner hunter named Keres and journeying to a far off land in order to create a new team. But the two young men have unknown skills and no one is willing to take them on as a team. When chance pairs them up with a female hunter with a poor reputation of getting her teammates injured, the beginning of their great team is born: Raiga's boldness, Keres' strategy, and Torche's knowledge.

The artwork is very busy and at times can be hard to follow. Each panel is crowded from end to end, which can be a bit disconcerting to figure out the who is doing what. But this is an action/battle series so readers can pretty much get the gist of what's going on; certainly, the intensity of the illustrations lend themselves to depicting the size and might of the monsters.

Raiga, Keres, and Torche make a dysfunctional but highly effective team by the end of this first volume. The stage is set here not only for the monster battles but also conflicts and challenges from other monster fighting teams. Those already invested in the game or novels will enjoy Yamamoto's artwork bringing them to life. Those not familiar with the series may be a bit confused at first but it all becomes clear by the end. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

[The Book Dragon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series is based on the Monster Hunter video games.

Our three protagonists fight giant monsters for a living (and also to protect humanity). Not gonna lie, my enjoyment of this series probably would have been better if I actually knew anything about the games.

But, from a perspective outside the games, it feels like reading a D&D story except all the creatures are huge, bizarre, and a general alignment of chaotic evil. The elements of the game don’t quite translate smoothly (monster patterns of attack and elemental advantages/disadvantages) so it feels like your reading a step-by-step guide to game combat.

The interesting part comes from the characters, who don’t really get along at first, but their differences are what make them a good team. (Have fun shipping Raiga and Keres fujoshis).

This series has 10 volumes.

[Bill Hudson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice quick read. I'm not sure what numbered games it's based off of but it's extremely accurate to the games as a whole. Down to Paintballs for tracking and explaining how that works.

If your looking for a solid, semi-gritty, jump into monster Hunter, on top of the games, than flash Hunter is the manga for you!

[Daniel Farrelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was fine. Pretty basic shonen style story, though the sporadic flash backs were annoying. The art was both good (in that it was very model accurate). And bad (in that it was often hard to tell what was happening). Also they turned Loc Lac from a town in the middle of a desert into an island town in the middle of a sea. Come on, what a stupid idea.

[Sir Laguna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Aunque los diseños de monstruos y armaduras son excelentes, esta aventura no podría comenzar de un modo más típico. Si cambiamos los monstruos gigantes por ninjas malvados y los nombres del trío protagonista por Naruto, Sasuke y Sakura; notaremos que la trama es exactamente la misma que la del popular manga de Masashi Kishimoto.

No tengo mucho interés en conseguir los siguientes tomos.

[Elouan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely awesome manga, which also tries to be really faithful to the old gen MH experience, and succeeds in it

The art is gorgeous, the story is fun and engaging, this is a must-read for old MH fans, and I think it could be a fun read for new MH fans as well as people who don't know the games at all

[Scott Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting concepts, but built a bit too much like a D&D campaign for my tastes. The art is absolutely fantastic.

[Gareth · Rating 5 out of 5]

One for fans

Great art and writing. Really captures the essence of the game. Well done manga series. I'm going to read the whole series

[Andrew]

good

[Lizzie & Koala Skywalker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the Monster Hunter games! It was so cool to read a manga about one of my favorite games. ~ Lizzie :)

[Riley Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun story in the Monster Hunter universe, I like the characters and seeing them hunt and upgrade gear as you would in the games, a good cast of monsters and an easy miniseries to just pick up.

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I usually don't do well with manga (or graphic novels) based on video games but I loved Monster Hunter: Flash Hunter which is actually an adaptation of the novels. A typical quest type of fantasy I found this a lot of fun and comparable to Fairy Tail. Raiga, a novice hunter, finds his team disbanded and goes solo, but solo hunting is near to impossible, especially for a trainee so he sets off to find a partner. On advice, he is sent to Loc Lac along with Keres, an arrogant, serious hunter who takes an instant dislike to Raiga and later the two take on their first quest with Torche, a bumbling hunter who finds trouble follows her everywhere. They get off to a rocky start battling a wyvern, but by the book's end have formed a team. I enjoyed this a lot, liked its "Fairy Tail" resemblance, the noticeboard the hunters visit to choose quests from, the armour stats, and info on the monsters. This is a battle-packed volume but for a first, enough effort went into defining the three main characters to give us a good handle on their personalities and a bit of background as well. I've pre-ordered the next few volumes. This looks like it's going to be good!

[Quadragon27 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked up this manga on a whim because my husband and I recently visited Japan, and while there I saw lots of "Monster Hunter" memorabilia. It seemed to be popular, so I thought I'd give it a try. The basic premise is that in an alternate world humans are constantly under attack by dangerous monsters. The common people rely heavily on hunters who keep these monsters under check. The main character in this story is named Raiga, and he is determined to establish himself as a superior hunter. Simple enough idea. The problem I had with this book was the characters. Manga in general tends to follow a lot of stereotypes so the characters are often similar from series to series. However, there are three main characters in this story and I didn't really care at all about any of them. They were not particularly interesting and I didn't really care what they were doing. Not sure I'll bother to read the second book in the series.

[Ryan Daily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite some quality art and great source material, the first volume of Monster Hunter is largely a missed opportunity. In many ways, the manga tries to relate too much to the games that they were inspired from. Stuff that are enjoyable in a video game, like hunting monsters and gathering resource, is a downright bore to read about. Also, the characters are a bit one dimensional. Got the standard snooty leader, the clutz hero (think Naruto), and the shy chick. They weren't poorly written, but they simply didn't have anything going from that you haven't seen in other mangas or animes. This doesn't mean that the manga completely lacked some decent qualities. I thought the art was fantastic and was crisp. The monster designs were well detailed and often wanted me craving more monster hunter goodness. It will be interesting to see if volume 2 picks up any steam.

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad first volume but a bit bland, and the back and forth in time was rather confusing. The drawing style was nice and especially the armor was very original while still incorporating aspects of recognizable styles. Action scenes, however, werehard to follow and I couldn't always tell what was happening, which is always a detriment to an action adventure manga.

Don't think I'll continue as it feels rather cliched but I wouldn't say it was horrible.

[Eric · Rating 1 out of 5]

Only thing going for this book is the art style. That's the reason I picked it up, and wished I didn't. Characters have cliche personalities. None of the main characters get along with each other but are still able to take down monsters that are out of there skill level. Plot is boring at best, uninteresting at worst. Don't plan on reading any more of this series, and will never recommend it to anyone.

[Kairee-Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This was a decent start to this series and the characters are entertaining to read. However, I felt like I was getting a Naruto vibe from the three protagonists, but hopefully the story and them will grow more as the story continues on. ^-^

[Janice · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

[Aleece · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good start to the series. Seems interesting enough to continue.

I received this advanced copy from VIZ Media through Edelweiss in exchange for my honest review.

[Vi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid hunter adventure. Coming of age. If you like monsters.

[Fatima · Rating 4 out of 5]

Want to continue this series

[Tyler Black · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun to read but doesn't draw you in like other series do. Overall still worth a read. The art style is pretty good overall too.