Shin Zero Volume 1 is a comic written by Mathieu Bablet with art and colors by Guillaume Singelin. Five young people are juggling school, life, and the gig job of being a Sentai. This is a supernatural science fiction coming-of-age comic that has heavy teen drama, brawling violence, strong personalities, and different forms of self-discovery. There are five different main characters here from different walks of life. Warren is the newest member of the team and his color is green. He’s a very smart high school graduate with a college scholarship and a loving family; his dad is a former yellow Sentai. He is easily irritated and has an annoyed disposition while feeling isolated and misunderstood. Eloise wears the blue uniform, is an only child, and she’s going to college as well; her family is a bit more strict/reserved. She wants to get out there and have fun while discovering herself. Satoshi wears red and he truly only wants to be a Sentai with no real goals outside of it. He is confident and brash with his actions frequently getting him or others into dangerous situations. Sofia wears yellow, is Satoshi’s cousin, and is studying to be a lawyer while juggling major responsibilities; she knows how rough this job is and is just doing it for the money. Nikki is the pink member and she seems disillusioned with it all but she has another side to her that she hides from others; she is also in college but she’s not as focused. This story begins with Warren and Eloise’s high school graduation and them talking about their next steps. Eloise tells Warren that she’s become a Sentai so that she could get money to move out but Warren considers it a loser’s job. After their bus stops they go their separate ways with Warren seeing his family and asking his mom about his dad’s Sentai career. Though the country this takes place in isn’t specified, based on the architecture and culture it appears to be Japan(or Japan-like). The violence here can be heavily gory with a bit of blood. This moves at a steady pace but there more slow moments than fast ones as there can be a lot to read and take in. This has the coming-of-age tone of your average manga but with Power Rangers mixed in so there is plenty angst and rebelling. There are a significant number of highly dramatic moments and a few violent ones but they tend to have great impact. The talking style is very teen-like with wittiness, insults, and directness; this is very conversational with even text messages being shown. There are at least a few word-heavy pages. This is a riveting and engrossing debut comic that gives us a refreshing story based on something familiar and it stars five characters with vastly different personalities who don’t always get along.
The art here is drawn in a semi-cartoonish style similar to some classic Japanese manga and it has strong lighting and shading which is done using different types of dotting. This is completely in black-and-white except for when Sentai gear(uniforms, hats, books) are shown or when these characters are texting(so we can tell who’s who). There is quite a bit of strong scenery here from the mountains to the beaches and ocean with even weather changes like snow. Due to the large cast and different lifestyles there are a large amount of different locations visited here. From houses and apartments to schools, hospitals, and law offices these young adults stay busy and on the move. Backgrounds here do a great job of showing the actual surroundings and environment which can make the world seem alive and it helps keeps you engaged. The expression level here is realistically high as these characters react frequently and even give subtle looks that add hidden layers. This being about teens and young adults emotions are running high from the angry and aggressive to the somber and sad with melancholy, regret, and fear playing major roles as well. Faces here have a level of detail ranging from decent to average with the potential to be strongly cartoonish which leads to most of the expressions being clear. There aren’t really any weapons used here besides a knife. Though there is a moment of heavy gore(due to a gruesome attack) most of what is shown is just hard-hitting action and a bit of blood. There are at least a few action scenes of 3+ pages that have an overall high panel count which leads to a smooth flow and there are some interesting angles and perspectives taken which makes the battles feel more monumental.
“Is this worth reading?”
Yes.
“Would I like this?”
If you like supernatural science fiction coming-of-age stories that star five young adults with strong personalities around college-age whose main source of income is being a Super Sentai/Power Ranger in what appears to be Japan and featuring violence, heavy drama, and self-discovery then this is for you.
“What would this comic’s film rating be?”
R. Violence, gore, gruesomeness, lewdness, nudity, sexual scenes.
“Could I get a quote from the comic?”
“The only more humiliating mission would be rescuing a kitten out of a tree.”
Digital Link: https://magneticpressllc.gumroad.com/l/uqojp?layout=profile
Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/label619/shin-zero/description
***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***
Probably Contains Spoilers
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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 199
Violent Pages: 32, for 16% of the comic
Sexy Pages: 4, for 2% of the comic
**The levels below aren’t necessarily maintained throughout the whole comic, but they were definitely reached**
Violence Level – 3
“Wasn’t no tussling at all.”
“Sometimes you gotta hit somebody.”
“I’m getting charged with how many counts of assault?”
“This was a tournament arc.”
“All my life I had to fight.”
Gore Level – 4
“The only thing leaking out your face is tears.”
“Looks like somebody spilled some ketchup.”
“Might need to soak that up with a bath towel.”
“That isn’t supposed to be outside the body.”
“This is a slaughterhouse.”
Death Level – 2
“And everybody lived happily ever after.”
“We might have gone to a couple funerals.”
“It just LOOKS like a serial killer was here.”
“Yeah this was a tragedy.”
“Think Gettysburg.”
Porn Level – 4
“Everybody kept their clothes on.”
“I guess it was too hot for a bra.”
“Sometimes you got to let everything air out.”
“This is like late night Cinemax in the early 2000’s.”
“Oh. This is porn.”
