Psyren
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| Psyren | |
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 Weekly Shōnen Jump Cover |
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| サイレン (Sairen) |
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| Genre | Action, Supernatural |
| Manga: Psyren | |
| Author | Toshiaki Iwashiro |
| Publisher |  Shueisha |
| Demographic | Shōnen |
| Magazine | Weekly Shōnen Jump |
| Original run | December 2007 – ongoing |
| Volumes | 1 |
Psyren (サイレン Sairen?) is a manga series by Toshiaki Iwashiro. It began serialization in the December 3, 2007 issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump.
Contents |
[edit] Summary
One day while heading home, Ageha Yoshina, a high-schooler who helps people with their problems for 10,000 yen, finds a public pay phone ringing by itself. He picks it up, receiving no answer except a calling card with the word "Psyren" printed on it. After Sakurako Amamiya, a girl in Yoshina's class, disappears after mentioning "Psyren", Ageha uses the calling card in hopes of finding the whereabouts of his classmate, despite being warned not to get involved, and after answering a long and detailed quiz, is left to his own devices for some reason. The next day, while running from men sent to collect the calling card, Ageha is sent to another world known as Psyren. Once in this new world, Ageha finds Amamiya and others that have been sent to this odd place. When most of the group is annihilated by a masked monster, Ageha figures that he has to work with his acquaintances in order to make it back home. After risking his life to try and save one of the group who was wounded but not dead, Ageha sees the clouds clear and recognizes Mt Fuji and that he's actually in a post apocalyptic Japan. After a brutal struggle against one of the Tavoo creatures in Psyren, Ageha, Amamiya and Asaga return to Japan. Amamiya passes out with a severe nose-bleed and is taken to safety by a mysterious woman riding a motorcycle who uses Telekinesis to hurl Ageha away. As she leaves she warns Ageha and the other survivors that they will have nose-bleeds and severe head-aches that night but that the next morning their 'PSI' will awaken. Soon after, Amamiya introduces the mysterious biker as her sensei, Matsuri Yakumo, an extremely powerful psychic and brilliant pianist. Matsuri is a drifter, some one who's call card value reached 0 and is now free of the game. She announces that their 'PSI' can be used now and lets them try it out on cups of tea with cream in them. While Ageha and Asaga try this, she notices that Ageha's PSI is a little different but then passes it off as her imagination.
Meanwhile, on television a famous idol, Oboro Mochizaki, goes on television and tries to explain Psyren and what he's learned from the quiz and Nemesis Q's existence but is suddenly stricken with a mysterious attack from Nemesis Q, watching him from the rigging. While he's recovering back-stage an old lady called Elmore Temujin tells him not to explain Nemesis Q and leaves looking a little disappointed.
During their training, Asaga has fared far better than Ageha by being able to touch Amamiya telekinetically and as such is left to leave. Ageha is having a lot of trouble as PSI requires using concentration, visualisation and projection, and in frustration, he uses emotion and destroys a section of Amamiya's wall. Amamiya frees him but rather than being exhausted he's excited and tries to send Asaga a picture to gloat. It's then that their calling cards activate, bizarrely soon as there is normally a 2 week period in between each summoning. And all three are summoned to Psyren. Another character with a calling card is introduced called Kabuto Kirisaki, while on a rooftop he too is summoned to Psyren. In Psyren, Ageha and Amamiya arrive at the same place along with a large number of other new arrivals who mostly seem terrified. Asaga appears next to Kabuto and the two can clearly view Kabuto's uncle's house, devastated by whatever destroyed Japan. After meeting with everyone, they listen to the message and discover that the gate this time is extremely close to their current location, in fact it's even visible, but it requires going through the danger zone. Mochizaki says he's going to attempt and nearly all the new drifters save Kabuto follow him. After a few steps they are attacked by a gigantic sand-worm and nearly all killed, a few people make it to safer ground after a telepathic warning from Amamiya. Oboro is saved by Ageha but initially refuses the offer forcing Ageha to use his PSI to repel the beast as much as he can before being rescued by Amamiya and Asaga. While trying to decide what to do, the remaining survivours are slaughted by a mysterious new arrival who stares down Ageha and the others, the only thing clear is that he doesn't look like a Tavoo or a cyborg, but more like a human with small horns. The new arrival is revealed to be Mana Tatsuo, a friend of Asagas. He carries an odd rifle that he charges using his PSI and attempts to destroy the remaining forces by recharging this weapon. Mochizaki falls ill with the illness that awakens PSI and Kabuto opts that they make a break for it and leave him behind, until he also falls down the sickness and quickly changes his tune. To defend the others, Amamiya confronts Tatsuo wielding two kamas tied to a chain and uses his Trance to enter his mind. She finds the inside is dark and similar to a Tavoo's, but deep down she finds that Tatsuo was captured by a cyborg like Tavoo, similar to Alfred, and had a Tavoo orb placed inside of him, turning him into this. She uses Rise to fight Tatsuo equally and finally tricks him into damaging the large worm. However, Amamiya is now exhausted, depleting the Drifters strength greatly until Mochizaki suddenly recovers and has an idea.
He believes that Tatsuo's mask must be stopping the worm attacking him so if they get the mask they'll be able to cross the desert free of the worm. But this plan requires Amamiya distracting the Sand-worm while Asaga and Ageha fight with the Tavoo Tatsuo. Ageha keeps up with his Rise as it only augments his strength but is eventually hit, only being saved by Asaga now using his Dragon Tail PSI to capture Tatsuo. Tatsuo begins to get his memories back but they're all jumbled and disorganised, he says he feels likehe's losing it and Asaga tries to hold him close but gets stabbed through the chest. Ageha is so enraged by Tatsuo's actions, and the fact he doesn't even seem to be fighting the Tavoo influence, that he inadvertently creates a new kind of Burst that looks like a flaming sphere.
[edit] Characters
- Ageha Yoshina (夜科 アゲハ Yoshina Ageha?)
- A high-schooler who offers to take care of anyone's problems for the price of 10,000 yen. He is transported to Psyren after he uses the calling card to find out more about the whereabouts of his classmate Sakurako Amamiya. Once in Psyren, Yoshina has to pair up with Amamiya and Asaga to get back to Earth. After failing to save Sugida, Yoshina sees the ruins of Mount Fuji and he realizes that they're in a post-apocalyptic version of Japan. After a narrowly won fight with the cyborg Alfred, Yoshina and the other survivors return to Earth. Ageha and the others are summoned to Psyren a second time shortly after discovering his PSI power. Amamiya states that Ageha's PSI power is unusual in that it is fueled almost entire by emotion. Ageha can unleash a massively destructive blast of pure psychic energy. Ageha has yet to learn how to refine his power, and the few times he has used it has left him exhausted after only one shot. He also has another ability in which he creates a giant sphere of PSI that homes in on on other PSI abilities. But this is more dangerous, because instead of getting exhausted like his first PSI ability, this ability seems to destory his mind, most likely on the great strain on the mind when using PSI, and Yoshina almost turned to ash because of it. He deeply cares for Amamiya and dislikes the idea of her fighting on the front line.
- Sakurako Amamiya (雨宮 桜子 Amamiya Sakurako?)
- A girl in Yoshina's class who used to be bright and lively but was nicknamed "The Ice Princess" after she became cold and hard-hearted. Yoshina suspects that Psyren may be the cause for Amamiya's change. Once in Psyren, she comes down with a sickness that immobilizes her. This forces Yoshina and Asaga to take care of her. Amamiya seems to know more about Psyren then the other humans that are trapped there and this is due to her relationship with Matsuri. She also exhibits super-human reflexes when fighting 'Alfred' by saying the phrase "Rise", her reflexes proved great enough to catch an arrow flying through the air. She seems specialize in weapons as she always takes one to Psyren when called. Amamiya might have a crush on Ageha, which developed upon the first return to Psyren.
- Hiryuu Asaga (朝河 飛龍 Asaga Hiryuu?)
- "Dragon" Asaga is a tough guy who says that he came to Psyren in search of a friend. He agrees to help out Amamiya for Yoshina. After their safe return to earth, he comforts Yoshina about Amamiya being taken by an unknown friend and reveals himself to be Asaga Hiryuu, Ageha's former classmate from elementary school who used to be a crybaby (who Ageha used to pick on; humorously, Asaga got his revenge but remarking how short Ageha was compared to him). He initially displays much more proficiency with PSI than Ageha but Ageha's power once he masters it is quite a lot stronger than his by appearance. Asaga's PSI ability resembles the tail of a Dragon in it's Burst state fitting his nickname.
- Kabuto Kirisaki (霧崎 カブト Kirisaki Kabuto?)
- A local playboy who seems to spend his time hitting on attractive women and when caught falls to his knees and begs for mercy giving various excuses for his actions such as 'never feeling loved before' and that he lost both his parents (although this seems true) before recalling his words as a joke and escaping again. He seems to be a very good runner as he easily evaded two full grown men who were chasing him. He has an uncle who lives nearby and apparently lost a leg in the war but continues his career as a journalist. Kabuto goes to Psyren to try and make his fortune and is the only one of the new arrivals of his batch to listen to Amamiya's instructions.
- Oboro Mochizuki (望月 朧 Mochizuki Oboro?)
- An idol in the present, Oboro received a call card and tried to tell the nation about it on a local talk show but was silenced by Nemesis Q and almost killed. He is summoned to Psyren later that day and has his first experiences of the future. He decides to make a break for the exit despite the fact it's through the Danger Zone and a large number of new drifters (in fact, all of them except Kabuto) follow him only to be attacked by a giant worm. Ageha saves him from being eaten and he witnesses their PSI powers. His PSI is an ability called cure which allows him to share "rise" ability with who he's healing and using a form of "burst" for healing.
- Tatsuo Mana (真名 辰夫 Mana Tatsuo?)
- A friend of Asaga's who was always sickly with a hereditary disease, as he stayed sick he grew angry with the outside world, he went to Psyren and offered Asaga a card but he refused. In Psyren, a figure wearing a mask appears, holding a rifle that uses his PSI energy. He strongly resembles Tatsuo and after killing all but the five survivours, takes his aim at them and destroys part of the building. Amamiya says he's a Burst User and he also uses Rise to fight her physically. After using Trance, Amamiya realises that Tatsuo was transformed into a Tavoo by having an orb implanted into him.
- Fubuki Yoshina (夜科 フブキ Yoshina Fubuki?)
- The older sister and guardian of Ageha Yoshina. She has a crush on the idol Oboro Mochizuki.
- Nozomi Sugida (杉田 望 Sugida Nozomi?)
- A boy who was killed after being attacked by monsters in Psyren, despite Yoshina's efforts to save his life.
- Alfred (アルフレッド Arufureddo?)
- A cyborg who lives in Psyren, he attacks the group and nearly wipes them all out after pursuing them to the escape point. He has stitches around his limbs, a single glowing eye in his helmet and monstrous strength. His name is written on the plate attached near the base of his neck. He also repeats the phrases 'Agro' and 'Abraham' whether these two phrases mean anything isn't clear. His weapon of choice appears to be a small cross-bow. He was killed by Ageha in his first round of Psyren.
- Nemesis Q (ネメシスQ Nemeshisu Q?)
- The mysterious and supposed leader of Psyren. He has appeared a few times so far, two times watching Ageha before sending him to Psyren, once for Asaga and once for Oboro.
[edit] Manga Volumes and Chapters
- Further information: List of Psyren chapters
[edit] Terminology
- Tavoo
- A type of creature that can be found in Psyren. they generally resemble a large insect, or a human being. They can be recognized by the light-emitting sphere somewhere on their body, the stitch marks on various places (most visible on the limbs), the human-like arms and hands and their large power. They appear to be permanently hostile, attacking anything but their own kind on sight. in chapter 10, Matsuri suggests that they are somehow related to the state of Japan in the future. despite their strength, they are easy to defeat by destroying the light-emitting sphere. Doing so will cause them to die within a minute. they first appeared in chapter 2, the first humanoid Tavoo, Alfred, appeared in chapter 3.
- PSI
- PSI is the ability to manipulate the surroundings using the power of the mind. As Matsuri explains in chapter 11, it works by using the brain's full capacity instead if only a part of it. Since this can cause serious damage, comparable with overheating, humanity evolved a blocker in order to limit the brain's maximum used capacity. Due to something in the air of Psyren, this blocker will be destroyed after the first visit to Psyren, which is accompanied by a continuous nosebleed and a high fever, both of which are gone after a night's sleep. PSI itself is divided into three forms: burst, trance and rise. burst is used to manipulate the environment (like with telekinesis), trance is used to manipulate other people (like with telepathy) and rise is used to manipulate the user himself (giving him/her increased reflexes). Also, Ageha is capable of using a different sort of PSI, which is powered by his emotions rather than his "brainpower" and takes the form of a large sphere of light, capable of making a two-meter diameter hole in a normal wall.
- Psyren
- Essentially, Psyren is Japan, but in the future. How far into the future is unknown, but apparently a massive event took place, turning everything into a wasteland without any life other than the Tavoo and the Psyren drifters. Even though most of Japan appears to be completely leveled, there are some buildings left with pay phones which Nemesis Q uses as starting points and exits for the drifters.
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