Monochrome Factor

Description

Akira Nikaido is a typical slacker high school student who thinks he has a normal life--until a mysterious man called Shirogane appears and tells him to meet him at the school that night. He is skeptical but goes anyway... and gets attacked by a shadow monster! Shirogane convinces him that the balance between the human world and the shadow world has been distorted, and that Akira must become a shin--a creature of the shadow world--in order to help restore the balance.

Type

Manga

Related Series

N/A

Associated Names

Đại Chiến Bóng Tối

Монохромный Фактор

モノクローム･ファクター

幻影少年

모노크롬 팩터

Groups Scanlating

Latest Release(s)

v.8 c.43 by Mangatraders 12 years ago

c.41 by Crystal Scherzo 15 years ago

c.46 by Crystal Scherzo 15 years ago

Search for all releases of this series

Status in Country of Origin

11 Volumes (Complete)

Completely Scanlated?

Yes

Anime Start/End Chapter

Starts at Vol 1, Chap 1

Ends at

User Reviews

N/A

Forum

4 topics, 7 posts

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User Rating

Average: 8 / 10.0 (222 votes)

Bayesian Average: 7.8 / 10.0

27%

18%

22%

Last Updated

August 31st, 2023 5:23pm PDT - 2 years ago

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Genre

Action Comedy Fantasy Shoujo Supernatural
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Categories

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Recommendations

Author(s)

Artist(s)

Year

Original Publisher

Mag Garden

Serialized In (magazine)

Comic Blade Masamune (Mag Garden)

Comic Avarus (Mag Garden)

Licensed (in English)

English Publisher

TokyoPop (Canceled / 4 Vols)

Activity Stats (vs. other series)

Weekly Pos #747

(-20)

Monthly Pos #1729

(+22)

3 Month Pos #3292 (No change)

6 Month Pos #4937

(-61)

Year Pos #6761

(+482)

List Stats

On 692 reading lists

On 598 wish lists

On 359 completed lists

On 68 unfinished lists

On 252 custom lists

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Forum Posts Click to view the forum

Ending story...

7 years ago

Kiss

11 years ago

Monochrome Factor Manga to End in Japan in June

14 years ago

Questions about the anime and manga.

15 years ago

User Comments [ Order by usefulness ]

Quite boring

by AndelMartina
5 years ago

Rating: 2.0 / 10.0

I found this series incredibly boring, lacking humor and without good characters and plot. Read 5 volumes, in the middle of the sixth one I gave up. Definitely not a series for everyone.

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Very satisfied

by ladymanson
7 years ago

Rating: 8.0 / 10.0

My first encounter with this serie was in 2008 when I saw the anime version. I didn't like it for the true. I don't mind shounen-ai or yaoi. But I really hate fanservise! And the anime was full of it. So I wasn't interest in reading Monochrome Factor manga at the very beginning. 😀

But then in 2011 I had read review of one very disappointed yaoi-fangirl, who bought this manga with intention to see Shirogane and Akira having sex. The fangirl was very very angry. Because there was nothing like this in the whole manga serie! And it caught my strong interest. 😀 I love fantasy and I found really likeable the idea of shadow world which was presented even in anime. Unfortunatelly the manga wasn't fully translated to English and fansub was horrible. 🙁 That's why I bought original (japanese) version and finally read it this year (2017).

The beginning of serie was slow and avarage. But I have found Akira as really enjoyable character. Smart, sometimes depresive, ready to change and fight with himself too. 🙂 He was perfect! I didn't see such great main hero for long time. Because most of main heros in manga are like Kengo. 🙁 Stupid, unuseful a failing all the time. Shirogane was very interesting character too by the way. 🙂 Not because of his "sexy appearance". But because his acting as a good guy. While he had very darkside. For the true I really loved all characters in this manga except Aya. I hate girls like her in real life too. Playing strong yet crying instantly and then falling in love. 🙁 Terrible character but important for the story too.

There were some comments about not understanding the meaning of title - Monochrome Factor. I understand it as reference to black and white which create gray. ;-) You know, lot of stories especially shounen, are about good people fighting with a bad guy. And won in the end! Those stories are like fairytails. (Simple and easy understable for children.) 😀 Here in Monochrome Factor despite it's shoujo, the story isn't about good hero and bad villain for the true. It's about balance between white and black. About grey real world. ;-) No one is there really perfect or only good. All characters here are doing mistakes, getting angry, feeling sad, sometimes just thinking only about themself, hurting others... And most of these characters represent opposites to each other. Like two parts of one big! That's why they can not exist without each other. 🙂

You must not look at them as "partners" in relationship. ;-) But more as at one person splitted into two. The last 3 volume was full of it! 🙂 Two different opinions. Two different thinking and reactions to same situation. And there is more of it! The reborn of new ego and adolescence. Student slowly turning into adult. He is learning responsibility and wants to be recognized by others. He trow away his old self, memories, say goodbye old life and people and start new life. 🙂

I have really found myself in it. And I couldn't stop reading until the end. I love the ending of this manga and feel little sad the story wasn't little longer. 🙂

... Last updated 6 years ago

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Surprisingly good reviews below mine.

by HCB
9 years ago

Rating: 7.0 / 10.0

Didn't care for any of the characters; they could've died on the next page and I would've felt nothing.

The only kickass character was Aya and maybe her Gramps. It was refreshing that she wasn't playing a damsel in distress and could hold her own.

Kou was cool too and more memorable than the rest. I guess the issue is I was only starting to warm to these characters but there wasn't enough to make me really like them and be concerned for them.

Another issue was Homurabi's motive was pure bullshit. All that drama for... that? ._.

On the plus side, the art improved by leaps and bounds. Akira and Shirogane in Volume 9 look very different from Volume 1. For example, eye size was reduced; hairstyles were streamlined; the result was a sleeker and cleaner look.

Overall, I would recommend to give this manga a miss.

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Unexpected

by Ariaofthesong
12 years ago

Rating: N/A

I think the best I can say about this manga is that it was unexpectedly amazing. Well worth the time I took to read it. At first, I was really hesitant because it semed more Shounen then Shoujo, but something about the artwork and the plot captivated me. I could clearly see the difference. Where Shounen usually drags on with fighting and no real plot, this one used the fighting as a device to showcase the hidden element in which you figure out later.

The main character, Akira, isn't off the bat amazing and he doesn't automatically fight for no reason, he's ver concerned when things dont seem to make sense. He was an amazing character, one with alot of faith and conviction that he couldn't outright show. Even though he was constantly beating up on his friends, you could see he was doing it for a reason.... Kinda. I also really enjoyed the fact that "other" people, I.E. Shisui/master, Homorabi, Kou, even the "children" saw Akira as being Akira and they were honest about their feelings. While they wanted to meet Ryouku again, they knew that Akira was legetimately a person. It was a little heartbreaking. What made me feel the most sad is that Shirogane, who played the good guy with the most faith in Akira, was actually completely opposite, and although he didn't hate Akira, he really yearned to see his best friend again. How can I explain it... It was like he was comical on the outside, but truly had a serious demeanor, and his mask was falling. His true nature began to show. Still, the emotions inside him were seething and writhing, and he was crumbling.

On the topic of the villain... I felt that he wasn't truly the villain. More like he was doing something that was terrible so that the all the blame would fall onto him. I think he just wanted to protect his counterpart. His whole reasoning is a little askew, but that was the only thing he could do. Even though he did something so terrible to Kengo, you can't really hate him. Even Akira felt that way....

So, whats left to say is that this manga is actually pretty damn good. Read it, okay?

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Enjoyed it

by k.bell11
12 years ago

Rating: N/A

I usually read shounen and seinen, but i enjoyed this, the fights are well done, i like the character development, and the annoying comedy parts die off as it goes on. I recommend it whatever genre you like

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Bitter sweet end

by Ohrion
14 years ago

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

this is such a wonderful series. I wanna say so much about it, but i don't want to spoil anything. So I'll say this. This series is totally worth reading to the end.

I got this series when Tokyopop first released it in the US, cause the art looked pretty mostly. I was pretty simple minded back then. As I continued to read the series, more and more it started to overshadow past stories I loved. I find that aalot of the series that look beautiful have about a 50% chance of sacrificing the story for for the art. This isn't one that does that. As the plot thickens, that artwork becomes more elaberate and stunning.

Over all, this series is a wonderful read. It is sad to see it end, but I think it ended in a near perfect way. I guess Realistic way would be the best way to put it. : )

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Glad it's not like the anime

by JennyaNinja
14 years ago

Rating: N/A

I for one am ecstatic that this is different from the anime. I love shounen-ai/yaoi, but it was so forced and bland in the anime. The art is much crisper and the characters are so much more defined in the manga. I love how Shirogane does NOT wear lipstick. So I'd have to disagree with Twisted_Mind. Besides, if the manga were a shounen-ai, I'd rather Shirogane did not go with Akira. Because that's just silly.

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Sooo Amazing!

by whistlebird
14 years ago

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

Uwaaah! It's so awesome! The art is amazing--line quality, action, character and clothing design, composition (yeah, I'm an art major) and the story is great. Interesting characters (though the main character acts like a jerk most of the time, Kengo makes up for it) and the villains have as much depth as the main characters, even some of the smaller ones. It can be a little confusing at times when some certain characters get talking (partly the fault of hard-to-translate deep, formal speech), but that's just the way royalty goes in this series and we can usually ignore them. As for romance, not so much, but oddly enough I'm not really missing it. To be honest I'm just grateful it doesn't go the way of the anime, where shounen ai plays a central part. There is none of that in the manga and as I am not a fan, I'm happy. I love the Manga Shirogane. He's more serious but he's a whole bunch cooler. ^_^

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love it!

by Cherrycake
14 years ago

Rating: 9.0 / 10.0

Started reading this 'cuz the anime kind of ended "unfinishedly". I just adore the anime and it's BL slash! Sadly the manga has none! The art is not so much to my liking 'cus i think i'm more used to the anime's art. but while reading this i'm wishing HARD for the second season!!!!

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Adorable!

by ElennaxTelrunya
14 years ago

Rating: N/A

I absolutely adore the manga and the anime! It's full of action and suspense. It's true that the anime has more shounen-ai than the actual manga does, but if you love the show than pick this up. I'm so eager to read more and I pray for a second season at the same time! One of my absolute favorites!

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