The World Is Mine known by the fanbase as TWIM is a 1997 manga written by Hideki Arai. The work never had the recognition it deserves in the West although currently it has been widely commented on. Aiming in participating on this promotion I decided to write this review which by the way is my first about one of the best pieces of fiction Ive ever experienced. If based on that I manage to convince at least one person to read this manga Ill already feel happy. First of all its important to emphasize what I think is one of the greatest qualities of the manga: the characters. The two main ones have dichotomous and fascinating personalities Mon at first is impulsive and follows only his own instincts and desires while Toshiya nicknamed Toshi is a fearful and shy boy obsessed with explosives. The progression of both is fantastic and very organic being one of the best character works Ive ever witnessed. About their development one is responsible for the others evolution being noticeable the influence that Mon has on Toshis transformation throughout the story. Furthermore there are other members of the cast that have surprising developments such as the cynical Prime Minister of Japan Yuri Kanpei Maria Abeno a kind girl who develops a deep relationship with the main duo and Takeshi Iijima an old hunter whose objective is to hunt down a monstrous entity of unknown origin called Higumadon who started a wave of devastation across Japan parallel to the journey of the protagonists. Another highlight of TWIM is its subtext which has an indescribable amount of layers covering a myriad of themes such as: morality politics through a precise and awfully funny satire banality of evil existentialism human mortality and evolution as well as allusions to Western philosophy and religion Buddhism and Hinduism. The manga even pays a homage to 2001: A Space Odyssey sounds weird I know but for those who have seen the film it will make a lot of sense. About the art I consider it of the highest quality. Despite the faces looking strange and even ugly at a first look they are extremely expressive contributing to a perfect transposition of feelings being possible to clearly perceive the joy fear or anger of a character just by their facial expressions. The backgrounds are also impressively detailed which added to Arais impeccable paneling generates spectacular action scenes. Speaking of these scenes another point that deserves to be mentioned is how fun this reading is the pace is frantic sometimes too much but Ill comment on that later the action is thrilling and the narrative progression is absurdly captivating. However the work does have some flaws. The pace as mentioned before is excessively fast in some parts and a few points of the script could have been better developed. Nevertheless close to the brilliance and grandeur of the other aspects in my opinion they are almost irrelevant. Besides it is essential to mention that the story will definitely not please everyone as it deals with some heavy themes as well as being very graphic containing scenes of extreme violence explicit sex and rape. In addition to this the first volume is quite difficult to follow and may be offputting to some readers being for me the weakest part but I guarantee the rest is of indescribable quality so dont give up right away. Last but not least Ill talk about the ending which plays a huge part on why I love TWIM so much. Its one of the best Ive seen in any media its beautiful and extremely cathartic with a message that despite not being unprecedented is transmitted in a unique way condensing well all the points of the manga. I cant recommend more than that its a truly memorable read that profoundly impacted me and I constantly find myself thinking about its themes even after some time of my first reading. Its a work that makes you reflect on society morals and ethics the value of life acceptance of death and above all about yourself while entertaining you for each page with its explosive literally action. TLDR: Michael Bay action movie + dense philosophical content + wonderful characters. If this sounds at least a little interesting then read it right away I guarantee you wont regret it it is definitely one hell of a ride.