Disgaea

Author : Arashi Shindo
Publisher : Broccoli Books

After so much popularity as a game, it’s no surprise that Disgaea would be adapted into manga form. The story sort of follows the first game, but has a lot of changes to keep things fresh and interesting. I can’t say I like all of the changes, but it still feels like Disgaea and retains the main concepts of the game’s story.

The artwork is a lot different from Takehito Harada’s designs for the games, which is apparent immediately. The characters still look good, but it’s definitely not the same (or as good) as Harada-san’s work. One nice thing is that the cover art is actually original art from Harada-san.

The dialogue is still hilarious, as expected from something in the Disgaea franchise. Mid-Boss is as funny if not funnier than in the game, and makes frequent appearances. One thing that was rather interesting is a bit of dialogue between Mid-Boss and Seraph Lamington that talks about Mid-Boss’ relationship with Laharl (those who got that ending in the first game will know exactly what I mean).

One thing that is very noticeably different from the game is the pacing. Being a manga the story progresses much faster than it normally would in the game. Also, quite a bit of the less important filler scenes from the game were omitted. There were a couple scenes added in that provided a bit of extra character development for Laharl.

The last few pages are an amusing little preview for the Disgaea 2 manga that should be coming out early next year. The first three chapters of the manga will be all new story that connects the first and second game. The remaining chapters will follow the story of Adell and Rozalin from Disgaea 2. While it’s not the greatest standalone manga, if you’re a fan of Disgaea it’s well worth the price to pick up.