Enigma

[Spark Of Spirit]

I figured I'd start a thread for this because... well, I think it actually deserves dedicated discussion.

Enigma... well, I can't even really describe the plot short of someone named "Enigma" is kidnapping people and making them go through something called an 'E-Test' which if you survive, you learn the truth of why you were captured... and maybe something more. Since it's part mystery I can't really go further than that, but the candidates are tested to find 7-8 passwords to escape from the E-Test and only have a few days to do it in. There are traps and enemies at every corner, and only by working together can the candidates survive the test. Oh yeah, and no one has ever survived the E-Test before.

Where the manga succeeds is in the amount of information it gives to the reader. Not too much to know what's going on, and not too little in order to be utterly lost. The thing is, there really isn't anything else like it in Shonen Jump right now, and the closest thing I can compare it to is probably Death Note, only you know, without its eccentricities. It really is very much its own thing.

So I thought a thread dedicated to this series would be more than appropriate.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I just started reading the manga and I got 2 chapters in. While the set-up has been done before, its interesting enough that each student as unique abilities that can be utilized to aid them in getting out of their predicament, and their is a lot of potential for interesting ways for their abilities to work if they combine their efforts and work together. That said the plot has also been kind of predictable so far, with that one guy who always proposes unity and becomes the leader, but then another guy who wants to be a loner and tries to convince people to split-up even though that seems to be the surest way to get killed. And then one guy ends up missing from the group and there is more worry in concern among the other members and what not. That said there is plenty of room for the unpredictable in a manga like this, so maybe the author will manage to impress me in later chapters and come up with twists that are cleverly built up to and that I don't see coming. I'll see as I read more of it later on.

While it doesn't have as strong of a start as something along the lines of Death Note to grab you and hook you in right away, it certainly has the potential to become as engrossing if its handled right.