Cage of Eden Vol. 1 (Manga)
Publisher: Kodansha Comics
Release Date: August 2011
Price: $10.99
Creator: Yoshinobu Yamada
Format: 208 pgs.; B&W; Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-9354-2925-8
Age Rating: 16+
ICv2 Rating: 2.5 Stars out of 5

A large airliner crashes on an impossible island in the Pacific.  A few of the passengers are mysteriously separated from the rest, and most of the others quickly go mad as soon as they realize that they're stranded.  Is this normal panic, or an induced hysteria of some strange kind?  This, combined with prehistoric animals from a dizzying range of time periods, kicks off the adventure.  Fans of Lost might enjoy this, if they don't mind it being clearly derivative.

The central cast is made up of three teens and a young stewardess, struggling to solve some of the mysteries.  Unfortunately, in the first volume there is little reason to believe that their combination of skills will keep them alive.  The laptop computer that just happens to have the right information, and which somehow isn’t running out of power, feels like a forced form of exposition.

The book includes some non-sequitur fan service and partial nudity, with the only excuse being that one of the teen characters has a video camera and likes to shoot panty shots.  That doesn't explain the scenes tossed in when that character isn't around, though.  It seems like an attempt to use pinup art to spice up a story which could have been better written.  The artwork is good, standard manga fare, and older teens may enjoy it.

--Nick Smith: Librarian Technician, Community Services, for the Pasadena Public Library in California.