Cover art
Synopsis:
Maple Cloverwood is your average fujoshi schoolgirl with above average looks. One day she was assaulted by a zombie at school, but that was just the beginning to a nightmarish lifestyle - one that involves daily transport to a dark dystopian world facing a problem with zombie infestation! Now she must kill zombies to survive, or die horribly as an undead herself...
Theme: Maids, Zombies, Moe, Guro (holy shit it's in my strike zone)
Fair warning: This series is not for kids!
Price: Rm15 per book (not including postage fee)
Page count: Roughly about 100 pages per book.
===========================================================
Backstory// ~ personal story with Maids and Zombies ~
*Skip this part if you want to read only about the review
I first noticed RavenHart's art during 2013, that was when I frequently visit a facebook group for Malaysian Artists called MAWA (Malaysia Anime World Artworks/Artists). He does really great sketches ranging from cute girls to monstrous monsters, DC and Tokusatsu Superheroes, to detailed background artworks. It was not long until I checked his page and started to follow him.
In the same year, he made it to local anime conventions like Comic Fiesta as a booth vendor and to my delight, he started selling his self-published/ independent ("Indie") comic, "Maids and Zombies". I didn't attend CF that year, but posts from CF attendees pops up on my wall like mushrooms after the rain (Malay Proverb) and one of those was his post. Upon seeing the book in a physical copy, I immediately want one, but to my disappointment the book was sold out some days after the event, even though I already PM'd RavenHart personally. So I had to wait for the next batch.
Fast forward to 2015, somewhere during October. I saw RavenHart's post about reprints of volume 1 and the prints for volume 2. My heart leaped with joy. I immediately pm'd him for a copy of both volumes, which he replied to. After some transaction, the books finally arrived safely in my arms. Yes, this review was meant to be done as soon as I finished reading the books. A series of events delayed the process, but finally here it is for the public to read. So please enjoy my detailed review!
===========================================================
In-depth Review:
*pictures are taken from Artist's page with permission.
The covers are slightly darker than the digital one RavenHart posted in his page.
Volume 1 Review:
Juicy artwork and gore details
Dynamic panelling
Highlights of volume 1
Uncensored Moe!!
SENPAI Character! Megane FOR THE WIN!
Look at that bullet fire details. GAWD! Now that's dedication!
If I had a boner, this page would literally kill it every. single. time.
Uncensored Gore!!
Pros:
+ nice moe artstyle. Sasuga RavenHart.
+ eerie zombies illustration
+ ZOMBI REIPU!
+ lots of derp moments! derp faces! MEME materials!
+ periodically, ecchi shots + pansu shots
+ breaking the 4th dimension
Cons:
- quite confusing panelling resulting in awkward story-telling (feels a bit amateurish, somewhat unpolished direction)
- awkward dialogues particularly in the grammar and choice of words
e.g (used 'dat' instead of 'that', 'kinda' instead of 'kind of')
- fonts could've been better. Understandable due to lack of manpower
- the art is inconsistent, sometimes the hands and feet are too small
*probably to emphasize anime-moe artstyle, but there are a few shots where the hands and feets are smaller than usual
- inconsistent sfx, most of the time it uses english sfx (swoosh, stab, thump) but there are times when malay sfx are used instead ("Dush")
Vol 1 Personal Commentary:
- Can't decide if Maple's awesome or straightaway just your average derpina, but I personally think that she's just your average derpina who is slightly cuter than average girls.
Now that we're done with Volume 1, let's take a look at volume 2!
Volume 2 Review:
preserved theme from the previous volume:
+ nice moe artstyle
+ eerie zombies illustration
+ ZOMBI REIPU!
+ lots of derp moments! derp faces! MEME materials!
+ periodically, ecchi shots + pansu shots
+ breaking the 4th dimension
There's an overall improvement here compared to volume 1, but let's start with some pages, shall we?
 |
The story continues directly from volume 1 |
From here on, it's zombie killing time~ oh yeah~
+ Improved story-telling
+ Improved panelling
+ Character development
+ Fast paced action! with uncensored RYONA, BLOOD and GORE!
+ PLOT TWIST!!
+ one full page illustration of zombie attack in a tattered shopping mall:
+ includes fan art submissions from fans (for me this is a big plus, showing that the author really cares about the fans)
+ BADASS character: Angie
- Overall improvement from Volume 1
- Panelling and storytelling is much, much better. Still has room for improvement though
- Dialogues feels more natural, removed a lot of 'Dat' from volume 1
- Printing improvement, particularly in the printing margin
- Fonts are mostly the same, but due to the size, makes it easier to read compared to volume 1
- Art is getting more consistent
Weaknesses are still there, but they're getting harder to find.
Overall, volume 2 is leaps and bounds improvement from the previous volume.
===========================================================
Final say:
- Pick up maids and zombies if you want to have a casual indie zombie-flick graphic literature. The girls are cute and the zombies are cool.
- Also since this is an indie publication, there is no media censorship at all which makes it HIGHLY COLLECTIBLE. Who knows just how much the value will go up in another 10 or 20 years? ;)
- Extra reason to own this manga: The author will personally draw an illustration for you at the last page of each volume:
Name censored, coz I feel like it.
I am personally looking forward to the next installment of the series. This is definitely going into my following list now!
Rate: 3.8 out of 5 stars
That's all for my review folks! Follow RavenHart's page at http://on.fb.me/1IEkHFY
Pictures courtesy of RavenHart from the following album:
Sneak peek vol 1: http://on.fb.me/1TutPTU
Sneak peek vol 2: http://on.fb.me/1IDZLPj
-----END-----
