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ドラゴンヘッド [Dragon Head] #5
Dragon Head, Volume 5
"Gritty, harrowing and blood-soaked, it is a manga that should instantly appeal to fans of Battle Royale." - IGN.comInjured, exhausted, and barely clinging to hope, Teru and Ako miraculously stumble upon a helicopter manned by two soldiers. Once airborne, Teru wonders about home as the helicopter cuts through the chilling cacophony of flames, brutal carnage, and putrid clouds of black ash. But their journey to safety takes a sudden downward turn, and forces them to make an emergency landing--but surviving the crash may be the worst thing that has happened to Teru and Ako...
240 pages, Paperback
First published August 6, 1997
6 people are currently reading
80 people want to read
About the author
Minetarō Mochizuki
70 books66 followersMinetarō Mochizuki (望月峯太郎) is a manga artist. He is best known for his apocalyptic thriller series Dragon Head (ドラゴンヘッド Duragon Heddo), as well as the comedy series Mai Wai. Mochizuki has also written one-shot manga such as Zashiki Onna.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
October 18, 2015
This volume was intense!! Holy crap.
November 9, 2016
OOhhh this volume was waaaay more interesting. Our two main characters are in a new place. Anarchy is becoming a real problem. People are going mad. Killing just for the hell of it. Teru-kun is injured and Seto-san must find medicine. Will the make it through the mountains and the city alive???
October 31, 2023
I don't think I've ever read a manga that did a better job of keeping the reader in suspense. This volume takes a turn that reminds me of Cormac McCarthy's "The Road." The entire time I was reading this, there was a feeling of dread that I just couldn't shake. In this case, that's not a bad thing. The story has progressed quickly and things have really changed since the first volume.
March 16, 2022
Volume 5: Chapter 48-57
Arc 3: Izu Peninsula
Finally, Ako became useful. Even Nimura didn't stand a chance with her after being threatened. The first hint about "dragon head" have been revealed. My heart throbbed when they being chased by the crazy inhabitants from the town.
Highlight:
• Teru falls unconcious due to his injuries.
• The helicopter takes detour through the Izu peninsula because of thick ash.
• They landed in Izu and greeted by a survivor.
• Teru has tetanus and Ako must find a vaccine for him.
• Ako and Nimura go to the nearby town to find fuel and vaccine.
• They found corpses whose deaths were not due to disaster, but killed by someone.
• They encountered a disabled boy with strange scars on his head.
• The boy being chased by inhabitants from the town.
Arc 3: Izu Peninsula
Finally, Ako became useful. Even Nimura didn't stand a chance with her after being threatened. The first hint about "dragon head" have been revealed. My heart throbbed when they being chased by the crazy inhabitants from the town.
Highlight:
• Teru falls unconcious due to his injuries.
• The helicopter takes detour through the Izu peninsula because of thick ash.
• They landed in Izu and greeted by a survivor.
• Teru has tetanus and Ako must find a vaccine for him.
• Ako and Nimura go to the nearby town to find fuel and vaccine.
• They found corpses whose deaths were not due to disaster, but killed by someone.
• They encountered a disabled boy with strange scars on his head.
• The boy being chased by inhabitants from the town.
May 13, 2024
For a lack of better words, Nimura is the biggest a hole. Of all the people to be stuck w at the end of the world…Ako annoyed me as a character at first but she an og for looking out for Teru the same way he looked out for her.
October 17, 2022
3.5 rounded up.
May 15, 2023
It all starts with a class trip on a subway train. All of a sudden the underground railroads collapse beneath the weight of an earthquake and all the students aboard the train are trapped underground where it’s hard to breathe and it’s excruciatingly humid. The few survivors must dig their way out from the labyrinthian tunnels to reach the surface, but the world above might not be as they remember it.
A great concept with a weak execution. The atmosphere is intense and the art is hauntingly bleak. Unfortunately, I found all of the main characters very unlikable. The dialogue is also pretty bad and doesn’t always make sense which could be the fault of a poor translation. The story also drags out way longer than necessary with repetitive drama and the unlikeable cast constantly bickering over dumb issues doesn’t do the plot or the stakes of the narrative any favors.
Not a terrible horror manga, but not nearly as good as it could’ve been. The few solid moments were underwhelming compared to the long periods of monotonous boredom, bland characters and uninteresting villains in between.
My rating: 2.3/5
A great concept with a weak execution. The atmosphere is intense and the art is hauntingly bleak. Unfortunately, I found all of the main characters very unlikable. The dialogue is also pretty bad and doesn’t always make sense which could be the fault of a poor translation. The story also drags out way longer than necessary with repetitive drama and the unlikeable cast constantly bickering over dumb issues doesn’t do the plot or the stakes of the narrative any favors.
Not a terrible horror manga, but not nearly as good as it could’ve been. The few solid moments were underwhelming compared to the long periods of monotonous boredom, bland characters and uninteresting villains in between.
My rating: 2.3/5
November 25, 2020
Hodnotím prvních pět knih
Parádní kresba a opravdu hutná hororová atmosféra, kterou umí v komiksu snad jen Japonci. Během školního výletu drtivá většina dětí zahyne a zbytek zůstane uvězněný v tunelu, který je kvůli jakési záhadné katastrofě zavalený.
V tunelu se rozjíždí pořádně klaustrofobická story, kde máme hlavního klučinu, co je docela normální kluk, kterému ale taky dokážou občas ujet nervy, pěknou vyděšenou holku, co se ze všech sil snaží si nervy udržet, a šikanovaný loser, kterýmu neskutečně hrábne téměř okamžitě.
V zasypaným tunelu se odehrává hned několik knih a je to fajn, ale byl jsem rád, když se děckám podařilo vylézt ven. Tam vidí, že se světem se stalo něco příšerného, i když se neví, co přesně. Příroda je úplně zničená, vzhůru nohama a celá naruby. Může za to nějaký démon, mimozemšťané, anebo jsme jen měli víc recyklovat?
Ne, tohle je pořádně syrové postapo, slušně depresivní, originální a zábavný.
8/10
Parádní kresba a opravdu hutná hororová atmosféra, kterou umí v komiksu snad jen Japonci. Během školního výletu drtivá většina dětí zahyne a zbytek zůstane uvězněný v tunelu, který je kvůli jakési záhadné katastrofě zavalený.
V tunelu se rozjíždí pořádně klaustrofobická story, kde máme hlavního klučinu, co je docela normální kluk, kterému ale taky dokážou občas ujet nervy, pěknou vyděšenou holku, co se ze všech sil snaží si nervy udržet, a šikanovaný loser, kterýmu neskutečně hrábne téměř okamžitě.
V zasypaným tunelu se odehrává hned několik knih a je to fajn, ale byl jsem rád, když se děckám podařilo vylézt ven. Tam vidí, že se světem se stalo něco příšerného, i když se neví, co přesně. Příroda je úplně zničená, vzhůru nohama a celá naruby. Může za to nějaký démon, mimozemšťané, anebo jsme jen měli víc recyklovat?
Ne, tohle je pořádně syrové postapo, slušně depresivní, originální a zábavný.
8/10
February 7, 2025
Basically everyone sucks. This series is tiring. They have started to mention the title of the story, but I'll likely never find out because I've no further plans to keep reading.
The mystery isn't compelling enough to want to find out. The world isn't interesting enough to just exist in. The characters aren't robust enough to care about. The art or paneling isn't interesting enough to just admire (though I think the art is one of the stronger points).
Oh yeah, this volume also includes some of those rambling cliché speeches on human nature for good measure.
The mystery isn't compelling enough to want to find out. The world isn't interesting enough to just exist in. The characters aren't robust enough to care about. The art or paneling isn't interesting enough to just admire (though I think the art is one of the stronger points).
Oh yeah, this volume also includes some of those rambling cliché speeches on human nature for good measure.
October 27, 2017
Not invested any more. This series had potential, but it's boring and cliche'. I'm not going to bother finishing it. I'll just read the last few pages.
February 9, 2020
Pretty awesome Psychological Apocalyptic manga, really awesome artwork and story! 😁😻❤️❤️
October 19, 2020
Finally a character that's actually likeable!
August 18, 2022
Cant give it more than four stars due to a useless co-protagonist. This type of character always shows up in mangas. It is a pet peeve at this point!
November 12, 2024
Confronto dos medos.
Aqui temos a compreensão do caos que se desenrolou na cabeça dos personagens e o que de fato foi vivenciar aquilo.
Aqui temos a compreensão do caos que se desenrolou na cabeça dos personagens e o que de fato foi vivenciar aquilo.
March 26, 2025
que tétrico se está volviendo Sos
April 21, 2025
"THIS CAN'T BE POSSIBLE. THIS CAN'T BE CAUSED BY AN EARTHQUAKE!"
Volume 5 starts to peel back the edges of the mystery, and it’s a welcome change of pace. After the quiet, drifting tone of Volume 4, this one feels more grounded. Still tense, still weird, but with a bit more to chew on. The outside world is starting to take shape, and the picture it paints is not comforting.
Teru and Ako push forward, and the ruined landscape really starts to feel less like the aftermath of a natural disaster and more like something… wrong. Something broken on a deeper level. That quote hits the core of it, whatever happened here, it’s not just an earthquake. There’s too much devastation, too much strangeness, and too many unanswered questions.
There’s a strong sense of motion here, actual movement, but also progress in the narrative. They meet other people. Not all of them are trustworthy. One scene in particular has this creeping feeling that the real danger isn’t the collapse of the world, but the people who are still walking through it.
I liked this one quite a bit. It brings back the tension and psychological edge of earlier volumes, while finally giving a bit more structure to the chaos. The paranoia, the subtle horror, the slow realization that the world might not be fixable, it’s all starting to sink in.
Volume 5 starts to peel back the edges of the mystery, and it’s a welcome change of pace. After the quiet, drifting tone of Volume 4, this one feels more grounded. Still tense, still weird, but with a bit more to chew on. The outside world is starting to take shape, and the picture it paints is not comforting.
Teru and Ako push forward, and the ruined landscape really starts to feel less like the aftermath of a natural disaster and more like something… wrong. Something broken on a deeper level. That quote hits the core of it, whatever happened here, it’s not just an earthquake. There’s too much devastation, too much strangeness, and too many unanswered questions.
There’s a strong sense of motion here, actual movement, but also progress in the narrative. They meet other people. Not all of them are trustworthy. One scene in particular has this creeping feeling that the real danger isn’t the collapse of the world, but the people who are still walking through it.
I liked this one quite a bit. It brings back the tension and psychological edge of earlier volumes, while finally giving a bit more structure to the chaos. The paranoia, the subtle horror, the slow realization that the world might not be fixable, it’s all starting to sink in.
December 1, 2009
Minetaro Mochizuki, Dragon Head vol. 5 (Tokyopop, 1997)
We finally get a glimpse of the series name in Volume 5, as the badly-injured Teru, Sato, and the remaining Defense Force refugees find their way to a mountain village where another person has survived. We learn of the disaster from another perspective, though again Mochizuki doesn't just come out and say what happened (and if it's something different than I've been assuming since the first volume, I'll be very surprised; Mochizuki is building up to the expected event as time goes on). Sato has to go over the mountain to get supplies from the nearest city if Teru is to survive, but it seems that the woods are not empty... good stuff, this. *** ½
We finally get a glimpse of the series name in Volume 5, as the badly-injured Teru, Sato, and the remaining Defense Force refugees find their way to a mountain village where another person has survived. We learn of the disaster from another perspective, though again Mochizuki doesn't just come out and say what happened (and if it's something different than I've been assuming since the first volume, I'll be very surprised; Mochizuki is building up to the expected event as time goes on). Sato has to go over the mountain to get supplies from the nearest city if Teru is to survive, but it seems that the woods are not empty... good stuff, this. *** ½
January 29, 2023
🌸11th September 2021🌸
Half way through the series now and volume five is a marked improvement on the last volume. There is still little information on what has actually happened but towards the end there’s a little hint at something bigger and why the whole series is called Dragon Head. This post-apocalyptic/ Lord of the Flies-esque manga has me gripped and extremely curious. Just when you think you have the plot figured out, it throws you off.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Half way through the series now and volume five is a marked improvement on the last volume. There is still little information on what has actually happened but towards the end there’s a little hint at something bigger and why the whole series is called Dragon Head. This post-apocalyptic/ Lord of the Flies-esque manga has me gripped and extremely curious. Just when you think you have the plot figured out, it throws you off.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
August 19, 2010
Um manga fantástico, do princípio ao fim, num cenário apocalíptico, mas centrado nas suas ricas personagens.
April 14, 2019
(The first two volumes were included in the 2018 Halloween Terrors Humble Bundle)
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews