| | |  | SHOP BY TYPE | Home » » Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit, Vol. 1 (v. 1) | | | | | | | Description: | | R to L (Japanese Style)Congratulations! You have been randomly selected by the government…to DIE in 24 hours! Please enjoy your final day and take pride in the fact that your death will inspire others to live life to the fullest! Welcome to the world of Ikigami, the Death Notice, where to keep citizens on the straight and narrow path of productivity and prosperity, each day a different citizen is selected for termination! View the last 24 hours through the very eyes of the people slated to die for their country with no hope of reprieve! What people do when they have no hope of survival will shock you to your core in this frightening, dark series of stories! Dear Citizen: You’ve no doubt noticed that the world is a troubled place. People are apathetic, lazy, unmotivated. You’ve probably asked yourself: Why isn’t anything being done to stop this systematic decline? Well, you’ll be happy to know measures are being taken. We, your government, have decided society needs a wake-up call. So beginning today, we will randomly select a different citizen who will be killed within 24 hours of notification. We believe this will help remind all people how precious life is, and how important it is to be productive, active members of society. Thank you for your attention and your cooperation and participation in this new program. | | | Product Details: | | | Author:
| Motoro Mase | | Paperback:
| 216 pages | | Publisher:
| VIZ Media LLC | | Publication Date:
| May 12, 2009 | | Language:
| English | | ISBN:
| 1421526786 | | Product Length:
| 8.2 inches | | Product Width:
| 5.8 inches | | Product Height:
| 0.7 inches | | Product Weight:
| 0.55 pounds | | Package Length:
| 8.11 inches | | Package Width:
| 5.75 inches | | Package Height:
| 0.71 inches | | Package Weight:
| 0.57 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 8 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 8 customer reviews )
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4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
 A Great First Volume!May 21, 2009
By Tristan A. Hayes
Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit is one of the newest series released by Viz Media. Revolving around the idea of an "Ikigami" a notification that is delivered to someone to tell them that they shall die in about 24 hours, Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit explores the ideology behind such an idea and the various responses that people may have when they receive this notification. The concept is initially mind blowing but in each of the two stories the suspense and anticipation for the clock to reach 0 hours makes the book a huge page turning event.
In more detail, the manga is split into two episodes, with each episode focusing on a different recipient of a Ikigami. The first episode presents the details of what the Ikigami is, the reasoning why the government chose to use them, and finally the method in which they are delivered. The additional storyline in this section follows the memories and final hours of a boy who could be considered a tormented failure. For the sake of not ruining the story, the next episode will be discussed. The second episode follows the main character along as he takes a tour of the facility in which the "nanocapsule that causes the death at the prescribed time" is created and disbursed. The initial explanation is quite detailed and complex, however, a conversation that summarizes the process was a welcome addition. The additional storyline in this episode explores the end of a nice friendship between two aspiring musicians and how one of them feels like he needs more chances to make it big. Deep down he has feelings of regret over splitting up with his friend. Needless to say one of them receives an Ikigami and the way in which he lives his final 24 hours is explored. The musician story is as equally suspenseful as the first one, however it has more of an unpredictable feeling to it.
The artwork is one of the highlights to Ikigami. For the serious nature of this story, the attention to detail in the design of the character's faces must be applauded. Facial expressions look quite realistic at times with wrinkles, facial muscles, and other marks present. Also, for the scenes in which the people receive their Ikigami, the full double page affairs are excellent. The method of shading works to heavily emphasize the feeling and nearly works to make the reader imagine if they, themselves, were receiving the Ikigami. I believe it works excellently to enhance the seriousness of each moment.
Ultimately, Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit is one of the newest series to be brought to the English Viz Media line and it will be worthwhile to see the future volumes. The story is a fresh concept for a manga series. Not only that, but it is also one of the most thoughtful and compelling stories that people will be acquainted with. Check it out and I hope you like it.
Pros
-Read in the traditional style, from right to left
-Great cover design
-Fresh concept for a manga series
-Modern-English sounding translation
-Excellent art design in panels helps to add life to the stories and enhances the reader/story connection
-Realistic
Con
-No bonuses (previews, afterword, etc)
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 Dark, gritty, realistic and goodMay 27, 2009
By Amanda
Viz takes on new, darker territory with Motoro Mase's Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit, Volume 1. In this chilling vision of the near future, Japan has become a bleak dystopian society filled with lazy, apathetic citizens who have lost any respect for hard work and for life. To counteract this, the government has instituted a rather odd program: in order to remind citizens about the value of life, one person is selected to die every day. The victim is given 24 hours of notice before they are killed by the mysterious injection capsules given to each citizen when they begin school. This notice is called an "ikigami," and it's Kengo Fujimoto's job to deliver these infamous "death notices" to victims.
This volume is separated into two "episodes" that chronicle two deliveries to different ikigami recipients and how these recipients live their final day.
In the first episode the world's concepts of death to appreciate life and prosperity and the ikigami itself is introduced. It's also hinted that the deaths are not as "random" as the government would like citizens to think. In the secondary story, the ikigami recipient deals with the trauma from his past, and decides to take revenge on those who wronged him.
In the second episode, the reader takes a tour of the plant where the deadly capsules are manufactured and learns the details behind their creation. Meanwhile, Kengo delivers an ikigami to an aspiring musician, who quickly regrets splitting up with an old friend over musical differences. This story is filled with twists and turns and delivers an amazingly suspenseful and thoroughly complex plot.
The artwork of Ikigami is one of the highlights of the manga. Rather than having exaggerated expressions or silly backgrounds, Ikigami embraces realism and gritty, detailed environments that compliment the story's overall feel perfectly. The shading here is absolutely extraordinary and the dialogue even feels natural in English, unlike many manga out there.
The concept is a very unique one for a manga, and tends to shun the archetypes associated with shojo and shonen manga. Ikigami moves into the world of thought provoking literature while giving readers a compelling ride. It's almost like a cross between the popular Death Note series and famous dystopian novels such as 1984 and Brave New World.
While the first volume barely scratches the concept's surface, it's a promising start to an exciting new series that will force readers to think a little harder about what they read - and what they would do if they discovered they only had 24 hours left to live.
Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit Volume 1 feels like a warm-up for something great to come in the future. The concept has plenty of potential, and I eagerly look forward to the next installment in this innovative series.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Gritty Title from VIZMay 21, 2009
By J. Gebhard
Ikigami feels like another overused plot line. But to my enjoyment it comes off as very different.
The main character actually takes a back seat to the event of the work - he mearly the catalyst that begins each story. The stories that unfold are very real and depict and interesting look into the human mind. The main focus is simply what would you do if you had 24 hours to live? A frightening question that may be easily answered as you sit at the computer reading this.
This isn't to say that the main character is completely off screen or has not character development. The events that he is invovled with behind the scenes are chilling. The whole government killing off its citizen a la Battle Royale vibe.
The art realistically drawn. A far cry from the standard cutesy art form that so many manga have. Plus Viz has offered the book is a larger format allowing you to fully view the small background details.
Viz has shown that it is coming back from it's eariler years when the Pulp line was still around. Ikigami is a gritty fresh manga from the standard shounen/shojo fanfare.
LOVED IT.Sep 09, 2010
By Lady Kohaku
"Enviousness"
Gonna stick with this manga till the end. It reminds me of a realistic version of death note =]
Ikigami (Death Paper): 24 Hours Until Death (Volumes 1-3)Jan 27, 2010
By Aion
Ikigami is a surprisingly unknown title about the value of life... or maybe it's actually about how worthless life is. It depends on your perspective. But, whichever way you look at it, the following is true: Ikigami shows how very real characters react when told they're going to die within 24 hours. Some seek revenge, others try to help their loved ones before their time runs out. Just like if people were told their date of death in real life, the reactions of the characters depends entirely on their backgrounds.
After reading the title, you might assume Ikigami is a sort of spiritual successor to Death Note. After all, there isn't much difference between 'Death Note' and 'Death Paper'. But the titles are where the similarities between the two start and end. Where as Death Note relied on a supernatural notebook of death that could kill anyone with ease to power its story, there's nothing mystical about the papers with information about deaths written on them in Ikigami. In fact, the papers are no more than normal, everyday paper handed out by civil servants.
You see, Ikigami is set in an alternate universe where Japan is ruled by fear, similar to the setting of Battle Royale. At the start of school life, every child is immunized against various diseases. However, because of a law called 'The National Welfare Act', 1 out of 1000 of these vaccines contain something else - something that makes a person die at a predetermined date between the ages 18-24. After being immunized, the truth is then revealed to the students - the truth being that not everyone will make it very far into their adult lives.
The National Welfare Act is a very well thought out law. The victims of the law are told only 24 hours in advance to limit the damage they can do, and if those who are destined to die break the law in their final hours, their family is took to court, made to pay a huge fine, don't get their bereavement pension and, finally, they're ostracized by society.
All of the above, combined with the citizens being told to reveal the names of social miscreants to the authorities, means no-one can do anything about the law. To be a good citizen, one has to accept that - no matter how illogical - random people getting killed is for the good of the country because it forces people to value life. Really, nothing changes for people until they're told they're going to die, and all it achieves is creating a society of sheep who only know how to follow.
The story is told from the perspective of Fujimoto; a civil servant whose job it is to hand out the papers of death 24 hours before death. Known as a 'Messenger of Death', he's a man who sees no value in his work but does it anyway. To begin with he struggles to handle the weight of revealing to unsuspecting people that they're going to die, informing them their deaths are for the good of the nation (when he doesn't actually believe it), but the more he does it the easier it becomes. His role is to be the observer, and the reader is supposed to feel the same as him about what's occurring.
But, really, even though Fujimoto is there for the reader to connect with, Ikigami is basically a collection of three chapter shorts. So far (up to the end of volume three), every story has lasted for three chapters, and each story has differed from the one that came before it. Though the series opened as most would expect after reading the description - with a fairly typical tale of a man who suffered severe bullying during his high school years - since then there's only been one other revenge story. There's been a story about staying true to oneself and valuing friendship over fame; there's been a story about a worker at an old peoples' home getting a woman, who mistakes the worker for her late husband, to walk again; and there's even been a story about a brother tricking his blind younger sister into having his corneas transplanted into her just after his death. The huge amount of variation between each story, and the circumstances of each new set of characters, has prevented Ikigami from becoming stale.
My biggest fear right now is that, eventually, Ikigami will become stale, though. At this moment in time I can't see Ikigami failing because the art is near enough flawless - showing the natural ugliness of humans (rather than there being a super model cast) and being very detailed - and the stories have all been emotionally moving for differing reasons. But every author only has a set amount of ideas, and sooner or later (assuming it isn't destined to go on forever!) Fujimoto is going to have to become more than just an impartial observer. Honestly, it's hard to see how and when the series will end at this point, so it's hard to determine if the high level of quality on display in the opening three volumes will remain throughout. Only time will tell.
For now, all I can say is that I own the first three volumes, have the fourth pre-ordered and have put Ikigami into my manga top ten list already. With so few volumes out, and Viz releasing the volumes in larger than average, Solanin sized volumes, no manga collector has any real excuse for not assisting me in trying to make this relatively unknown series into one with a much larger fanbase.
If you've become disillusioned with anime/manga because of the vast majority being childish and are in desperate need of a title aimed at adults to reignite your interest, Ikigami might just be it.
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