Ral Grad Vol. 1

Rating T+ Genre manga Publisher Viz Media External Links Official Ral Grad Website

During a long and bloody war between mankind and a horde of demons known as Shadows, a child was born at the cost of his mother’s life. This child, after being possessed by a powerful Shadow, was thrown into the dungeon and isolated from everyone for fifteen years in complete darkness. That child’s name was Ral.

Throughout the fifteen years of being confined, he and the Shadow who possessed him became good friends. Some would question why a demon would be friends with a boy; but after fifteen years of sharing the same body, mind and soul, it is no wonder the two share a special bond. Instructed by Miss Mio, Ral and Grad, his shadow dragon, learn everything there is to know about the world. Even about Shadows. There are three levels of Shadows. The first stage, known as Firsts, are like parasites: only able to manifest its own shape with its host’s permission. The second stage, known as Seconds, devour their host, thereby being able to take on both its original form and its host’s form. And the final stage, known as Thirds, were creatures capable of mass destruction.

One day an army of Shadow storm the castle, and the king decides that it’s finally time to unleash the boy and his shadow dragon. After being let out of his imprisonment, one of the first things Ral discovers is the woman's body, thanks to Miss Mio. Like most fifteen year old boy, his fascination with the female chest inspires him to save the world and soon the phrase ‘tit for tat’ becomes quite literal.

Ral Grad is graphic in nature, with the whole plot revolving around what Ral does to squeeze womens’ breasts. Granted, that’s not the major part of the story, I just find it quite childish. Though it has some gruesome violence and mild language, the art is well defined. I find, sometimes, that the panel gets quite crowded, especially during action sequences; likewise, the Shadows are drawn with such amorphous structure that its hard to keep reading when you have to figure out what it is you’re looking at. I suppose that can be a good thing; I, however find it quite distracting.

The storyline didn’t grab my attention as well I as I had hoped. The idea behind the Shadows and the mechanics of the creatures is clever and it creates a sort of mythology behind the manga, but it wasn’t anything original. Ral Grad failed to insight new and inspirational ideas, for me at least.

The characters are something to be remembered though. The teenage, hybrid, shadow friend Ral is not only cunning and clever, but he’s strong and always keeps himself three steps ahead of the reader. There are a number of situations where you think he is doing one thing, but in fact, he is doing something completely different and it takes both the reader and the characters in the story by surprise. After all, he is a fifteen year old boy who has been locked away in a dark cell for years on end… how could he be tricky like that? Nevertheless he manages to maintain a calm, cool and collected attitude in the heat of battle. This has both its pros and cons. The stuff he does when fighting is really cool and clever, but at the same time, the god-moding aspect of it makes it boring. For example, Ral encounters a shadow that was supposed to be one of the strongest there was. He and Grad destroy it in a matter of seconds. I thought to myself, ‘Wow that was dumb.’ No wounds, no blood, no nothing. Just dead.

Over all, Ral Grad is a unique adventure in itself. If you don’t mind the partial nudity of both Ral and the women he encounters, then go for it. I’m not really recommending this to anyone. It’s nothing special.