Review: Gravity Rush Manga Chapter 1

The September 2017 issue of Comic Alive was released yesterday in Japan, and it contained the first chapter of the Gravity Rush manga. I purchased the digital Kindle version as this proved to be the fastest way to get a hold of the comic. The first chapter of the comic starts of with a single page showing Kat, wearing a grav-suit, during a mining expedition with the crew from the Banga Settlement. It’s likely that this scene coincides with the start of Gravity Rush 2. Afterwards, the story moves back to an earlier point in time to explain how Kat ended up in this situation. This is a retelling of the second part of Gravity Rush: The Animation – Overture, which shows how Kat, Raven and Syd were whisked away from Hekseville when they were caught in a gravity storm.

For the most part the story is the same as the animation, but there are some minor differences. For example, in the manga Raven actually recognizes the kids that are trapped in the pods in Gravity Rush 2 as the missing orphans. Raven also fares better in the battle versus the androids (or whatever they actually are?), and doesn’t need to be saved by Kat this time around. Kat still does end up throwing Syd’s collection of whine bottles at the enemy, and unlike in the animation we get to see Syd visibly upset about that. The outcome is ultimately still the same, with the androids self-destructing and the gravity storm separating Kat and Syd from Dusty and Raven. The manga ends in the same way as the animation, with Cecie discovering Kat and Syd after they end up being transported to the Banga Settlement.

A scene from Gravity Rush; The Animation..

The manga’s art is certainly different from the in-game comics and Overture,, but it looks good in its own right.

Given that it’s a different artist working on the manga, the art style is noticeably different from that of the comic book cut-scenes seen in the game. It’s (understandably) not as detailed, especially in terms of backgrounds, but the character designs are recognizable and expressive, and the art style seems to be a good fit for the action sequences. I assume the rest of the manga will follow Gravity Rush 2’s story in a similar fashion so it doesn’t seem like this is a must-have for Gravity Rush fans, although it will be interesting to see if the story diverges in some parts. Especially considering the fact that adapting the entire game’s story in manga form won’t be as straightforward as this adaption of Overture, so we can expect probably expect more of a difference there. Overall, this looks to be a very good start!

The latest issue of Comic Alive can be ordered at Amazon Japan (which also ship outside of Japan) for the price of 800 yen. Alternatively, the Kindle version is an option, but you do need a Japanese address on your account to get past region restrictions. I wasn’t too not impressed by the image quality of the Kindle version, so I still ended up ordering the physical version as well. Of course, do keep in mind that the manga is in Japanese only, and an official English release seems unlikely. I’ll probably do another review for the next chapter, but for now I’ll leave you with a few more photo’s from the physical version of the manga from SIE Studio Japan’s @wakasma, as well as more artwork from the artist working on the manga.