Astro Boy 1 by Osamu Tezuka: B

February 2, 2009 by 3 Comments

From the back cover:
Created by the late Osamu Tezuka, Astro Boy was the first manga series to be adapted to animation and became a worldwide phenomenon, making Astro Boy the Mickey Mouse of anime—a jet-powered, super-strong, evil-robot-bashing, alien-invasion-smashing Mickey Mouse, that is! Exciting, whimsical, and touching, Astro Boy hearkens back to the classic era of comics and animation, featuring stories that readers young and old will enjoy.

Review:
I confess that I didn’t have a whole lot of interest in Astro Boy until Viz’s acquisition of Naoki Urasawa’s Pluto—based on a story in the third Astro Boy volume—was announced. In fact, I’m reading it now so I can fully appreciate Pluto, but I must say that it’s better than I’d expected.

There are three stories in this volume, two from 1961 and one (“The Birth of Astro Boy”) written in 1975 that explains Astro’s origins. This last, as well as some introductory bits to the other stories, features Tezuka talking about his stories and even admitting that there are some that he doesn’t care for much. It actually works pretty well.

The longer of the two stories from 1961, “The Hot Dog Corps,” is about a group of cyborg soldiers who used to be dogs. Their canine instincts keep returning, like the desire to chew on shoes or squirm around scratching their backs in doggy ectasy, and one cyborg in particular, who used to belong to Astro Boy’s teacher, feels the inexplicable urge to fly to Japan and see his former master. The concept is quite interesting, but I felt the story went on a bit too long. If it were shorter, it could’ve been more poignant. That said, I like how it ended.

The second story, “Plant People,” is far shorter and basically tells the tale of some robot invaders from a dying planet who were programmed to steal Earth’s water. There’s not much more to say about that one.

Astro Boy is a really quick read and generally enjoyable, though there are a few things that had me snerking. One is the villain who describes at length, while nobody is around, what throwing a certain switch will do. Giving one of the good guys time to come and foil his evil plans, of course. Another is Astro’s tendency to use the phrase “This must be _____.” Here’s a quiz:

Which of these sentences is not used in this volume?

This must be _________.
a. some sort of door.
b. the way it defends against intruders.
c. the power source for that giant robot we met earlier.
d. love.

Okay, perhaps that was too easy.

Also, Astro’s propensity for walking into unfamiliar situations and rapidly deducing all sorts of things reminds me of Conan from Case Closed. And, in fact, the kindly scientist who takes Conan in after he is forcibly de-aged looks a lot like the kindly scientist who takes Astro in after his creator kicks him out for failing to be his son. I can only assume this is intentional.

I’ll at least be reading through volume three, and will probably give it a chance beyond that to see if Astro Boy is something I really want to continue with.

Filed Under: Manga, Sci-Fi, Shounen Tagged With: ,

Bleach 25 by Tite Kubo: C+

December 19, 2008 by 1 Comment

From the back cover:
Ichigo’s recent battles with the Arrancars have proven that if he wants to protect his friends he must get stronger, and the only way to do that is to control his inner Hollow. Ichigo turns to the Visoreds*, ex-Soul Reapers who have been Hollowfied, to teach him. But before his training begins, Ichigo must do battle against his Hollow self—winner takes his soul!

* Referred to as “Vizards” in previous volumes.

Review:
This was essentially a training volume, in which Ichigo must first prove his worthiness to the Visoreds (spelling changed, I think, because of the newly-revealed connection between their Hollow masks and their power) in order to be taught how to “Hollowfy,” and then fight an internal battle to control the Hollow within.

The fights with the Visoreds are not very interesting, but the battle with the Inner Hollow is pretty good, if occasionally confusing. Even though I suppose it’s silly that the Inner Hollow’s sword and garment are white where Ichigo’s are black, it still looks neat and allows for some symbolic representations of who is exerting dominance over whom. The Inner Hollow gives a lot of advice about how Ichigo needs a killer instinct to be “the king,” and then there’s a section where Ichigo thinks about instinct and battle and fighting and then suddenly he’s winning. I don’t really understand what went on there internally, but at least the outcome is clear.

Unfortunately, some of the pivotal moments in the battle felt a little unsatisfying because the chapters were so short. You’d get, like, 2 truly cool pages in each one and the rest would be talking or things crumbling. There was a lot of crumbling in this volume.

Very little is seen of other characters in this volume, which could be a blessing since Rangiku’s boobs are not referenced once, but at the very end, details on Aizen’s latest objective are revealed. It involves a hitherto-unmentioned royal family of the Soul Society, which is a shade retconny, but whatever. It sounds like it could be a reason for bringing the gang together again and going on a group quest, which is when this series is at its best. I’m looking forward to it.

Filed Under: Manga, Shounen, Supernatural Tagged With: ,

Case Closed 1 by Gosho Aoyama: B-

December 2, 2008 by 5 Comments

From the back cover:
Precocious high school student Jimmy Kudo uses his keen powers of observation and astute intuition to solve mysteries that have left law enforcement officials baffled. Hot on the trail of a suspect, Jimmy is accosted from behind and fed a strange chemical which physically transforms him into a grade schooler! Taking on the pseudonym Conan Edogawa, he attempts to track down the people who did this to him. But until he finds a cure for his bizarre condition, Jimmy continues to help the police solve their toughest cases.

Review:
After reviewing and enjoying two later volumes of this series for Manga Recon, I wanted to go back and start the series properly. Luckily, this is another of those lengthy Viz series that my local library seems poised to carry in its entirety. I should state up front that, although it bugs me that Viz is using dub names for many of the characters, I’m not familiar with their original Japanese names, so I’ll probably just keep using what Viz is using because it’s easier.

Some things are different from later on in the series. Rachel doesn’t have that weird triangle of hair poking out of her head yet—instead her hair resembles camel humps—and the cast of characters is smaller. Conan/Jimmy doesn’t start out with all of his gadgets in tow, but he quickly develops the “solve the mystery, knock out the inane detective, and use the handy bow-tie voice modulator gadget to relay the solution” method that is still in play twenty-five volumes later.

While the cases here were okay (with one shockingly geyser-like beheaded victim), I think the problem is that I can see now that nothing really changes in this series. The characters are likewise okay, but I don’t have any special liking for any of them, and it’s clear things will simply continue on in their episodic fashion. I will probably continue reading a bit longer, if for nothing else than to see how the characters who’re around in those later volumes got introduced, but I’ve now got doubts as to whether this’ll be a series I’m into for the long haul.

Filed Under: Manga, Mystery, Shounen Tagged With:

One Piece 1 by Eiichiro Oda: B+

December 1, 2008 by 7 Comments

From the back cover:
As a child, Monkey D. Luffy was inspired to become a pirate by listening to the tales of the buccaneer “Red-Haired” Shanks. But his life changed when Luffy accidentally ate the fruit of the Gum-Gum Tree and gained the power to stretch like rubber… at the cost of never being able to swim again! Years later, still vowing to become the king of the pirates, Luffy sets out on his adventure… one guy alone in a rowboat, in search of the legendary “One Piece,” said to be the greatest treasure in the world…

Review:
Influenced by praise of this series, particularly from Connie, I decided that I ought to check it out. This aim was facilitated by the fact that my local library carries One Piece (and several other lengthy Shonen Jump series), so I could do my investigatin’ for free!

I couldn’t really get into it at first, particularly as the art style is really cartoony. I thought about starting a gaping maw (a mouth open so wide that molars are visible) tally box, but it would’ve gone over 200, easily. Gradually, though, the story grew on me and I found myself quite enjoying it by the end.

I really like the protagonist, Luffy. In the first chapter, he’s a rather annoying kid who has as his role model a pirate called Shanks. Shanks teaches him a lesson about what it means to be a good man, and throughout the rest of the volume, the teenage/adult Luffy proves by his actions that he has taken the lesson to heart. Sure, he’s reckless and rash, as any shounen hero must be, but he’s also quite mellow and takes things as they come.

It’s also pretty funny, in a goofy way that appeals to me. For example, the first line spoken by the main villain of the volume, a megalomaniacal naval captain, is “I’m so great!” I also cracked up at this exchange between Luffy and his new friend, who is explaining how he came to be affiliated with a cruel female pirate:

Koby: I’ll never forget that fateful day. I just wanted to go fishing and I boarded a pirate ship by mistake. That was two years ago. In exchange for my life, I’ve been working as their cabin boy.

Luffy: You’re kinda clumsy and dumb!

By the end of the volume, I was definitely wanting more. In fact, I’ll probably be picking up the second volume from the library tomorrow.

Filed Under: Manga, Shounen Tagged With: ,

Case Closed 26 by Gosho Aoyama: B

November 11, 2008 by Leave a Comment

There were three complete cases in this volume: two murders and one valuable missing stamp. I’ve only read one other volume of this series so far, but each of the two murder cases had an aspect that was similar to the skating rink case from said volume. In the first case, one member of a group of friends had done away with another. In the second, sounds of celebration were used to disguise a gunshot. I don’t know enough to state whether this sort of “variation upon a theme” is standard for this series or not, but it is a little worrisome.

The cliffhanger ending from the last volume—one of Conan’s friends seemed to realize who he really is—was resolved in a way that managed to be fun but still left all of the characters right back where they started, when all was said and done. I suppose when one is writing a series of this length, one might have to recycle some criminal methods and might also try to avoid doing anything major to break up the character dynamic. But as a result, while Case Closed is good for episodic fun, it will probably never achieve greatness.

Case Closed is serialized in Japan as Meitantei Conan (Detective Conan). It’s been running for 14 years now and has 64 volumes so far. So far, Viz has released 26 volumes in English.

Review copy provided by the publisher. Review originally published at Manga Recon.

Filed Under: Manga, Mystery, Shounen Tagged With:

Touch 2 (Japanese) by Mitsuru Adachi: B+

November 5, 2008 by 3 Comments

Book description:
Junior High life continues for the Uesugi twins and their childhood friend, Minami Asakura. Minami volunteers Tatsuya to run the final leg of the mixed relay for their class in the inter-school athletic meet, Tatsuya gets (falsely) accused of reading Minami’s diary, Kazuya begins dating a cute girl named Kaori and ends up seeing a movie with her that he’d promised to see with Minami, there’s only one call for twinly substitution, and both boys are convinced that Minami likes the other one better.

Review:
I liked this volume better than the first. There is only one scene where Tatsuya stands in for Kazuya, and he isn’t really pretending to be him, either. Also, each chapter seems to flow better from the last—a few spent on the athletic meet, a few on how Tatsuya owes his friend $255 for breaking his swanky binoculars, etc. Tatsuya is far less bumbling this time around, as well, and I can already see my wish of further development for him beginning to be fulfilled.

Of course, the most important thing is how each of the characters feels about the others. One of their classmates, Kaori, has a crush on Kazuya, and talks to Tatsuya about him. He does his best to convince her that Kazuya and Minami have something going on, thinking to spare her heartbreak by encouraging her to get over Kazuya quickly. (Lest one think his motives are pure, he also wouldn’t mind if she were to transfer her affections to him.)

Minami foils his plans by telling Kaori that she and Kazuya are just childhood friends. Kazuya hears about this, figures he has no chance with Minami, and begins dating Kaori. So, each twin is convinced that Minami loves his brother. This could’ve been handled with high angst, but instead it’s pretty low-key, with the brothers’ emotions obvious but not melodramatic. Minami’s romantic feelings are a mystery at present, though sometimes her behavior makes me wonder what the boys see in her.

I really enjoy Adachi’s art and pacing, and it’s a testament to his storytelling skills that when the volume left off on a mild cliffhanger concerning Tatsuya playing in a baseball game due to Kazuya’s unavailability (because he’s supposed to go see that movie with Minami), I was actually tempted to start the next volume right away. All of the little details of the story come together nicely, and character motivations and emotions are always clear. I’m definitely beginning to really enjoy this series now.

Filed Under: Manga, Shounen Tagged With:

Fairy Tail 4 by Hiro Mashima: C+

October 17, 2008 by 3 Comments

From the back cover:
S-Class quests are so dangerous that one false move means certain death! Now loose cannon Natsu, rookie Lucy, and nearly powerless Happy have embarked on a stolen S-Class quest, setting out for the Demon Island. Can anyone stop them before they get themselves killed?

Review:
Sigh. Well, the resolution to the cliffhanger of Erza’s arrest was completely lame, as was the conclusion of her duel with Natsu. It felt like the mangaka suddenly lost interest in that plot line.

The S-Class quest wasn’t all that much better. I’m definitely not the ideal shounen audience, since I tend to get very annoyed with characters who do things they’re not supposed to and then get into perilous situations as a result. The lack of foresight also bothered me. It was bad enough Natsu hatched this hare-brained scheme, but Lucy continued to go along with it even after learning it would likely result in her expulsion from the guild she had been so desperate to join back in volume one. And evidently felt hardly a qualm about doing so!

Ultimately, their quest lead to various angsty revelations about Gray’s past which Mashima admitted including in an attempt to lure more female readers. About the only good thing in this volume was the introduction of a cool new guild member, Mystogan, whose power is to put everyone to sleep. Ironically, that was the one bit that didn’t have me yawning.

Filed Under: Fantasy, Manga, Shounen Tagged With: ,

Touch 1 (Japanese) by Mitsuru Adachi: B+

October 15, 2008 by 3 Comments

Book description:
The Uesugi and Asakura families have been neighbors for years and their children have grown up together. The kids are now in their third year at Meisei Junior High. The Uesugi brothers, twins Kazuya and Tatsuya, could not be more different. Kazuya is a serious and clear-headed baseball star who scores first in his class on exams while Tatsuya is a slacker who can never measure up to his younger brother. Their neighbor, Minami Asakura, is also a good student, and gets on well with the studious twin but is perpetually annoyed by the other.

Everyone assumes that Minami and Kazuya will end up marrying, but he may not be the only twin with feelings for his pretty childhood friend.

Review:
I really love the first chapter of Touch and the way it introduces the three main characters, but things go a bit downhill from there.

It’s still a very pleasant slice-of-life story, purely episodic at first but with more connected chapters later on, but some aspects of it are already wearing thin. In just this first volume, the twins impersonate each other several times and most chapters involve Tatsuya messing up or performing ineptly in some way. I get that the idea is to show him in contrast with his talented brother, but the point gets made many times over.

Adachi’s art is clean and cute. There’s an uncluttered, almost airy, feel to the panels that I like a lot. Facial expressions are mostly simplistic, but that just contributes to an overall mellow feeling.

This was a good start to the series, but I am already ready to see some growth from Tatsuya. Thankfully, it does seem like he might have potential to make something of himself, and I’m hopeful that the story will continue to move in that direction.

Filed Under: Manga, Shounen Tagged With:

Dororo 3 by Osamu Tezuka: B

October 8, 2008 by 3 Comments

Book description:
Hyakkimaru and Dororo search for the treasure hidden by Dororo’s parents, but are thwarted in their search by a traitorous bandit, man-eating sharks, and greedy samurai. Afterwards, they continue to encounter demons and tales of the misdeeds of Hyakkimaru’s powerful father.

Review:
This final volume of Dororo was a disappointment on a few fronts.

At the end of the second volume, it seemed that Hyakkimaru had a new goal: find the money buried by Dororo’s parents and use it to fund a revolution against the samurai. They started off this volume looking for it, but after the location marked on the map turned out to be a bust, they never spoke of it again. Instead there were stories about angsty horse demons and voracious ghouls and a random revelation about Dororo that was probably groundbreaking for its time but has been done better since.

There were a couple of spots of snerkworthy dialogue, like this gem of deep characterization: “Wait. If I kill you, I’ll get another body part back… That’d make me glad.” And let’s not forget Hyakkimaru’s stirring farewell to the lady who’s just fallen in love with him and died in the space of five pages: “See ya.”

The biggest disappointment, however, was the lack of any meaningful controntation between Hyakkimaru and his father. Oh sure, the villagers Daigo had been exploiting rose up in revolt and won the ensuing battle, but it was all very anticlimactic. The end was pretty abrupt, as well, though I did rather like the melancholy aspect of it, and at least a few loose threads were tied up.

All in all, I did enjoy reading Dororo and I think it was an excellent place to start my Tezuka education.

Filed Under: Manga, Shounen, Supernatural Tagged With: ,

Fairy Tail 3 by Hiro Mashima: B

October 6, 2008 by 1 Comment

From the back cover:
The evil members of the Dark Guild Eisenwald have found a cursed flute that can murder anyone who hears its music—and now they’ve taken over a midtown train station with a very loud public address system. Only Natsu and his crazy friends (including a flying cat) can stop them!

Review:
Fairy Tail has finally won me over. I think it was the fact that several guild members went on a mission together that did it, since I enjoyed seeing their various powers on display. Natsu also got to partake in a couple of nifty battles with nice choreography.

One thing I like about the combat in this series is that people have more than one trick. They don’t have to keep doing a “Wind scar” or “Amekakeryu no Hirameki” over and over again, but have many different aspects of their magical specialties that they can employ. I especially like Erza’s ability to don armor to suit her opponent; it has the added benefit of being very prettily drawn, as well.

At the end of the story, Erza gets arrested by the body that governs those with her special abilities. Oh noes! I predict the spiky-haired hero and friends will attempt a daring rescue, that Happy will turn out to be a sexay layday, and that Erza’s heretofore unseen angsty brother, Pyakuya, will make an appearance.

Filed Under: Fantasy, Manga, Shounen Tagged With: ,
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