Category: Manga

By Hiroki Endo (Titan Books)
ISBN: 978-1-84576-503-3

The world has been devastated by the flesh-calcifying “Closure Virus” and subsequently racked by global civil war as the despotic forces of the Propater secret society attempt to conquer the survivors.

Mysteriously linked to the origins of the virus, young Elijah Ballard is making his way through war-torn South America seeking his lost mother when he is captured by a band of anti-Propater soldiers. Initially they seem more interested in Cherubim, his robot bodyguard, but eventually he begins to bond with the disparate unit of flawed and exotic warriors fighting a war for power on a planet that needs every human left if humanity is to regain its pre-eminence.

Due to cybernetic advancements the very definition of humanity is constantly in question and, as Elijah and the unit move on towards Cuzco City after surviving a particularly vicious assault, the story focus here shifts to the deeply troubled Sophia whose consciousness (can we call it a “soul”?) is currently inside an incredible artificial form whilst she seeks a preserved body under strict Propater guard. Is this, at least in part, the reason for much of the bloodiest fighting between the Conqueror-armies and the resistance forces of Nomad?

The brooding character study eventually turns into another of the spectacular battle sequences that this series is justifiably famous for when Elijah and his comrades make a play for the body at a “neutral” Gnosian airport. As the life of perpetual warfare and desperate searching for some greater meaning continues Elijah too is coming to some unpleasant conclusions about “humanity” regarding its nature and worth.

Amid incredible, beautifully realised carnage the book ends on another tragic cliffhanger. If you want to follow this adult (lots of sex and very explicit violence are part and parcel of this series) saga – and you should because it’s a truly brilliant work – you absolutely must start at the beginning.

Unmissable, but impossible to jump into late, this is a tale you must enjoy from the very start. This book is printed in the Japanese right-to-left manner.

 

© 2007 Hiroki Endo. All Rights Reserved. English language translation © 2008 Dark Horse Comics, Inc.

By Yukinobu Hoshino, translated by Fred Burke & Matt Thorn (Viz Spectrum Editions) ISBN: 0-929279-62-X ISBN-13: 978-0-929279-62-6

Yukinobu Hoshino is probably the most respected “hard science” science fiction manga creator in Japan with the phenomenal 2001 Nights saga of exploration and survival as his best known and regarded work, although ‘Steel Queen’ and the Tezuka award-winning ‘Morning Faraway’ are also seminal classics.

After finishing the reincarnation thriller ‘The Legends of a Witch’ in 1980 he began working on the shared theme short stories that became Saber Tiger.

The two stories presented in this book explore his signature fascination with expansion and colonisation, and are underpinned with dour philosophical musings about Man’s place in the universe. In the title story time-travellers from 2479 arrive in the midst of the Ice Age with the sole intention of protecting their distant ancestors from extinction, but the Sabre Tooth Tiger, undisputed master of the frozen wastes has his own ideas…

This bleak, savage examination of evolutionary principles is drawn with captivating skill and guile, as is the second tale ‘the Planet of the Unicorn’ wherein a human colony vessel lands on a perfect world but soon finds that their inexplicable unease was fully justified as both animals and humans suffer behavioural problems and even radical mutations…

Chilling, moving and eerily pensive in the manner of British SF authors J G Ballard, John Lymington or Christopher Priest this is a superb evocation of the dark, cerebral side of science fiction rendered real by the efficient, effective art of a master art technician. Why this isn’t still in print I shall never know, but I have my suspicions…

© 1991 Yukinobu Hoshino/Futabasha, Inc.
English edition © 1991 Viz Communications Japan, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

STARTER PACK

By Yu Aikawa (DrMaster Publications)
ISBN: ISBN: 978-1-59796-159-2

Here’s a lovely idea for these cash-strapped times and just in time to beat the Christmas rush. A few years ago Yu Aikawa began his series of blackly comic tales set in the most unique High School in Japan. Kuro Takagi is a troubled boy. His mother has just died; he does not know his father and he’s been transferred to a new school. The kids there seem as wayward and difficult as he feels.

Yotsuji Private High School is not normal or traditional. The teachers only seem concerned with one unbreakable rule: under no circumstance must any pupil be on school property after dark. Those who have broken this rule are never seen again.

Kuro quickly befriends a disparate bunch of students, and learns that his absentee father is the secret owner of the school. And then, inevitably, one night they get locked in and learn why those giant gates are locked at dusk.

The school is a realm of monsters. Zombies roam the corridors, all the teachers are vampires, demons, succubae or worse and dead students can be reanimated at the will of the Powers subtly warring within the walls of this hell-academy…

And thus begins a highly engaging teen-horror saga with lots of twists and turns to satisfy the post-Buffy generation of older readers, manga or otherwise.

And now the first half-dozen volumes are available in a hugely economical shrink-wrapped six-pack that is both an ideal way to jump on board the fright-train and also makes for a cool Yule tool for that upcoming thing in December.

© 1999-2006 Yu Aikawa. English translation © 1999-2006ComicsOne/ DrMaster Publications Inc. All Rights Reserved.

By Yuna Kagesaki (TokyoPop)
ISBN: 1-59816-322-1

This supernatural teen comedy takes a few liberties with the traditional concept of vampires and some more genteel readers might have a few problems with the underlying metaphor in this tale of a family of immigrant Nosferatu whose middle daughter is a little different from most bloodsuckers.

Karin produces an excess of blood and about once a month is forced to expel it by biting someone. As well as injecting rather than draining her victims (which hyper-energises them) she is also able to move safely in daylight and sleep at night. Her peculiar life is disrupted when a new student Kenta Usui transfers to her High School – another thing most vampires can avoid.

Whenever he is near her condition manifests: She gets hot and dizzy, her blood pounds and the excess gushes out of her nose…

This gross-out horror comedy-romance has more charm than you’d expect from my description and as Karin discovers the meaning of her rare but not unique condition this nine volume tale really comes into its own. The comic strip, which originally appeared in Monthly Dragon Age between 2003 and 2006, spawned a series of Light Novels and an anime TV show.

Entitled simply Karin in Japan, the English version takes its name from the word “Chibi” which translates as “Short Person” or “Small Child”, but whatever you call it, you should also read it…

© 2003 Yuna Kagesaki. English text © 2006 Tokyopop Inc. All Rights Reserved.

By Wing Shing Ma (DrMaster Publications)
ISBN13: 978-1-59796-131-8

The end is in sight for the spellbindingly action-packed, yet largely nonsensical, martial arts drama from Hong Kong. In this penultimate volume the plot, as ever, is largely incidental as Hero Hua continues to defend the mystical Blood Sword from a horde of vicious and exotic villains determined to use its powers for evil.

His lost son too faces threat after threat. Whether on sleazy city streets or jungle-lost temples The Black Dragon Gang persists in its wicked plans, and around the world Hero’s friends and surviving family endure a never-ending war for survival as magic and combat blend into a whirlwind of danger.

If you need a starting context, it all kicked off when a gangster tried to steal the Sword, which Hero’s family had guarded for centuries. That fight’s collateral damage included most of Hero’s family, launching a vendetta encompassing half the planet.

The villains are thoroughly evil, masters of every fighting art and dirty trick whom Hero and his incomprehensibly wide circle of friends and associates – coming and going with dazzling brevity – must fight unceasingly to preserve the sword and achieve their vengeance. By this volume nobody really cares: if you’re already buying this series it’s because of the astounding action and incredible art.

Hong Kong comics are beautiful. They’re produced using an intensive studio art-system that means any individual page might be composed of painted panels, line-art, crayons and coloured pencils: literally anything that will get the job done. And that presumably is to enhance not so much nuances of plot but rather details of the mysticism and philosophy of Kung Fu that my western sensibilities just aren’t attuned to.

They’re wonderful to look at, but don’t expect them to make much sense, because fundamentally this genre of comic is one glorious, spectacular exhibition of Kung Fu mastery. Like much of the region’s classic cinema, all other considerations are suborned to the task of getting the fighting started and to keeping it going.

If you’re looking for characterisation, sharp dialogue or closure, look elsewhere. If, however, you want Good Guys thumping Bad Guys in extended, eye-popping ways, give this a shot.

© 2008 Yasushi Suzuki. © 2008 DGN Production Inc.

By Yu Kinutani, translated by Gerard Jones and Satoru Fujii (Viz Spectrum Editions)
ISBN: 0-929279-38-7 ISBN-13: 978-0-92927-938-1

Manga is so ubiquitous in our shops and libraries now it’s hard to remember when the works of Japanese graphic narrators were presented in all sorts of formats and genres to break through Western reluctance and snobbery. From the far ago late-1980s and the early days of the prolific Viz Communications comes this odd little fantasy package that impressed all the right people but seemingly has left little mark now.

Approximately the same dimensions as a US trade paperback, Viz Spectrum products displayed all the advantages of high quality black-and-white printing – crisp white paper, inserted tissue-paper fly-leaves, gold and silver metal inks and even clear plastic dust-jackets – as inducements for their product but eventually all these fell by the wayside as fans opted with their wallets for the basic digest-sized repro format that dominates today.

And the contents? Shion reprinted the earliest works of Yu Kinutani (who went on to produce Angel Arm, Layla & Rei and White Dragon) and features the first two appearances of a wandering minstrel and demon fighter.

The first story is ‘The Minstrel’ which finds a one-eyed musical vagabond strolling into a strange and Byzantine city reminiscent of Jack Vance’s Dying Earth tales where he finds witches and devils, drinks anti-gravity wine and rescues a damsel from a demon. This demon proves to be his own father who had taken his eye as part of a Faustian Pact. By killing the monster Shion restores his sire and his own eye.

At 16 pages The Minstrel was clearly intended as a one-off, but the character returned in a much longer epic (54 pages) entitled ‘Mirrors’ wherein the troubadour falls foul of depraved, decadent and incestuous sorcerers Toy and Doll; brother and sister in magic, imprisoned in a lost city by Nazuru god of swords for their crimes against humanity.

Freed after millennia the spiteful twins of evil once more play their foul, mutagenic games with human playthings until the Minstrel aided by the Sword of Nazuru finally ends them, only to continue his lonely aimless wandering…

Born in Ehime, Japan in 1962, Yu Kinutani cites Katsuhiro Otomo, Hayao Miyazaki (Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, among a bunch of Studio Gibli classic films) and Jean Giraud AKA Moebius as his strongest influences, although a close look at the astoundingly striking, intricate artwork seems to indicate more than a little Jim Cawthorne and a lot of Philippe (Lone Sloan – Delirious & Yragael Urm) Druillet in the creative mix.

Whilst the storytelling is primal and concentrates on fantasy archetypes the unique blend of manga sensibility with European narrative design (like a somewhat harsher version of Naausica of the Valley of the Wind) makes this an inviting treat for older fantasy and comics fans, but don’t let the superficial similarities to Hideyuki Kikuchi’s Vampire Hunter D distract you; this is a dark fairy tale, not an all-action monster-mash.

© 1988 Yu Kinutani. English edition © 1990 Viz Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

By Mizuho Kusanagi (TokyoPop)
ISBN: 978-1-5981-6829-7

This unassuming blend of romantic comedy and high fantasy sees young and cute Yayoi Suzuka assume her hereditary mantle as Earth’s pre-eminent mystic guardian and demon hunter (the 78th in her family line) just in time to bind Ura, a demon prince into the form of a cat (also cute) and make him her pet.

Despite her awesome powers and the 108 spirits that she controls, she’s still little more than a girl and as the forces of darkness line up to challenge her, she finds herself developing an unwanted relationship with Ura’s humanoid form (yeah, also cute). He reveals that demons are attracted to magical humans because they need to consume their energy, and swears that all he wants to do is eat her. But inside he’s conflicted…

As her demon-vanquishing career proceeds Yayoi discovers that there is civil war in the demon realm and that Ura has a sound reason for wanting her power. Moreover she still finds herself fighting demons but is it for Humanity’s sake or for her pet demon prince…?

A gentle RomCom, Mugen Spiral is very easy on the eye, but rather predictable, which won’t deter dedicated fans of the genre, but might disappoint a more casual or critical reader. This book is printed in the ‘read-from-back-to-front’ manga format.

© 2004 Mizuho Kusanagi. All Rights Reserved.

By Tatsuya Hamazaki & Yuzuka Morita (TokyoPop)
ISBN: 978-1-4278-0635-2

This is a very confusing sequel to a sequel based on a computer game about a computer game. The originals were based on a Japanese anime series called .hack//Roots… and I’m going to stop there with the background stuff because my eyes are starting to bleed. There are three (maybe four by now) game editions and a couple of TV series but that has little relevance to the book I’m holding in my hand.

By the year 2017 a huge multiplayer online game called The World has gripped humanity to such an extent that most of the planet are now continuously lost in a fantasy realm of fighting Avatars – the online personas of players. Most are trapped there with no way out. PKs – Player Killers – hunt and destroy Avatars and more adaptable PKKs have evolved. Player Killer Killers hunt down and slay the predators but not for any moral purpose, they’re just a better test of prowess.

But even if the population is lost in The World (R: 2 to be exact) the real world still impinges. PKK Haseo – AKA “The Terror of Death” – roams the cyber-realm hunting for the PK “Tri-Edge” whose attack on his friend Shino left her in a real coma – an increasingly common event in The World. And covert forces are manipulating the game and the billions of players for some as yet unspecified purpose. What is really going on?

No, I’m serious asking here because I truly am terribly confused. I feel completely unable to comment on the narrative because so much back-story is unavailable to new readers. It seems competent and may be excellent but I just can’t tell. The art however, by Yuzuka Morita is good; fast, slick and strong on action but with a sensitive touch in regard to character interaction.

Impressive looking, this is not a book for the uninitiated.

© 2006 .hack Conglomerate, NBGI. All Rights Reserved. English text © 2008 Tokyopop Inc. All Rights Reserved.

By Wing Shing Ma (DrMaster Publications)
ISBN13: 978-1-59796-131-8

I’ve said it before and it’s still true. Hong Kong comics are beautiful. They’re produced using an intensive studio art-system that means any individual page might be composed of painted panels, line-art, crayons and art pencils, literally anything that will get the job done. And that presumably is to enhance not so much nuances of plot but rather details of the mysticism/philosophy of Kung Fu that my western sensibilities just aren’t attuned to. They are astounding to look at, but don’t expect them to make much sense.

These relentless action classics (originally published by Hong Kong outfit Jademan Comics) have been digitally re-mastered for trade paperbacks. The protagonist, tough, good-looking, Hero Hua, is a husband and father, the latest in a long line of Guardians tasked with protecting a magic sword powered by blood. His line has safeguarded the blade for generations, and the ability to endure personal sacrifice is bred to the bone in him.

When a Gangster tries to steal the Blood Sword, the collateral damage includes most of Hero’s family, launching a vendetta that encompasses half the planet. The villains are thoroughly evil, masters of every fighting art and dirty trick and Hero and his incomprehensibly wide circle of friends and associates – who come and go with dazzling brevity – fight an unceasing battle to preserve the sword and avenge his family.

Because that’s fundamentally what this genre of comic is: One glorious, lavish spectacular exhibition of Kung Fu mastery. Like much of the region’s classic cinema, all other considerations are suborned to the task of getting the fighting started and to keeping it going. If you’re looking for characterisation, sharp dialogue or closure, look elsewhere. If, however, you want Good Guys thumping Bad Guys in extended, eye-popping ways, you might want to give this a go. Be warned though, it is by nature a never-ending story…

This is the sixth volume and to be honest, all sense of logic and continuity has long been abandoned by the creators. Hero, his son and their disparate allies must overcome foes that include a vampire, Q Level Face Card Assassins, the deadly fashionistas of the Nymph Flower Puzzle and a host of other exotic menaces, just to stay alive, and I suspect there’s no real story structure left to get in the way of all the action. Needless to say the book ends on a cliffhanger…

Crafted in a dizzying variety of artistic styles including pen-and-ink, crayon, painted art, even photography, this is a comic about fighting, heavily influenced by the spiritual aspect of Kung Fu. If you prefer a semblance of realism in your fiction this rollercoaster romp is not for you. This is Fighting Fantasy…

Superhero fans might be amazed at the variety of powers a lifetime of knuckle push-ups and bowing can produce, but this is a style of comic wedded to the concept of study and training and will producing literal miracles. It is however, irresistibly exuberant, beautifully illustrated and endlessly compelling. If you’re open to different ways of telling tales you may find yourself carried away on this relentless tide of shallow heroes and non-stop action.

© 2008 Yasushi Suzuki. © 2008 DGN Production Inc.

By Selena Lin (TokyoPop)
ISBN: 978-1-42781-023-6

I don’t know if it’s possible for an entire genre – or possibly culture – to be shallow but the Japanese creators of Manga are obsessed with the word “Cute”. That’s not in any way a value judgement but it does make this rather good beginners manual in the arts of making comics Eastern-style just a wee bit cloying unless you’re the ten year old girl it’s aimed at: and maybe even for them too.

And that’s a genuine pity as this book has a lot of solid advice and information which could benefit any would-be creator who wants to experiment with the medium. Broken down into five basic lessons Manga drawing tools and supplies, Getting Ready to Draw, Creating Finished Work, Special Techniques for Manga Creators, and Colouring. This slim tome covers all the necessary basics with simple instructions (even on the eternal artist’s bugbear Perspective) whilst the section on applying tones with a computer even taught me a few things.

Aimed primarily – if not exclusively – at young girls this is a valuable aid to learning your craft, but maybe you’d best keep a bag of lemon drops handy to counter the sugary taste.

© 2004 Selena Lin. English translation © 2008 TokyoPop Inc. All Rights Reserved.