Kentaro Miura’s one-shot manga “Giganto Maxia” brings a powerful story of a world grasping for survival. The tale starts with a bulky traveler named Delos walking across a vast desert with a young girl named Prome standing on his shoulders. Already seemingly strange, monstrous creatures and mysterious people attack and capture them. The pair accept their fate since it so happens, Prome and Delo had been searching for their captors.

Readers follow the characters into the home of the Beetle Tribe of the Desert. They see the demihuman residents who the years of evolution and mixing beetle and human D.N.A. altered. The people are a group filled with pride and a strong sense of self preservation, so the captors send Delos and Prome to an arena to prove themselves worthy of staying in their land. While the duo must put up a fight to earn the right for safety, another larger threat looms beyond the desert’s hills.

“Giganto Maxia” is the latest from the creator of the hit series manga and anime series “Berserk.” While only one volume is released, the story carries the same weight in heavy themes and mood like Miura’s other work. The setting has so many elements to look at, and the magical and insightful Prome gives information about it all to both Delos and the audience. The manga deals with the life and death of humanity through the struggle of the Beetle Tribe. They are a minority threatened by an imperialist enemy who uses godly power to expand the grasp of their empire. It may take the power of a Titan to save them.

Detail is key to Miura’s art and somehow with the amount of lines and cross hatching he uses, readers can clearly distinguish what is what on the page. There are numerous references to Ancient Greek and Egyptian mythology and culture. Prome’s dialogue tends to fill the page compared to others, but the words aren’t wasted, as the translating team does excellent work making sure the dialogue maintains its original meaning.

“Giganto” is a beautiful manga that hits both the heart and the mind.

Originally posted on
CNN