Genre Action
Age Rating 13+
Price $13.95

Publisher's summary of volume from the back cover: K' and his team fight for their lives against the evil brother-sister duo on the Sky Noah, while in an alternate realm the three protectors of the Orochi Seal battle an even more sinister force. But with Kagura down, Kyo and Iori are overwhelmed by the powerful Mukai. As a last resort, Kyo summons K’, who is suddenly sucked into the alternate realm. But with his glove already completely damaged and his body injured from his previous fights, will K’ be able to defeat Mukai on his own? Don’t miss the exciting conclusion to the series in the final volume of THE KING OF FIGHTERS 2003!

This volume concludes the series and features the prolonged appearance of King of Fighters iconics, Kyo and Iori, while still placing the spotlight on K'.

Art-wise, it's a mixed bag. On one hand, there are a couple of stunning pieces in this volume. On the other hand, if you've been following the series this long, it should be an acquired taste by now the styles employed by Yan and Tung--namely special moves that are spelled out and a more Western technique of compressed visuals.

Storywise, this honestly isn't anything great to write about. At this point, perhaps even more so than the previous volumes, the title suffers from the Dragonball syndrome of ever-increasing skill and powers. There's certainly an attempt to justify the power boost but at times, the writers employ logic that's full of plot holes or ridiculousness. There's also a couple of ineffective techniques used here, such as the sudden appearance of a new (but probably familiar to King of Fighters fans) character, only to have them die a dramatic death a few panels later. In order for character death to have meaning, there must be a certain investment in them and that's not established here. And as far as the ending is concerned, nothing is really resolved. Instead, the end of King of Fighters 2003 is simply the plot hook for the next sequel, in addition to raising more questions about the entire series.

At this point, leave your brains and most of your expectations. Just think of King of Fighters 2003 as a visual treat that happens to have characters that are familiar. Definitely only for the fans because I don't know anyone else who'll put up with this. A lot of action or fighting manga out there are better and at least they don't pretend to be substantive.

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