King of Thorn

Infobox animanga/Header
name = King of Thorn


caption = Cover of volume 2 of the Japanese edition
ja_name = いばらの王
ja_name_trans = Ibara no Ō
genre = Action, Survival horrorInfobox animanga/Manga
title =
author = Yuji Iwahara
publisher = flagicon|Japan Enterbrain
publisher_en = flagicon|Canada flagicon|USA Tokyopop
publisher_other = flagicon|France Soleil
flagicon|Germany Tokyopop Germany
flagicon|Hungary Tokyopop Germany
flagicon|Spain Glénat
demographic = Seinen
magazine = flagicon|Japan Monthly Comic Beam
first = October 2002
last = October 2005
volumes = 6

nihongo|"King of Thorn"|いばらの王|Ibara no Ō is a science fiction manga series by Yuji Iwahara. It was published in by Enterbrain in the seinen magazine "Monthly Comic Beam" between October 2002 and October 2005 and collected in six bound volumes. It is licensed in North America by Tokyopop, with five volumes published as of August 2008. The series is about a Japanese girl named Kasumi who is put in suspended animation to escape a mysterious plague that turns people to stone, and upon waking appears to be one of only six survivors in a world run wild. It has been praised as a "gripping" survival story with art that effectively conveys tension and action.

Plot

"King of Thorn" is a science fiction survivor drama. It is told mostly from the view point of a girl named Kasumi. The story begins when 160 people are chosen to go into cold sleep until a cure is found for their mysterious disease, the Medusa virus. The Medusa virus is a disease which, six weeks after contracting it, causes victim to have seizures, and within five hours all of the victim's cells have solidified into a clay-like substance. It is named for the Medusa of Greek mythology, whose gaze could turn a person into stone.

When some of the sleepers wake up, the world has drastically changed, and there is a veritable jungle running around and through the facility. Massive monsters roam through the facility, and there are no signs of any other human beings. Although at first the survivors assume that many years have passed by, later in the storyline they realize that they have only been asleep for a very short period of time, and that there is far more to the Medusa virus and their situation than they ever could have imagined. In reality, the survivors have only been asleep a short while and the thorns and creatures are creations from the minds Kasumi's sister, Shizuku, as materialized Medusa bodies.

The Medusa Virus

Originally thought to be a disease causing people to have seizures and then their body petrifying, it is actually a bodyless sentient being from outer space. It infects people's minds and attempts to form a physical body based on an image in their mind. If it cannot successfully form a body, it breaks down causing the host body to petrify in the process.

It was originally bound to a meteor that crashed in remote Siberia near a boy and his pet deer on a walk. By simply being near the rock, the boy was infected with the concentrated Medusa. He returned home and infected his entire family, who all died, save for his emotionally withdrawn sister, Alice. Her imaginary friend was a boyish figure with a cat tail. When the Medusa successfully formed a body in this image and then stabilized the body by eating Alice's dead brother's pet deer, she was horrified and burned down the family house to kill the creature. In the process of doing this, the girl unwittingly spread Medusa thinly over the entire planet and infecting a lot of other people in the process. However, since there was only a certain amount of Medusa present in the meteor, only a certain amount of people were infected, the virus will infecting ones with weak determination.

The Venus Gate sect then appeared and took the girl to the castle fortress to experiment on her and Medusa, as they first believed it to be a gift from god that would allow them to make their imaginations real. Once they realized the truth, it was too late, as their security specialist (Zeus) had already found a new imagination host (Kasumi's twin, Shizuku) and used her to make new creatures in the facility's Medusa extraction room. He used these new creations in his quest to "amuse" himself and make the entire world an entertaining game of sorts.

The large monster at the very beginning of the manga that devours all but seven of the capsule survivors after they try to go through an elevator door is actually the "mother" monster from Shizuku's mind. After eating people, it has the ability to feed off of their thoughts and use the meat from their bodies to create offspring. Through the offspring, Zeus intends to create "games" in each continent of the world as a fight-for-your-life scenario involving the world's population.

Characters

; Kasumi: She is the main character, and the story is mostly told from her point of view. She also has the Medusa virus. Her twin sister Shizuku, who also had the disease, was not chosen to go into cold sleep. Part of the manga focuses on Kasumi coming to terms with what she feels was abandoning Shizuku, even though Shizuku was the one who encouraged her to go. Kasumi also has a crush on Marco, which is visible enough that Katherine feels the need to warn Kasumi that although it is understandable that Kasumi would like Marco, she "mustn't fall for anyone" if they can't trust her back. [cite book | title=King of Thorn Volume 3 | last=Iwahara | first=Yūji | authorlink=Yūji Iwahara | page=Chapter 17 | publisher=Tokyopop | location=Los Angeles | origyear=2004 | year=2008 | language=English | ibsn=978-1-59816-237-0 | quote=Katherine: He has many secrets. You mustn't fall for anyone until you truly know that they trust you back.] Later, in a short conversation with Ron, Ron tells her that Marco will "break [her] heart" if she falls for him, to which Kasumi replies that it's already too late for that. [cite book | title=King of Thorn Volume 5 | last=Iwahara | first=Yūji | authorlink=Yūji Iwahara | page=Chapter 27 | publisher=Tokyopop | location=Los Angeles | origyear=2005 | year=2008 | language=English | ibsn=978-1-4278-0010-7 | quote=Ron: He'll break your heart, kid. Kasumi: ... Too late for that.] : In the short glimpses the reader is given of Kasumi's life prior to awakening in the treatment center, it appears that she suffered from self-esteem issues, and was frustrated with herself for not being able to live up to her sister's self-confidence and popularity. She was also suicidal, and while the 'why' is left open for interpretation for awhile in Volume 5 Kasumi reveals to Alice that she was suicidal because she knew that she had been chosen to be saved instead of Shizuku, and didn't want to live on without her sister. [cite book | title=King of Thorn Volume 5 | last=Iwahara | first=Yūji | authorlink=Yūji Iwahara | page=Chapter 30 | publisher=Tokyopop | location=Los Angeles | origyear=2005 | year=2008 | language=English | ibsn=978-1-4278-0010-7] : In Volume 4, Kasumi is shown video footage that shows her that Shizuku actually was in the treatment center, and it makes her wonder if her twin is the one who caused all the destruction to which the survivors woke. She struggles with that idea, unable to believe that her sister would create such monstrosities and kill so many people.

; Marco Owen: He is the second main character, and by far the most calm. He is revealed to be a criminal who had gotten into trouble with the CIA by hacking into their database for reasons unknown. [cite book | title=King of Thorn Volume 1 | last=Iwahara | first=Yūji | authorlink=Yūji Iwahara | page=Chapter 5 | publisher=Tokyopop | location=Los Angeles | origyear=2003 | year=2007 | language=English | ibsn=978-1-59816-235-6] However, he ended up working for them, in an attempt to solve the mystery of Medusa and Level 4. He has many layers to him, and seems to know a good deal more than the rest of them do. Despite his criminal history, Marco appears to care very much about what happens to the other survivors, regardless of the fact that none of them have more than six weeks to live. He has regularly put his life on the line without a second thought in order to save the others, even those who resent him. It also arguable that although he has certainly not been upfront with information, he has never actually flat-out lied to any of the survivors.: Marco is also the unofficial leader of the group, partially due to his knowledge and partially due to his natural capabilities. Marco used to be a very average-looking, relatively small computer hacker, until his partner, Zeus, betrayed him to the CIA and got away scot-free, leaving Marco with a sentence over sixty years long. While in prison, Marco built up his muscles, received his tattoos, and acquired a new attitude that makes him come off as more of a thug than a hacker -- so much so that his intelligence with computers surprises Katherine and Kasumi, despite already knowing who Marco is. [cite book | title=King of Thorn Volume 4 | last=Iwahara | first=Yūji | authorlink=Yūji Iwahara | page=Chapter 19 | publisher=Tokyopop | location=Los Angeles | origyear=2004 | year=2008 | language=English | ibsn=978-1-59816-238-7 | quote=Kasumi: So it's true that you're a hacker. Katherine: You sure don't look the type ... I mean, you're so buff.] : Marco came into contact with Alice, who was the "catalyst" prior to Shizuku, just after the horned monster he was fighting was impaled on the cross. [cite book | title=King of Thorn Volume 4 | last=Iwahara | first=Yūji | authorlink=Yūji Iwahara | page=Chapter 20 | publisher=Tokyopop | location=Los Angeles | origyear=2004 | year=2008 | language=English | ibsn=978-1-59816-238-7] Because Marco is unaware that Kasumi has a twin, he is currently under the impression that Kasumi is actually Shizuku, and therefore has connections to Level 4 -- despite this, he hasn't tried to press her for information or displayed any less trust in her than he has with the others. Later, it was revealed that despite his physical training, he still no match for Zeus, who had incorporated his soul into Medusa's network.

; Katherine: A pretty young woman infected with Medusa. She is extremely protective of the youngest boy, Tim, and treats him like a nephew or a son. Later, in flashbacks, the reader is shown that Katherine was an alcoholic before becoming infected with Medusa, and abused her son at least once, which resulted in him being taken away from her. [cite book | title=King of Thorn Volume 3 | last=Iwahara | first=Yūji | authorlink=Yūji Iwahara | page=Chapter 13 | publisher=Tokyopop | location=Los Angeles | origyear=2004 | year=2008 | language=English | ibsn=978-1-59816-237-0] She despises herself for what she did, and strives to be the mother for Tim that she wasn't for Michael.: In later chapters, Katherine, on the verge of dying from Medusa, deliberately stabs herself in the chest. By doing so, she forces her "Medusa" self -- the personification of what she believes to be the ideal mother -- to emerge in the form of a stylized Harpy, or female Cockatrice. This Harpy form is not Katherine; the real Katherine died when she impaled herself, and the Medusa simply has a copy of her memories. In this form, she protects Tim from an attacking beast and saves them all from certain death. The Medusa-Katherine survives the fight, although badly injured. Tim chooses to stay behind with her in a locked room as Kasumi and Ron go on ahead.

; Peter: Dr Peter Stevens is the scientist who created the cold sleep capsules. After Venus Gate took control of his capsules, Peter attempted to hack into the database and find out the secret of Level 4. He was caught, and subsequently infected with Medusa, but managed keep his stolen files by distracting his captors with a decoy laptop. Sadly, as Marco points out later, Peter's efforts were for naught -- if the Level 4 files were accessible so easily, the CIA would have gotten ahold of them long ago. And even if they hadn't been able to, Marco himself was unable to find anything, and he is on par with the creator of Level 4's defences.: Being a scientist, Peter is extremely observant; despite the confusion and the panic, he still took note of the fact that of the survivors of the initial monster attack, only the Senator and Kasumi attempted to run for the elevator. The others didn't, and Peter believed that they may not have attempted to escape to the elevator because they already knew that they would be facing certain death. However, this appears to be a mistaken leap of logic: Katherine attempted to run, and was knocked down by the other panicked Medusa victims; Peter and Ron stopped to make sure she was all right; Tim was too frightened to run; and Marco, of course, was the only one who had any idea what was happening.: Peter was killed, although not immediately, when the ceiling collapsed and large hunks of rock were dropped on top of him. Although Kasumi dug him out, Peter died anyway. However, his "Medusa" form came back as an entity that looks exactly like Peter, but full of cockrocahes and capable of creating Praying Mantis-like scythe from his face. He, like Katherine's Medusa form, apparently has full control of his mental faculties and has no wish to harm the survivors -- not even Marco, whom Peter distrusted. His goal is to getting back the original "cold capsule"; that was used by Zeus to create the Medusa's monsters. His Medusa form was fried by Zeus while trying to attacking him.

; The Senator: An older white man. From the beginning, he was cowardly and self-serving. He was the only one to recognize Marco for who Marco really was, and revealed it to the group, causing a lot of tension. He was also willing to encourage Ron to kill Marco in a fit of rage by giving Ron the monkey wrench with which Marco had originally threatened the Senator [cite book | title=King of Thorn Volume 1 | last=Iwahara | first=Yūji | authorlink=Yūji Iwahara | page=Chapter 5 | publisher=Tokyopop | location=Los Angeles | origyear=2003 | year=2007 | language=English | ibsn=978-1-59816-235-6] . The Senator is devoured by oversized eels in chapter 6. Unlike Peter, he does not come back to life.

; Tim:A young boy infected with Medusa. He appears to be around six to nine years of age, and appears to be very resilient, with even Alice commenting on his toughness. Tim calls Katherine 'auntie' and treats her as if she really is his aunt, becoming very attached to her and vice-versa, as he reminds her of her son. At the end of chapter 26 in volume 5, Tim elects to stay behind with Katherine's Medusa form in a locked room until she heals.

; Ron:A black man from Detroit. At first, he displayed a very fatalistic attitude, and was devastated by the realization that civilization had been all but destroyed. He chooses to stay behind when Marco, Katherine, Kasumi, and Tim venture into Level 4, and as such, is the only one to witness Peter's "revival". Marco inadvertently nearly drowns Ron while hacking into Venus Gate's security systems. At the end of chapter 24 of volume 4, Ron appears again to save Katherine, Kasumi, and Tim from a tentacle monster. During his time away from the group, Ron appears to have changed his attitude regarding life and death, and decides that he prefers to fight to protect his own life and the lives of his fellow survivors as long as he can before they die. He carries Katherine as they flee, and protects her from falling debris despite knowing she likely has only minutes left to live before the Medusa virus kills her.: Ron is not named until chapter 27 of the manga. [cite book | title=King of Thorn Volume 5 | last=Iwahara | first=Yūji | authorlink=Yūji Iwahara | page=Chapter 27 | publisher=Tokyopop | location=Los Angeles | origyear=2005 | year=2008 | language=English | ibsn=978-1-4278-0010-7 | quote=Kasumi: Mister! Ron: Mis--! It's Ron! I have a name!] It's a running joke that the others (specifically Marco and Kasumi) refer to Ron as an older man (Marco calls him "Old Man", and Kasumi refers to him as "Ojisan", or "Mister" in the English translation), which irritates Ron greatly.

; Alice: The only survivor of the first family infected by Medusa. After the death of her family, Alice set fire to her home so that "he" couldn't escape. "He" turned out to be a construct of her mind, made real by the Medusa and stabilized into a permanent physical form by eating the head of Alice's late brother's reindeer. She called him 'Laloo'. He emerged from her back, leaving a massive scar. In the manga, Alice is first seen as an attractive young woman with blonde hair who is following the group, apparently with sinister intentions, but turns out to be more of an observer as she is not the real creator of the majority of monsters. Furthermore, Alice's "body" is merely a projection of her mind -- Alice forcibly leads Kasumi to her real body, revealing herself to be little more than a torso, a left arm, and a head, kept alive by machinery. She had a guardian that resembles an antromorphic, large white rabbit. Later, she gave up her life to resucitate Marco, who suffered fatal wounds after forced to fight bunch od creatures.

; Shizuku:Kasumi's popular, outgoing twin sister, who is also infected with Medusa. Although originally presumed to be dead, as only Kasumi was chosen as one of the 160 to be put into cold sleep, she is apparently still alive and the cause of the horrors released upon the world. She is being controlled by Zeus. According to Venus Gate, Shizuku is even more powerful than Alice. Her current location is unknown, although she is presumably somewhere within the Venus Gate facility.

; Zeus: He is known by the CIA and NSA as the best hacker on the planet. He is also the man responsible for putting Marco Owen in prison. Marco has a fierce hatred of Zeus as a result of this, and it is only after the CIA shows Marco Zeus's picture and tells him of his involvement in the Medusa project that he agrees to go to the castle facility and infiltrate Level 4. Zeus continually taunts Marco with the statement "you will never reach my level". However, it has been noted by the CIA and the NSA that despite being betrayed by Zeus, Marco is apparently on par with him. During his time, it is revealed that he had incorporated his coinsience into Medusa's network, manifestating himself using wires that enables him to create "physical manifestation". In this form, he also had electronic power, makes him can access computer at his leisure and giving him ability to create electric currents. He's the one responsible for creating Medusa attacks; he purposely put one person into "eternal dream" (Shizuku) using the cold capsules, and manipulating her dream to create the monstrosity. However, if Shizuku is ever awakened, the Medusa born with her will crumble. Later, Marco manages to "shut-down" him after accesing the cold capsule program inside the monster's queen mother.

Reception

The English edition of "King of Thorn" was named by the Young Adult Library Services Association as among the 10 best graphic novels for teens for 2007.cite web | url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-01-16/manga-named-to-librarians-great-graphic-novels-list | title=Manga Named to Librarians' Great Graphic Novels List | publisher=Anime News Network | date=2008-01-16 | accessdate=2008-08-26] Volume one was praised by "Publishers Weekly" as "a gripping entry in the genre of violent survivor manga," and praised Iwahara's art for conveying the character's claustophobia without confusing the reader.cite web | url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6448060.html | title=Fiction Reviews: Week of 6/4/2007 | publisher=Publishers Weekly | accessdate=2008-09-04 | quote=Claustrophobic art captures the feeling of being trapped, out of place and pressed on by forces outside one's control, all without confusing the reader. Iwahara ("Chikyu Misaki") is capable of both human caricatures and intimidating dinosaurlike monsters, action feats of daring-do and philosophical torment.] A reviewer at Anime News Network found both the writing and artwork effectively convey the characters' tension and danger, but claimed that Iwahara's borrowing elements from many sources did not initially create an original work,cite web | url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/king-of-thorn/gn-1 | title=Review: King of Thorn: GN 1-3 | first=Theron | last=Martin | publisher=Anime News Network | date=2008-02-13 | accessdate=2008-09-04] but that as the series progresses it "offer [s] some intriguing twists on sci fi and horror gimmicks."cite web | url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/king-of-thorn/gn-4 | title=Review: King of Thorn: GN 4 | first=Theron | last=Martin | publisher=Anime News Network | date=2008-06-01 | accessdate=2008-09-04] Iwahara's art was singled out for praise, especially for conveying action scenes.

Manga

"King of Thorn" was serialized by Enterbrain in "Monthly Comic Beam" from October 2002 to October 2005, and collected in six bound volumes. It is published in North America by Tokyopop, in Germany and Hungary by Tokyopop Germany, in France by Soleil, and in Spain by Glénat.cite web | url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/manga.php?id=3840 | title=King of Thorn (manga) | publisher=Anime News Network | accessdate=2008-09-04]

Graphic novel list/header
Language = Japan
SecondLanguage = North AmericaGraphic novel list
VolumeNumber = 1
OriginalRelDate = 2003-04-25cite web | url=http://www.enterbrain.co.jp/jp/p_catalog/book/2003/4-7577-1380-0.html | title=いばらの王 1 | 株式会社エンターブレイン | publisher=Enterbrain | language=Japanese | accessdate=2008-09-04]
OriginalISBN = 4-7577-1380-0
LicensedRelDate = 2007-06-01
LicensedISBN = 978-1-59816-235-6
ChapterList =
VolumeExtras =
Summary = Graphic novel list
VolumeNumber = 2
OriginalRelDate = 2003-09-25cite web | url=http://www.enterbrain.co.jp/jp/p_catalog/book/2003/4-7577-1585-4.html | title=いばらの王 2 | 株式会社エンターブレイン | publisher=Enterbrain | language=Japanese | accessdate=2008-09-04]
OriginalISBN = 4-7577-1585-4
LicensedRelDate = 2007-10-09
LicensedISBN = 978-1-59816-236-3
ChapterList =
VolumeExtras =
Summary = Graphic novel list
VolumeNumber = 3
OriginalRelDate = 2004-02-25cite web | url=http://www.enterbrain.co.jp/jp/p_catalog/book/2003/4-7577-1770-9.html | title=いばらの王 3 | 株式会社エンターブレイン | publisher=Enterbrain | language=Japanese | accessdate=2008-09-04]
OriginalISBN = 4-7577-1770-9
LicensedRelDate = 2008-02-05
LicensedISBN = 978-1-59816-237-0
ChapterList =
VolumeExtras =
Summary = Graphic novel list
VolumeNumber = 4
OriginalRelDate = 2004-09-25cite web | url=http://www.enterbrain.co.jp/jp/p_catalog/book/2003/4-7577-1987-6.html | title=いばらの王 4 | 株式会社エンターブレイン | publisher=Enterbrain | language=Japanese | accessdate=2008-09-04]
OriginalISBN = 4-7577-1987-6
LicensedRelDate = 2008-05-06
LicensedISBN = 978-1-59816-238-7
ChapterList =
VolumeExtras =
Summary = Graphic novel list
VolumeNumber = 5
OriginalRelDate = 2005-05-30cite web | url=http://www.enterbrain.co.jp/jp/p_catalog/book/2003/4-7577-2303-2.html | title=いばらの王 5巻 | 株式会社エンターブレイン | publisher=Enterbrain | language=Japanese | accessdate=2008-09-04]
OriginalISBN = 4-7577-2303-2
LicensedRelDate = 2008-08-05
LicensedISBN = 978-1-4278-0010-7
ChapterList =
VolumeExtras =
Summary = Graphic novel list
VolumeNumber = 6
OriginalRelDate = 2005-10-24cite web | url=http://www.enterbrain.co.jp/jp/p_catalog/book/2003/4-7577-2478-0.html | title=いばらの王 6巻 | 株式会社エンターブレイン | publisher=Enterbrain | language=Japanese | accessdate=2008-09-04]
OriginalISBN = 4-7577-2478-0
LicensedRelDate = 2008-11-04
LicensedISBN = 978-1-4278-0011-4
ChapterList =
VolumeExtras =
Summary =

The Japanese volume 4 was also released in a special edition (ISBN 4-7577-1988-4) including a limited edition figurine of Kasumi.cite web | url=http://www.enterbrain.co.jp/jp/p_catalog/book/2004/4-7577-1988-4.html | title=いばらの王　4（特装版） | 株式会社エンターブレイン | publisher=Enterbrain | language=Japanese | accessdate=2008-09-04]

References

External links

* [http://www.kanshin.jp/comic-beam/?mode=keyword&id=342445 Comic Beam official website] ja icon
* [http://www.tokyopop.de/buecher/manga/koenig_der_dornen/index.php Tokoyopop Germany official website] de icon
*