Now from Rockport Publishers and including new Apple Black, Volume 2. Young sorcerer and prophesied savior, Sano, continues his quest by attempting to uncover and protect the secrets behind his father’s research on the immense power known as Apple Black.
Many years ago, humans acquired fruits called “Black” from a tree that descended from the skies, which turned humans into sorcerers . Although all of Black is now extinct, humans still have sorcery inherited from their ancestors. Blessed by “Merlin,” the god of sorcery, with the Arodihs arm, Sano, a young sorcerer, is raised and trained in isolation and secrecy to be the world’s savior known as the Trinity. The savior is believed to be the one who dawns the Infinite Night, an eternal night of chaos. Sano gets a fiery start after being admitted to Black Bottom Island’s guild for young sorcerers with his newfound freedom from isolation. As his fellow gifted allies and sorcerers accompany Sano on his quest, the treachery, betrayal, and evil that have plagued nearly all of Eden emerge again to threaten the world. With his visions offering him a darker path, Sano seeks to find those responsible for his loss and walk a path away from revenge but rather one towards forgiveness to find closure. Ridding Eden of the Infinite Night will require him to uncover the secrets behind his father’s research on fully rejuvenating the effects of Black in bloodlines with the immense power known as Apple Black . Opal Wantmore, another young sorcerer, must find a misplaced tourist amid Black Bottom Island. Unfortunately, it’s under attack by a deadly division of rebels from Gideon Banburi’s rebellion. These terrorists seek to collect Apple Black research and to leave the country in ruins. But nothing would be better than to capture Sano, the Trinity himself! The siege is led by Prince Ceazar Ashokahn, who has his own motives for wanting to scorch Black Bottom Island off the face of Eden. Apple Black is rated T for Teen, recommended for ages 13 and up.
Saturday AM, the world’s most diverse manga-inspired comics, are now presented in a new format! Introducing Saturday AM TANKS , the new graphic novel format similar to Japanese Tankobons where we collect the global heroes and artists of Saturday AM. These handsome volumes have select color pages, revised artwork, and innovative post-credit scenes that help bring new life to our popular BIPOC, LGBTQ, and/or culturally diverse characters. Join in even more adventures with the other action-packed Saturday AM TANKS Clock Striker , Gunhild , Hammer , Henshin! , The Massively Multiplayer World of Ghosts , Oblivion Rouge , Saigami , Soul Beat , Titan King , Underground , and Yellow Stringer .
Nigerian artist, Odunze Oguguo, is the creator and owner of Manga/Comic series like Apple Black and Bacassi; he is also one of the co-founders of MyfutPrint Entertainment, LLC (www.saturday-am.com), publishers of the most diverse manga anthologies, Saturday AM, Saturday PM and more. Oguguo graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington with a Bachelor's in fine arts and a minor in computer science and later graduated with a Master's in Fine Arts from the same university with a degree in Visual Communication Design. Oguguo has garnered a popular following online under the name "Whyt Manga" on social media. The "Whyt" in "Whyt Manga" is derived from his middle name Whyte. Oguguo is a huge fan of Professional Wrestling, Soccer, Hip Hop, Sequential Arts, Film, Animation, and most kinds of story-telling entertainment.
Saturday AM is a unique digital comics brand featuring an ever-growing catalog of popular, exclusive, and diverse action manga-style webcomics by independent creators from around the world. Among the nearly 50 visionary artists on the Saturday AM team. To learn more about Saturday AM, visit saturday-am.com, or find them on Instagram (@saturday_am), YouTube (youtube.com/user/MyFutprint), and Twitter (@saturday_am).
8/10 Good soup. Intriguing plot, fun characters, cool world building. I own the first two books and I’m hooked, I’m very excited to see what’s going to happen next. Only complaint is that there’s a lot happening so it’s sometimes I bit difficult to follow along.
Chapters 8, if I remember correctly, had the best structure in the story, good flashbacks that tied with the dialogue that was being said and one of the best last pages the chapter could have ended on. The story from here ramps up and I'm ready to dive into vol. 3
Story: Apple Black, Vol 2 story develops very well, another page turner. The characters continue to develop extremely well, and some new characters are introduced and their stories along with the characters from Vol. 1 who are given some background in this Volume. I love the comic/love-hate dialogue and the way that the younger generation acts towards the older generation. I absolutely love this story and couldn’t believe that before I knew it, I was at the end and a cliffhanger at that. I look forward to continuing this series with Vol. 3. Very well done, Whyt Manga.
Panels: Apple Black Vol. 2 is written from left to right (Japanese manga are right to left) and is laid out beautifully over 5 to 6 panels per page; pages with less than 5 depict dynamic action sequences. The detail of the panels (down to the smallest) is extremely detailed (even the dialogue is readable). Though the narrative boxes and language/thought bubbles are packed with the story and character dialogue, the story moves at a smooth pace and is easy on the eyes. The double page panels for some of the action sequences were totally popping off the page and it made Vol. 2 a fun read. The artwork, again, is gorgeous and true (see below; same of Vol.2).
Artwork: The overall character design, background, and environment is highly detailed and beautifully drawn. The artwork is visually stunning and wonderfully comfortable on the eyes (I found myself going back after reading each chapter to double take the artwork). The colored panels and the chapter title pages are the best I have seen anywhere (and I’m a Project EVA fan) and it set the tone for the next chapter with wonderful foreshadowing. The paper quality of Apple Black is just right for the line art and ink; comfortable and crisp.
Apple Black Volume 2 is hands down a 5-Star read. I’m in with Apple Black until the end.
I really like Apple Black Vol 1. It is dense on narrative but the artwork is enjoyable to look at and the main protagonist of Sano is a character that I really like and want to root for.
I tried reading Vol 2 as a physical book and honestly, I do love the color pages, but the text was hard to read because again, there is a lot of convo'ing. I got the e-version for Kindle and it was a little better but the image quality is a up-and-down. I wish I'd kept the physical book.
That said, I did get to read it in its entirety and again, I liked it. After Sano, Opal is my next most intriguing character and I love the cover art for this volume that features her. However, she isn't in this volume enough for my taste. The amount of Sano makes up for it and I also do like that there is a balanced amount of adult characters featured as well.
It was humorous how Sano finally gets assigned to a room with a roommate and I was good with Osamu. But... but... ugh, Ryuzaki and Symon are my least favorite archetypes. Ryuzaki in particular. But I am willing to see where this goes because I like the intro of the new 'world'.
I've been following the author for a long time, since his early YouTube days. I chose to learn how to draw from his videos because his art style is absolutely gorgeous. If you are a fan of Bleach's art style, you'll feel a similar style from this. And the way he colors his book covers is brilliant and beautiful. I find he always gives consistently good art for every page.
Art aside, the story and lore from this book is just fascinating. I think of it as "Naruto meets Harry Potter". The world building is one of my favorites in graphic novels as it slowly drip feeds you information and mysteries little by little. I think what drew my most to this series is the character designs. You can tell when an artist runs out of ideas to make each character unique; this is NOT the case at all for this book. Each character has unique designs that reflect well on their distinct personalities. Plus, there's some swearing in the book which gets my giddy cuz thats not something I typically see in an officially published "manga". 10/10 would recommend to anyone who is a fan of Shonen manga.
My thoughts ↓ I think it was a nice read. I got it from my local library, but they didn't have volume 1. So I was a little lost on what was happening tbh lol. Like the vibes so far for the most part. It's rated teen, and I say that checks out. Age Rating: I recommend it for 13 and up. 📖
There are great improvements on the already good art style in this volume, as well as tons of fun action. The new character designs in this volume are a lot of fun, and I can see some of them (Obi) being a lot of fun to watch.
The downside is that this second volume continues the trend of explaining a complex world and conflict at rocket-speed, introducing an overwhelming number of new characters, concepts, and terms that are very hard to follow in the context of the story (I understand that there is a glossary of terms in the back of the book, though that does not cover everything, nor is it a proper substitute for clarity within the story.)
Similarly, I had trouble understanding what appears to be the main throughline of the series, "freeing everyone from the cycle of hate and revenge," "making everyone free," "freeing the people of this continent," or "breaking chains." As a character motivation I find it hard to measure what that looks like in the context of the story, and furthermore I didn't understand the conflict of the two main forces of the story. There's the continent of Eden with a kind of political hierarchy who rules over it (benevolently? Tyranically? I genuinely don't know) and the Banburi rebels, who are rebelling against that (but why?)
I look forward to seeing what's to come in volume 3, and hope that, with the incremental improvements I see within the series, that it will find a groove and allow the world and story to breathe some more.
There’s a lot going on in this volume with it opening with too much exposition. Quickly after that, we get an invasion of the city and a glimpse at the dark lords. It’s a lot to take in all at once (it’s messy), but this volume is definitely action-packed. Mostly worldbuilding and introducing character plot points.
I hope as the volumes continue the story will get leaner with exposition and we learn more about the characters.
SN: Obinna “Obi’s” design is stellar! Boy looks fly with the mask, the ELECTRIC yo-yo, and the rest of his get-up.
Builds off the strengths of the previous volume, I could feel the passion of the author on each page, the fights/action is easy to follow and yet insanely detailed, I simply loving the experience, check out both volumes if you haven't yet
This one impressed even more than the first volume in building to what is next. I can’t even imagine where we are going, but I am so happy to be on this journey. Very nice seeing more into these unique characters.
As for the first volume, i love the refactored version. If you got yourselves the former version and liked it you definitely want this new one. Truly an inspirationnal story for this manga content creator (go check the Whytmanga Channel on YouTube) !
Eye read 2024 6.7/10 story develops a little and end of book doesn’t really have an ending. As a series i guess it is just going to flow into the next. Kinda meh feeling about it, maybe one more book in the series i could read, hopefully next is better.
Amazing story and really interesting characters with unique designs, all elevated by his great art and paneling. Really can't wait to see what else the author had in store for us with this franchise
When you think it can't get better, it does! Improvement in terms of art and storytelling from volume 2, that kept me hooked! Can't wait to see where the story is headed in volue 3!
I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher. This is the second volume of the series. It follows the invasion of Black Bottom Island and all of the action that follows. The many sorcerers that Sano met in Volume One get their own fight sequences and sections of the story dedicated to them because everyone is split up. The story ends as the fight reaches its midpoint for most of the characters.
Author here! I hope everyone enjoys the shonen manga series. These Rockport Editions are updated versions of the books I made almost a decade ago. Vol 1 is mostly old, with new content, improved art and story, new cover, post-credit scene teasing something of a special multiverse, and more. Glad to see it still holds up. Some of Vol 2 and a little of Vol 3 are also content from many years ago. All of Vol 4 is fresh and ultimately brand new stuff! Vol 1-4, you could say, is like the first main arc or a "Season One" of many. Enjoy!