Alive: The Final Evolution Gets Anime

"Alive: The Final Evolution," the supernatural adventure manga will now be getting its own anime series. As I wrote back in December, the storyline for "Alive" would make a potentially great transition into an anime. The manga began serialization in 2003, the 15th volume just recently released in Japan, and the 5th volume coming in the U.S. soon.

From my 8/5/2007 post:

The story centers around Taisuke, and 3 other subsequent characters -- his sister (a nurse at Taisuke's high school), his best friend, and his "girfriend." A string of inexplicable mass suicides has occurred around the globe, including Japan, the U.S., and China over seven days, now deemed, "Nightmare Week." The cause of the mysterious suicides have been linked to a strange virus, but police are no closer to finding the cause.

The story's dark themes of life and death, and its wistful blend of comedy, make "Alive" an addicting manga. The author, Tadashi Kawashima, does an exceptional job in setting up the story and building a structure behind the four main characters and their individual connection to death.