Rocket Bomber - reviews

originally written for and posted on Comicsnob.com [Dec ’06 – May ’08]

Elemental Gelade, vols. 1 & 2
Published by: Tokyopop
Writer & Artist: Mayumi Azuma

192 (172) & 196 (178) pages.
Original Language: Japanese
Orientation: Right to left
Vintage: 2002. US editions July and November 2006.
Translation: Alethea (1 & 2) and Athena (2) Nibley
Adaptation: Jordan Capell
Copy Editor: Peter Ahlstrom (1) & Stephanie Duchin (2)
Retough & Lettering: Jose Macasocol, Jr. (1) & Bowen Park (2)
Production Artist: Fawn Lau (1) & Jennifer Carbajal (2)
Graphic Designer: James Lee
Editor: Troy Lewter
Publisher’s Rating:

Rating: 3 out of 5

##

Premise: Special beings, the Edel Raid, are capable of combining with their partners to form impressive ass-kicking combat combos. Maybe it’s obvious that the edels are sought out by a number of forces, to add their power to the cause. This puts Cou (a third tier air-pirate) in a tight spot, since he just found Ren (one of the aforementioned edel raid) and while he and Ren seem to hit it off, there is a whole world out there that objects to their growing relaionship…

Synopsis:

The story opens with a raid. The Red Lynx, a crafty crew of Sky Pirates, is in the closing stages of knocking over a manor and absconding with the loot. It is in this context that we are introduced to Cou, a junior member of the gang, but one with an inflated sense of self importance: while the other members are professionally and efficiently cleaning out the treasury, Cou took it upon himself to crash through a window and start monologing to the manor’s owner about greed and fat and, “Hey! Wait, guys! don’t leave me!”

Cou isn’t the sharpest sabre in the pirate arsenal.

Back on ship, and presumably just a few minutes later, Cou is walking by the ship’s treasury and notices the door standing ajar, and unlocked. Curiosity gets the better of him, so he takes a peek at the recent haul, “accidentally” opens an old chest, and accidentally finds and wakes a girl inside. She’s Ren. She doesn’t say much, and doesn’t explain anything (like, for starters, how and why she was spending so much time in a dusty old box) but she does say that she must get to a place called Edel Garden.

And just a few minutes after that, agents of Arc Aeil, who introduce themselves as an Edel Raid Protection Agency, board the Red Lynx’s ship, and offer to buy Ren. When negotiations along those lines fail (mostly because Cou objects to selling people) the boarders decide to go with their fallback position: violence. Lots of it. Not surprisingly, after some bulkhead rending and explosions of the fair to middling variety, the ship slowly crashes– so everyone manages to get off and seems to be unhurt, but still, a bad day for the Red Lynx.

Ren and Cou find themselves grounded, separated from his crew, and stuck with the agents who just crashed both ships in a fight that they instigated. As agents of this “protection” agency (since they no longer have the means to take Ren back) they plan to monitor her and Cou instead, presumably until they get another ship or some other way to return home.
The cliffhanger from volume one leads right into action in volume two, which opens with a duel between fighters and their edel raids.

The slower pace of volume two, where Cou and Ren are forced to slog their way along the ground with Cisqua, Rowen, and Kuea (of Arc Aiel, so recently their enemy) leads to an understanding of sorts between the two camps, and an uneasy alliance when both Ren and Kuea are targeted in the town of Mamfe by an Edel Raid hunter…

##

Review:

I like sky pirates. My all-time favourite Miyasaki film is Porco Rosso. Maybe it’s the engineer in me (I don’t have an engineering degree from Tech but the time spent serving out my sentence there during my formative years will forever handicap colour my later life) but Miyasaki’s sky pirates are always welcome, whether we consider his movies Porco Rosso & Castle in the Sky, or other anime like Last Exile… and Elemental Gelade.

I was a bit unfair in what I originally posted (much of the current review is an edit and re-write from 2/1, the following day) so let me address a few of those points first:

“So much goes on in the first volume that past the bond formed between Ren and Cou, we the readers are likely to get just as lost as the characters.”

Yes, it’s fast paced, with plenty of action scenes. The reader is plopped down right in the middle with little in the way of background or explanation offered. I was lost on a first read, but I got a lot more out of the title after coming back to it, and noticed some nuances of character that I guess I had missed the first time through. So in that light, I guess that this title will improve in future volumes as familiarity with the characters and premise aid the reader in making sense of the briskly moving, action-driven story.

By the end of volume two, we know the bond between Ren and Cou is going to be the crux of the rest of the series, the temporary truce between Cou and Cisqua is bound to be more or less permanent, and the drip of information from Azuma to the reader will continue in so slow a fashion that even after the series is done, we’re still going to have questions.

originally written for and posted on Comicsnob.com [Dec ’06 – May ’08]

Snow, Vol. 1
Published by: Tokyopop
Writer & Artist: Morgan Luthi

192 (184) pages.
Original Language: English
Orientation: Left to right
Vintage: October 2006

Lettering: Lucas Rivera
Cover Layout: James Lee
Editor: Paul Morrissey
Publisher’s Rating: Teen, ages 13+

Rating: 3 out of 5

##

Premise: Hub is an overlooked planet way on the edge of known space, so far out in fact that the galactic force known as the Warmongers haven’t even bothered to conquer it. Yet.

Synopsis:

Luthi opens the book with the Warmonger’s new weapon, the Ghost, rendering an entire civilized planet to smoking rubble. It’s a fun 24 pages.

The story proper begins with the man who calls himself Snow as he first arrives on Hub, like many other refugees just looking for a chance to start over. Local government is of the warlord/mafia variety, living in the streets appears to not only be a viable choice but perhaps the preferred one, and the economy is running on a cash-or-blood basis. Refuse City, the “ass end of the universe”, is a better place than just about anywhere else for someone who doesn’t want to be found, to lay low.

After a few run-ins with both some angry street vendors, and also one of the local gangs, Snow soon finds himself throwing his lot in with the Crows, the one gang on the entire planet that is run by “good” guys. I mean, they still steal and stuff, but there is a Robin-hood-flavoured community outreach aspect to the violence they employ.

The Crows’ boss is Katarina “call me Kat”, who looks three-and-a-half different kinds of too cute and normal to be running a gang, even one with aspirations of virtue. She sets up Snow with a job and a place to stay, and he quickly becomes a part of the community. It all seems to be sliding into an alien brand of normal when of course, the Warmongers finally get around to Hub.

There is a reveal in chapter 4 that most of us can guess, followed by a touch of romance, some 10-story tall robots, the bulk of the action sequences and some rather decisive ass-kicking. The book closes as the characters and story reset to zero (well, the new status quo) and the hook for volume two is introduced.

##

Review:

I wasn’t tricked — I flipped through the book before buying it — but this isn’t manga. It’s a 5 × 8, 190 page paperback from Tokyopop, but Luthi and Snow are firmly in the American camp. There are some manga touches, and that along with the clean, simple art (ready for TV animation, hint hint) remind me quite a bit of CN’s Teen Titans — a comparison that you can take as a recommendation or a condemnation, depending on your point of view. The sci-fi background, where humans and aliens rub elbows (tentacles, whatever) in a world that is different from but so much like our modern one also reminds me of Futurama. (…which you can take as a recommendation, etc…)

While I could pitch this Hollywood-style “It’s a mix of TT and Futurama, baby, but with a manga bent!” that doesn’t really capture the book, or the story. There are touches of humour — like the Lungfish-Elvis-Impersonator, the boy bomb-bots, a Parrot-alien Pirate with a rat-faced mini humanoid riding on his shoulder — but even the outlandish humour is dark. The bright, clean artwork stands in contrast to what is actually a fairly bleak story.

It’s a quick read, and character development is little more than a passing thought, but it hits me in the right way in the right places. I enjoyed the book, and while I breezed through it on a first read, I find myself taking more from both the setting and the story with additional re-readings. I’m tempted to only give this book 2 marks, but I must be hungry for sci-fi titles because even a half-assed, half-comedy sci-fi title was greatly appreciated. 3 out of 5.

originally written for and posted on Comicsnob.com [Dec ’06 – May ’08]

Angel Cup, Vols. 1 & 2

Published by: Tokyopop
Writer: Dong Wook Kim
Artist: Jae Ho Youn

208 (190) & 200 (188) pages.
Original Language: Korean
Orientation: Left to right
Vintage: 2001. US editions June and October 2006
Translation: Grace Min (1) & Jumi V. Yang (2)
English Adaptation: Hope Donovan
Retouch & Lettering: Mike Estacio (1) & Brandon Vilette (2)
Production Artist: Lucas Rivera
Cover Design: Kyle Plummer
Graphic Artist: Fawn Lau
Editor: Lillian Diaz-Przybyl (1) & Katherine Schilling (2)
Publisher’s Rating: Teen, ages 13+

Rating: 3 out of 5

##

Premise: So-jin is a rising high-school freshman, a former junior-high soccer MVP who gave up the sport after failing to beat her rival Shin-bee for three years running. She even transfers to Hansin High, a school without a girl’s team. Fate is about to pull a fast one on So-jin, as she rediscovers her passion for soccer and her rival, along with a challenge she just has to face down– all in her first day.

Synopsis:

There are two plot threads so far–

Running in the background: Women’s soccer is about to get a real shot in the arm with a large endowment provided by a sports enthusiast’s will to found a Girl’s league in Korea. Many schools will seek to build a team over the next months, including Hansin High, which has a highly ranked boys team already– No one has bothered to tell the girls, though. While this B-plot will likely drive the rest of the series, in the first two volumes it’s mostly just hints and cryptic comments from characters who haven’t been introduced yet.

The A-plot has to do with a bet, and a game. So-jin was surprised to find that her old jr. high rival also transferred to Hansin High. She was doubly shocked when Shin-bee ended up in the same homeroom class, and is about to have kittens when she finds out that Shin-bee doesn’t even play soccer anymore. Instead, Shin-bee has signed up as the manager of the boy’s team, a position with little respect and even a bit of verbal abuse from the guys.

So-jin steps in (she wasn’t invited to, but it may be best that she did) and comes to Shin-bee’s defence when it seems the boys’ taunting is going a bit too far. No one is really blameless in the argument that follows, but the upshot is a challenge: So-jin will put together a girls’ team, to settle things out on the pitch.

It’ll be hard to find a full 11 in just a couple of weeks, however, so after a little research by So-jin, the terms are changed: the contest will be a Futsal match–a 5-on-5 variant with a few rules changes, played on a much smaller field. Joon-suh, the boys’ captain, agrees to the terms and it’s on.

Now So-jin just has to find 4 other girls to round out the team.

The rest of volume one covers the recruitment drive, a few pages of practice, and then the first 15 minutes of the game. And ends with a cliff-hanger… (I’m glad I bought both volumes)

Volume two picks up right where we left off. Surprise substitutions on both sides and a hard-fought, bloody game take up about 170 pages of the second book, with a few hooks and foreshadowing to round things out and whet the appetite for volume three.

##

Review:

And you thought soccer was boring.

The girls’ sports angle, and the showdown match with the guys, is going to draw inevitable comparisons between Angel Cup and Princess Nine. Except this isn’t baseball, the girls start out being better athletes, it’s manga as opposed to anime, and the guys-vs-girls match is in the first volume instead of being the climactic battle of the series.

So, yeah, nothing at all like Princess Nine, but I can understand the comparison. There’s a lot more blood in Angel Cup, too. Having personally taken more than my fair share of soccer balls to the front, back, and sides of my head (…explains a few things, perhaps) I feel every hit with a sense memory that just won’t go away. Even if you haven’t played football before, I think the hits will still have a visceral impact. It’s well drawn.

Though the action is good (and volume two is action packed) character motivation is the driving engine here. From the two main characters, through the entire girls’ line-up and the stars of the boys’ team, and down a couple of layers to even the bitty-est of bit characters, it seems everyone has a history, or an agenda, or both. Since a normal club is not 5 but 11 players (plus a bench) and since a fair amount of space is taken up by the nascent-league sub-plot, I’m guessing that in future volumes quite a few of these walking-thumbnail-sketches will step forward to become important characters in their own right.

For the first couple of books it seems like an awful lot of intrigue for what could be called “just a sports comic”. For the record: I’m not complaining. This promises to be some really good stuff.

Of course, I like women’s soccer. It helps when the hometown team was the Atlanta Beat, and the W-league club of the Silverbacks is still here to carry the torch. A manga (manhwa, actually, but I’ll split those hairs in a 5by8 at some point) that uses women’s soccer as a background while delving deep into troubled characters and looking into the larger struggles that women’s sport faces generally in the male-dominated world… It’s high drama. I’m looking forward to how this plays out.

originally written for and posted on Comicsnob.com [Dec ’06 – May ’08]

Mushishi, Vol. 1
Published by: Del Rey Books
Writer & Artist: Yuki Urushibara

240 (216) pages.
Original Language: Japanese
Orientation: Right to left
Vintage: 2000. US edition January 2007.
Translation & Adaptation: William Flanagan
Lettering: North Market Street Graphics
Publisher’s Rating: Older Teen, ages 16+

Rating: 4 out of 5

##

Premise: Mushi are not quite bugs, not quite germs, and not quite spirits, but are something primal that seems to partake of (or perhaps begot) all three. A Mushishi, like our main character Ginko, is an expert at mushi, and knows better than most how they can best be dealt with.

Synopsis:

A collection of five stories, each dealing with a particular mushi and the poor folks beset by them. The five stories deal with creation & memory, sound & silence, dreams, light & darkness, and finally a journey towards the sea, and death. Not light reading, by any means. And I won’t spoil the book for you by summarizing the chapters here, as they are better appreciated if you take each on it’s own terms.

##

Review:

While it isn’t as “polished” as current digitally-assisted artwork, the art is serviceable enough; at times the sketchy quality of the inks and tone add an extra layer to the story — life not quite formed, memories half-remembered. Of course, that’s just me adding a generous interpretation to the art, but it does work.

Mushishi is a book that reminds me a lot of Requiem from the Darkness, and I’m sure both draw upon a longer history of Japanese “horror” stories and related mythology of which I am completely unaware. I could also cite parallels to things like The Twilight Zone, et. al., because that is exactly what this reminds me of, right down to both being in black and white.

These are stories not designed to implant fear or describe horror, but instead to make the reader Think. There is a bit of a squick factor, particularly when we consider parasites that crawl into your ears to make a home in your cochlea–that still brings a bit of a shiver–but the comic is not a gross-out-fest or horror show.

The five stories are self contained, each with a timeless quality, and the only links being our MC Ginko, and the presence of the ubiquitous mushi. In fact, while Ginko seems to be from present day Japan, the places he visits are each lost in time, and seem decades (or perhaps centuries) removed from the bustle of urban life.

Mushishi is a more challenging read than most manga, but also more rewarding for it. 4 marks out of 5.

originally written for and posted on Comicsnob.com [Dec ’06 – May ’08]

Utopia’s Avenger, Vol. 1
Published by: Tokyopop
Writer & Artist: Oh Se-Kwon

200 (188) pages.
Original Language: Korean
Orientation: Left to right
Vintage: 2004. US edition December 2006.
Translation: Woo Sok Park
English Adaptation: Jai Nitz
Copy Editor: Stephanie Duchin
Production Artist, Retouch & Lettering: Mike Estacio
Cover Design: Fawn Lau & Kyle Plummer
Editor: Bryce P. Coleman
Publisher’s Rating: Teen, ages 13+

Rating: 2 out of 5

##

Premise: Gildong and his sidekick, Danu, are campaigning through Joseon in an attempt to rebuild the renown utopian kingdom of Yuldo. What they lack is money. (And maybe tact.) As our story opens, they’ve resorted to being bounty hunters for a little fast cash.

Synopsis:

We begin the book with an ambush and kidnapping: Ju Sanghui, daughter of a wealthy merchant, is beset upon and captured by a gang known as the Bright White Killers. After all her guards are killed, it would seem she is at the mercy of the bloodthirsty thugs, until an unexpected but timely duo show up to her rescue.

Hong Gildong and his sidekick Danu happen upon the sarcastically re-christened Bright White Morons, and while they take exception to the slur, it doesn’t stop Gildong & Co. from handing them their asses. in pieces.

Now the martial arts master and his trusty sidekick find themselves escorting the young Ms. Sanghui back to her father– for the reward, of course. But things don’t go as planned. They haven’t even traveled a day when Sanghui turns up missing after mere minutes of some routine re-con, so we know the game is afoot…

##

Review:

This comic is hard to place, genre-wise; sure, it reads like high fantasy and everyone is wielding swords and using voice-activated martial arts moves, but there are also Gildong and Danu’s speeder bikes, white-tablecloth restaurants, and references to things like local broadcasting stations. And instead of horses, a few guys are riding raptors (the dinosaurs, not the birds). It’s kind of a mish-mash, and with action sequences taking up a goodly chunk of this first volume, there isn’t much time to step back and figure out the setting.

Character is a different matter. We’ve got an almost instant read on the hero, his side kick, and Ju Sanghui (who seems to be a strong female character; not just a plot-device-damsel but a potential romantic interest) and while each seems to be clicking into their archetypal fantasy roles, there are enough good details and quirks for each that you almost forget that you’ve seen a dozen dozen characters like these before in other stories. The dynamic between characters and the slowly unfolding mystery of what really happened to the fallen kingdom of Yuldo will keep us coming back for a while, even with the flaws.

It may just be that this is volume one, and I certainly applaud the decision of Se-Kwon to skip a lot of expo and get on with the fight sequences, but a little explanation might have been nice– say, a one page sidebar with some notes so we can orient ourselves to the background. It works either way, and the in medias res approach may in fact work better for a longer series (with the inevitable flashbacks and unexpected revelations about each character–and even the villains–in turn) but I’ll reserve judgment until after I’ve read another 3 volumes of this.

Looked at from another angle, the piling on of several incongruous elements (martial arts, swords, raptors, bikes, modern-style dialogue and sarcasm) may have been a conscious decision on the part of Se-Kwon to throw the reader off balance and set-up a premise where anything could happen next. Again, I reserve judgment … but I fear it’s just sloppy story telling.

I’m showing my bias as a writer again, going on and on about story while the art gets just a footnote– well, a paragraph. One of the best things in the book, art-wise, is the monster in chapter 3; it’s beautiful in a way that only a grotesque slavering chitinous slime-dripping flesh-eating beastie can be– quite lovely, really; it, and the resulting fight sequence(s) are the highlight of the book. Whole pages roll by without dialogue, just speed lines and sound effects. It’s very effective.

At the end of the book, I just find myself wanting more: More about each character, more from each character, more special martial arts moves, and a little more explanation of the story that led us to this point. So, yeah, job well done. I’m still only giving Se-Kwon two marks (like I said, give me more: not just the next book, but some real content) but we should all keep an eye on this one.

originally written for and posted on Comicsnob.com [Dec ’06 – May ’08]

Suzuka, Vols. 1 & 2
Published by: Del Rey Books
Writer & Artist: Kouji Seo

208 (181) & 208 (180) pages.
Original Language: Japanese
Orientation: Right to left
Vintage: 2004. US editions August and November 2006.
Translation & Adaptation: David Ury
Lettering: Janice Chiang
Cover Design: David Stevenson
Publisher’s Rating: M, ages 18+

Rating: 2 out of 5

##

Premise: Transfer student Yamato finds himself falling for Suzuka (she of the title), a beautiful high school track star.

Synopsis:

Random Manga Hero #987, who is burdened with living in a girls’ apartment complex via plot device #32, finds himself in the midst of a possible Love Triangle™ while pursuing the aloof but vulnerable Hot Manga Chick, ver. 4.5. …But it’s better than that.

Let me dial back the sarcasm and start over:

Yamato Akitsuka is moving to Tokyo to live with his Aunt Ayano and younger cousin Miho, while attending a prestigious high school. The twist here is that Aunt Ayano is the owner and manager of Asahiyu Heights, which is an all-girls apartment complex, built over a Spa and bath house. Yep. In lieu of rent, part of his job is cleaning the baths and acting as general handyman around the place. It’s hard work but there are a few side benefits.

His new next door neighbour is Suzuka Asuhina. By coincidence, he’s seen her before: while checking out the new school (it’s still about a week before classes start) he saw her practising the high jump. His thought then was that she was the coolest (and perhaps cutest) girl he’d ever seen.

Let’s round out our cast: Yasunobu Hattori is the only guy Yamato knows at the new school, since they’ve known each other since they were both in grade school; Yasunobu is a bit of a player, and has a knack for getting Yamato in trouble. Honoka Sakurai (whose family runs the local Sakurai Shrine) is a girl that Yamato has met before; though he barely remembers her, she has fond memories of–and a huge crush–on him. Also making frequent appearances are a couple of residents at Asahiyu Heights, local college students Megumi and Saotome.

Volume 1 covers Yamato moving in, meeting everyone, starting school, and having more opportunities to spend time alone with Suzuka than he really deserves, though there is as much friction as attraction between the two.

With introductions out of the way, Volume 2 has a bit more meat: Honoka is developing as another romantic interest for Yamato, if he ever realizes that she has a big honking crush, and the B-plot gets started when a routine fitness exam reveals that Yamato has a hidden talent as a crazy-fast short-distance sprinter. He’s as surprised as anyone, particularly when he gets scouted by the high school track team. The last chapter of the book covers Yamato and Suzuka’s first real date, and strands us with a bit of a cliff-hanger.

##

Review:

A few nuts-and-bolts to look at before I break down the story–

I like the covers: large artwork featuring a couple members of our female cast in poses that reflect their personality inside the books, and a unified look that makes these easy to spot on the shelf and that will likely hold true through the run of the series.

The art between the covers is pretty good, too. If Hayate (previously reviewed) is an example of the moë style Bob referenced in his last column, than this title might be representative of a more middle-of-the-road art style, which I occasionally disparage as manga-generic. This art is better than than average, though. I think a cinematic reference may be of some use here: Seo has a “moving camera” utilizing a variety of perspectives in renditions, and makes good use of close-ups and long shots, not just the standard two-shot (two characters in a medium shot, talking) that is the hallmark of newspaper comic strips and amateurish manga. Seo’s character design is also good; you may have seen these character types before, obviously, but he does a good job of differentiating the characters, and is also a fair hand at drawing them. It’s not an action intensive comic, so we have to look for different art examples as opposed to my usual benchmark, fight scenes, but there are some nice touches: a darkened room by candlelight during a storm and power outage, fireworks and a Disney-style electric lights parade after sunset at a local amusement park, and clothes–it’s nice to see kids who are wearing something other than the school’s uniform all the damn time. Yamato does get one action scene, where he busts down a locked door after Suzuka collapses in the Sauna.

That’s as apt a note as any to break on, and start talking about story: Yeah… Sauna… There’s that whole “It’s an apartment building! no, it’s a bath house & spa! aren’t I a clever writer?! It’s genius!” riff.

I don’t know if Kouji Seo is intentionally ripping off Love Hina, or if Ken Akamatsu is using Seo as a pen name. Well, there are differences, and Akamatsu has his hands full with Negima! (now in it’s 12th volume here in the states, and up to 16 and still running in Japan) so I guess this is just a matter of sincere imitation-slash-flattery.

Honestly, we could take this gimmick out of the setting and it wouldn’t matter much, though part of the set-up is to explain how Suzuka and Yamato end up living in adjacent apartments.

The spa-slash-girl’s-dorm set-up gets in the way of what is actually a sweet story running in the background–the growing attraction and the relationship developing between Suzuka and Yamato. This title might have had a lot of cross-over appeal with the female market if it weren’t for the over-the-top “comedy” that at least once a chapter throws tits in Yamato’s face (or vice versa). Well, that and the 18+ rating, which only amps the lewdness a notch or three.

I don’t know if this is a deal breaker for the manga fangirls or not. [Readers? Comments, please.] I like the characters, and I like how the relationship is building. It’s pacing is slow but steady (300 pages before the first date, remember?) but there are a lot of story points covered in the meantime so it seems, at least in my take on it, not really slow but more like a natural progression–two folks realizing what is growing between them. Another reader may just find it all annoying, and find themselves yelling at the characters in the book “OH just DO each other already! Sheesh!”

This split personality makes it a little hard to classify the story. It’s not a sports comic. It’s not a girl’s comic. It’s not a “harem” title like Love Hina, or a slice of life High School drama– there aren’t enough girls for a harem, and there is too much fan service for this to reasonably play like “real life” (not to mention the improbable set-up).

This comic may in fact be aimed at someone like me, an older comic fan who has an intellectual appreciation for character, story, and [*ahem*] fan service, regardless of genre… at least when all three are well done. We’re only two volumes in, so there is plenty of room for Seo to mess things up, but so far so good. Still, with the other weaknesses, I’m only giving Seo 2 marks out of 5, though I do plan to follow up with this series later.

originally written for and posted on Comicsnob.com [Dec ’06 – May ’08]

Blank, Vol. 1
Published by: Tokyopop
Writer & Artist: Pop Mhan

192 (175) pages.
Original Language: English
Orientation: Left to right
Vintage: December 2006
Lettering: Lucas Rivera
Cover Design: Pop Mhan & Chris Tjalsma
Editor: Tim Beedle
Publisher’s Rating: Older Teen, 16+

Rating: 3 out of 5

##

Premise: Teen-aged super spy with amnesia can’t remember a single thing, except the name of the girl he’s supposed to protect. If she’ll let him.

Synopsis:

Aki Clark is 17, a junior at St. Augustus Private School. She seems to have it all together– though her mom is dead and her dad is always busy at work, she has the support of her close friend Kristin, her sort-of-friend Bryce, and she knows kung fu. No really. She places in tournaments. She and a few other students have a chance to take their Mixed Martial Arts Club to the State finals.

She’s not your typical damsel in distress. In fact, even if one were to use the word “damsel”, there’s no distress, and she’d probably kick your ass for saying it.

Aki, however, has at least one problem. There’s this stalker who may or may not be a secret agent. No matter what his more distant past, he recently spent a few weeks at Marduke Psychiatric Institute, from which he escaped to seek out Aki. He’s determined to protect her, whether she needs it or not.

He can’t remember his name. He’s shacking up in a kid’s tree house down the street. (the poor kids aren’t too happy about that.) But he must have some kind of secret agent mojo because he manages to enroll at Aki’s private school, even though he left the name on his application blank. The headmistress, without blinking, says “Welcome to St. Augustus, Mr. Blank”

Aki is getting sick and tired of Blank. Even if he is willing to get beat up to protect Aki. And even if it seems like a surprising number of people are showing up to give Aki grief…

She’s not sure what’s going on, but it seems to be related to her dad’s top-secret work as a rocket scientist. Her own skills and courage are formidable, but maybe she does need Blank’s help to get through it all.

##

Review:

Before we get into the nuts and bolts of the review, let’s back up a step: School girls in uniforms? Check. Teenaged hero, with super powers? Check, and (possibly) check. Excuses every tenth page to show some female character’s bra, panties, or both? Check.

Wait, are we sure this guy isn’t Japanese? Well, if the artist blurb on the back cover and the end notes are to be believed, Pop Mhan has worked for both DC and Marvel, and he’s married. No word yet, however, on what his wife thinks about his portrayal of 17-year old high school girls. I’m thinking there might be a beat down (much like those he draws) at some point in Mhan’s future.

This first volume has a lot of fun playing around with the premise, perhaps to the detriment of the story line. It’s nice seeing a creator take the time to introduce his characters slowly, however, and there is plenty of sporadic random violence to distract us if we feel the comic is moving too slowly.

Slow as it is, the main plot is moving, though. A series of escalating events complicate Aki’s otherwise boring life, and she has to deal with both the odd occurrences, and the fact that Blank isn’t just a psycho stalker and may in fact be telling the truth. Both she and her dad are in danger, and things get more serious every day. Also playing out in the background is a growing attraction between Aki and Blank, even if she’s not ready to admit it to herself yet.

As a character, Blank reminds me of Onizuka of GTO: He’s a doofus who’s only skill is fighting, and only redeeming feature is a heart of gold. (Blank even has the same haircut.) Needless to say, if you liked either the manga or DVDs for GTO, you’ll like this new series a lot.

If I were to rate this as a stand-alone book, I’d likely only give it 2 points out of 5– but it has a strong ending and with the hints dropped and other foreshadowing throughout the book, this is a solid lead-in for a very promising series.

originally written for and posted on Comicsnob.com [Dec ’06 – May ’08]

Yakitate!! Japan, Vols. 1 & 2
Published by: Viz Media
Writer & Artist: Takashi Hashiguchi

200 (182) pages, each.
Original Language: Japanese
Orientation: Right to left
Vintage: 2002. US editions September & November 2006
English Adaptation: Drew Williams
Translation: Noritaka Minami
Touch-up Art and Lettering: Kelle Han (vol. 1) & Steve Dutro (vol. 2)
Cover Design: Yukiko Whitley
Editor: Kit Fox
Publisher’s Rating: Older Teen, 16 and up.

Rating: 2 out of 5

##

Premise: Kazuma Azuma, a 16-year old rookie, may have what it takes to be a Master Baker. He harbours a dream, to create with his own hands the one thing Japanese culture lacks: a national bread, a bread so good that the Japanese would like it better than rice. The path to glory is paved with hardened biscuits, burnt scones, and the bodies of other bakers who couldn’t make the cut.

Synopsis:

Kazuma Azuma moves from his family’s rice farm in rural Japan to the big city (Tokyo) to take a job at Pantasia, a premier bakery. What he doesn’t know, until he shows up five minutes late, is that he was accepted conditionally, along with 35 other aspirants to the job. It’s time for… (cue dramatic music) a Bake Off!

Kazuma doesn’t win the first bread battle, but snags an honourable mention and gets hired on at Pantasia’s south Tokyo branch. During the competition he meets two other bakers, Kawachi and Tsukino. Kawachi is another country boy, a rookie baker but one with a good head on his shoulders and a lot of bread know-how. Tsukino is also an excellent baker, but that’s to be expected since she’s the granddaughter of Pantasia’s founder. All three end up at the south branch office, where Tsukino just happens to be acting manager.

Volume two picks up where one leaves off: The young bakers fall under the tutelage of Matsushiro, the afro-sporting, overly muscular titular manager of the south branch bakery (and the featured art on the cover to vol. 2). He doesn’t hang around the bakery much, but when they finally do track him down, he has another challenge for the rookies…

And so is revealed the story structure of Yakitate: foodie trivia about various bread products alternating with dramatic baking duels, punctuated with bad puns.

##

Review:

For once I read the fine print: in this case, the books are rated 16+ for “alcohol and tobacco use, crude humour, and mature situations.” It’s an indictment of my character that I didn’t even notice.

Did I mention that manga has a genre or sub-genre for every interest? I wasn’t kidding. This is a comic about baking. If you’re a fan of the Food Network, Iron Chef, and AB then this one is right up your alley. I’ve enjoyed these two volumes quite a bit, perhaps in spite of the bad jokes. (”congratulations” are due to Williams and Minami, for not only translating the puns, but doing so in such a way that it matches the pre-existing art. I’d thank the two of you, but I’m not sure if this behaviour should be encouraged…)

The chief pun is the title, which can be translated as “Let’s Bake! Ja-Pan.” Pan is a loan word from the Portuguese, and means “bread”. Ja-PAN, get it? Yeah, this is what we’re burdened with.

Still, it’s a fun read. I may follow this one for 5 or 6 volumes (it runs 22 volumes in the original Japanese. Yes, 22 tankoban paperbacks about bread. The mind boggles.) before the premise gets stale.

Oh gods help me, now I’m making bad puns.

(As a special bonus, there is a bread recipe at the end of volume 2, for those of you who’d like to try this at home.)

originally written for and posted on Comicsnob.com [Dec ’06 – May ’08]

Kashimashi, Vol. 1
Published by: Seven Seas Entertainment
Writer: Satoru Akahori
Artist: Yukimaru Katsura

210 (188) pages.
Original Language: Japanese
Orientation: Right to left
Vintage: 2005. US edition December 2006.
Original Character Design: Sukune Inugami
Translation: Adrienne Beck
Adaptation: Janet Houck
Lettering: Nicky Lim
Retouch: Cheese
Logo Design: Fawn Lau
Design & Layout: Nicky Lim
Assistant Editor: Jason DeAngelis
Editor: Adam Arnold
Publisher’s Rating: Older Teen, 16+

Rating: 4 out of 5

##

Premise: Guy gets run over by a UFO; dies. (pg. 26. But wait! It’s not the end of the story.) Aliens, feeling remorseful, rebuild him. Aliens, being less than skillful, rebuild him as a her. (Advanced technology my ass…) Hijinks ensue.

Synopsis:

Osaragi Hazumu was wandering the mountains in a bit of a daze, reminiscing of days gone by –- working through his current depression in his own way. This is where he first met Kamiizumi Yasuna, one day while he was out studying the plants and flowers. And now, after Yasuna has rejected his confession of love, this is where he instinctively returns. Out here in the mountains among the plants is where he feels at peace. He’s always been a bit of an odd fish.

He’s about to get odder.

After a really close encounter with a couple thousand metric tons of UFO, Hazumu is toast. The alien driving the ship feels remorse (and apparently is also under an obligation under galactic law) so he puts Hazumu back together from the DNA up. Some of the now-crispy DNA can’t quite be unscrambled, however, so Hazumu is back as a girl.

The wording of the galactic law also calls for a public apology, so not only is the newly minted Ms. Hazumu returned in flashy, Spielbergian fashion right to her front doorstep, but there is also an announcement in the skies above every major city; paraphrasing: “Sorry, our bad. He is back, but he is now a she. Please treat her kindly”

Of course, the media (ignoring the alien’s recommendation) has a field day. And life is about to get a lot more interesting for Hazumu. Reporters outside the house everyday is the least of it.

Mom and Dad are suspiciously cool with the idea– enthusiastic even. And Mom already has a closetful of clothes for Hazumu, in her size. Hazumu’s best guy friend, Asuta… notices that she has a nice rack, and immediately (after an oh-so-brief crisis of conscience) thinks of how to leverage the deal. Hazumu’s other best friend, Tomari–the girl who lives next door–picks up where she left off, looking after and protecting her childhood friend, though now that they are both girls that dynamic has changed a little.

And Yasuna, the girl who rejected Hazumu as recently as the day before, is acting friendlier than ever…

##

Review:

SO, we note the rating (16+). We note the concept (wishy-washy guy becomes surprising cute girl overnight). We think we know the content: over-the-top fan service and comedy-of-errors relating to a former boy suddenly given access to a whole new world. It would be easy to dismiss this as an exploitive title, and toss it in a bin with the other trash.

Do yourself a favour. Go fish this one out of the trash, and read it.

The gender swap isn’t a gimmick. It’s permanent, no takebacks. Hazumu has to figure out what to do to go forward with her new life as a girl. Instead of treating this as some kind of problem, or making this a major point of conflict, just about everybody in the book shrugs and moves on.

The story hinges on those who can’t quite shrug it off, and why.

- Tomari, the girl next door, secretly liked Hazumu but never admitted that to anyone, even herself. Now she finds that Hazumu is still Hazumu, and the things she liked are perhaps even accentuated by the change. She’s confused.

- Yasuna, the girl who couldn’t quite accept Hazumu as a guy, has what seems to be a sudden change of heart. She has her reasons–and a good chunk of volume one is spent explaining them–but what it boils down to is that she is really ready to give Hazumu another chance.

These two relationships, and the resulting triangle, are at the core of the book. I really like the way this plays out: It may be one of the oddest set-ups (hokey, even) but the characters all read true, you get a sense of genuine emotion and internal conflict from each, and the story as a whole reads like a bitter-sweet remembrance of first loves and high school crushes.

…with lesbians. Of course I like it.

All the background stuff -–
The non-nonchalant response of the other students, the warm reception from Mom and Dad, Asuta’s misreading of what really is just the old friendship between “guys”, a teacher’s maternal instinct to protect the new girl, the sudden reappearance of the Alien and (a form) of his ship in Hazumu’s closet
–- this all helps keep things light, and makes this a surprisingly funny book.

Also, there is some fan service. I think they would take away Akahori and Katsura’s manga license if they didn’t take advantage of this set-up without at least, say, throwing Hazumu into a lingerie store for her first bra fitting, or covering her initial foray into the girls locker room. They do both. To their credit, however, each scene serves to develop character and not just [*cough*] character outlines.

I’ve spent almost all of this review telling you I like the story, let me talk about the art for a minute: It’s good. All the girls are cute, each character is well differentiated one from another, and emotions (even the churning, conflicting emotions that result from the stresses of this particular story) are well rendered on everyone’s faces. Both the front and back covers, as well as a one page color insert, do an excellent job in introducing our female leads, even before we start reading the comic. And I’ll note– this gets a 16+ rating for concept, not for content: If Hazumu weren’t a girl, this same storyline would likely have merely merited the generic 13+ rating. The art here is understated where it needs to be, so you don’t need to worry about Junior seeing things he shouldn’t.

I wouldn’t give this title to Junior, necessarily, but if he found it on his own I might silently support his decision to read a comic that will challenge his preconceptions of gender, attraction, and what true love really is.