The plot twists were interesting... but the entire story lacked the fabric to hold them together. Entire story seemed like a shell, needs more development in of characters and plot. All of them seem interesting, but they aren't fleshed out enough.

Art is really nice (main reason I continued reading it). I really like Aya Kanno's style.

Yeah, I know a lot of people weren't really fond of the protagonist, but in my opinion, he was probably one of the best protagonist I have ever come across, lmao. He didn't stray from his goal despite uncovering his past and going through all that drama, he still remained free. I was actually pretty surprise when Hakka turned out to be the mastermind behind everything and Colonel Gia was actually playing the good guy; I didn't see it coming, lol.

For once, the female lead(?) wasn't typically annoying or shoved all the way in the background (not that I mind?), in fact, she played a pretty powerful role, and I overall liked her character a lot despite her ending. In my opinion, I think she fell in love with Zen, maybe, perhaps? Or at least, something akin to it, because Zen was the first person who didn't treat her like she was something fragile, and was the first person to tell her to control her own life. With what Zen "taught" her, she grew stronger into what she believed in.

Everyone in this manga had their own sense of "justice" --- ah, well, besides Zen? Which was a nice read, no one was annoying either, lmao, also, if everyone's wondering why they're all so young looking, ... LOL ;; Zen's a human experiment, so he probably stopped aging and adapted to his "supposedly" forever age, and well, there's a mystery behind Hakka, orz ;; But he is the doctor who once controlled Zen, 😛

But yeah, reading this manga was very beautiful, I want to buy the books, orz;; If there was one thing to criticize, it would probably be the length? But I was satisfied with the ending, too. Though, I want to see more of Zen's adventures D: Uwah ;; The art is ridiculously pretty, and Zen wasn't too feminine, he was in fact, perfect, imo.

Well... after finishing the story I'm still not quite sure what to think! There are definitely some great twists to the story and on a whole it's pretty interesting but... I'm just not quite sure what to think of it!

Plot- The plot's kind of hard to find at first. The first chapter's a bit disconnected from the rest of the story, and then the next few chapters seem a bit random... then we kind of get to a plot and then... well, let's just say the plot's there but it takes a while (until the very end) to fully realize what is going on. Not that it was bad, the 'plot' actually was very interesting and great twists were made but on a whole I wish the story had a set direction it was going instead of winding around like it does.

Characters- I had a hard time getting attached to the characters, some were nicely developed while others were a bit lacking. The main, Zen, is a pretty interesting guy but I still just couldn't like him all that much... the characters got a bit better as time went on and they aren't completely bad I just wish that some had been developed better and the relationships between the characters could have been developed better as well... maybe if it were longer...

Art- Nothing special, didn't really notice it as being great maybe even a little sketchy at times but on a whole it was fine.

Other- I've been saying (well... writing...) all this stuff kind of putting the manga down, but I didn't hate it completely! In fact, I did like it, it was interesting, and as I've mentioned before, there are some GREAT twists, but I think the manga would have been better if there were more time for things to be developed. If you want to read it, go ahead, I do recommend it as the story is very unique.

6/10 - Liked it

Is this shoujo??
Don't feel like one...

I love the story.. but feel kinda dissapointed of how the ending was executed.

when Hakka killed himself

Overall, it's good!

I don't understand the complaints about poor character development or emptiness....

I was also sad when I finished--I wanted more, but if there was more, the series would have dragged on like BLAME, Bleach, Naruto, or any of those that have wayyy too many chapters, but they are mostly fillers. Akusaga is way too good to be one of those. There are no fillers (thank GOD), and every chapter has substance.

I honestly don't like any of this mangaka's other work, and this is debatably the most intelligent manga that she's written. The art is the best that she's done, and it totally fits the plot and mood of the manga.
Props to Aya!

If you want a similar manga, try Vampire Girl on mangafox or any of Fujiwara Kaoru's works.
OR Dolls or Switch by Naked Ape.

Well, it was.... interesting, to say the least. It wasn't bad. But somehow, it wasn't great.

I guess you could definitely call it "new" because of the storyline and plot... But regarding the characters, personally, I didn't really like them, especially the Zen (the main char.). Not much char. development plus... he just feels so empty.

Overall, it was good. However, after reading the manga, it just left me feeling... it was sad, yes but more than that, it felt cold... and empty.

Yeah. I guess the overall ambiance of the manga was just like... well, a blank slate. How befitting. I guess maybe that was the point...?

The art is fantastic and the main character is interesting and the plot is great with lots of twists, secrets, violence and all characters ending up connected in some way. So the reason for the disappointment? Simply it's too short. The mangaka stated she originally made this manga very long but shortened it and in my opinion shortening it was a huge mistake. There is so much left untouched and unexplained that it spoils this somewhat. There could have been buckets of character development but there was barely any and one of the key plot movers (the general) barely got a look in! Had it been longer this could have easily ranked as one of my favourtie mangas, instead it leaves me feeling let down. A huge waste of potential.

The author tried to make unexpected twist but she failed at it and only produced able plot (utterly incomprehensible).
Based on the Zen's background I expect some character development for him but turned out he doesn't change at all till the end of the volume.
There so many interesting elements that can be developed (i.e. the Doctor's background, the general girl, the soldier) but the execution is so bad, it ruined the whole story.
Truthfully, the art is the only high point from this manga, the author should just stick with her usual drama, shoujo, fluffy type of story.

First of all, I am THANKFUL that the mangaka decided to finish up this manga in just two volumes. I agree with lileychristie's post that people shud not missed the final conclusion of the manga, it's really really good!

If it werent for the hawt shoujo-like bishies, this manga could have been a Shounen seinen action! The storytelling is incredible, everything..from the beginning is CONNECTED to the ending. The manga ends really really well for a short manga. and the Artwork is MINDBLOWING. That is what to expect from the versatile Aya Kanno sensei!

I highly recommend readers to purchase Vizmedia's licensed version of this manga. (It's available on Amazon and ofcourse ebay!..the English name for this manga is "BLANK SLATE" )
The two COMPLETED volumes are simply worth additions to your manga collection.

Just a problem with the manga.

..somehow it's disturbing to see how Dr Geno, Zen and the Colonel looks so....YOUNG..even after that 20 years flashback... could Zen be...in his 50s?? O___o;;;;;;

This is the best shoujo (well, if you can call it shoujo, coz I think it's very shounen) manga I've ever read. The story, the twists, the character, the ending, all good.

Even after the secret's revealed, it's not disappointing, which I usually feel when the secret of a story is revealed.

A MUST READ!!!! ^^