Manga Reviews: Akira, Bloody Kiss, Ode to Kirihito, Tsubasa
Akira Vol. 1
Story & Art: Katsuhiro Otomo
Translation: Yoko Umezawa
Adaptation: Linda M. York & Jo Duffy
Publisher: Kodansha Comics
How do I go about reviewing the very book that got me into manga over 20 years ago? How do I review the pinnacle of story-telling that changed the way I looked at comics forever? How long can I keep asking questions? It’s true; Katsuhiro Otomo’s masterpiece was my very first manga. Of course back then it was released in comic format by Epic Comics (Marvel) and in color by Steve Oliff. 10 years later it was reprinted in its original Black and White format by Dark Horse Comics with a new translation. This new version is brought to us by Kodansha Comics (the same publisher that has been in the game for 100 years. To be honest, other than the new introduction by Otomo himself I think that this version is identical to the sold out Dark Horse version.
The story takes place in Neo-Tokyo in the year 2030, which is also thirty-eight years after World War Three began when a new type of bomb exploded over Japan. While riding at night through Old Tokyo where the bomb exploded, a group of bikers led by Kaneda, suddenly come upon a small boy standing in the middle of the road. Before Tetsuo, who is riding at the head of the pack, can swerve out of the way, his motorcycle explodes. The small boy disappears as the military shows up and starts asking questions and then leaves without offering any aid to the injured Tetsuo. Kaneda’s life turns upside down when he encounters a woman named Kei who belongs to an underground revolutionary movement that is fighting against a covert government agency that studies humans with paranormal abilities. It turns out that one of these humans is the little boy that Kaneda's gang ran across that night in Old Tokyo. However, Tetsuo is also one of these superhumans, but he is far more dangerous than the others because his powers are just developing and he doesn't know how to control them. Things go to hell when Tetsuo tries to become the head honcho and ends up killing one of his old friends, Yamagata. There are also rumors and whispers of a small powerful force named Akira.
What can I say? Other than I loved this story and it still holds up after all these years. Otomo is a great storyteller. His artwork is very clean but also detailed and the action sequences were easy to follow. The artwork is top notch, but in the first book the style is quite different than the later installment. The characters look fairly rough to begin with, Kei and the Colonel in particular, though they fall into their usual forms fairly quick. Otomo's astounding attention to detail shines through from the very first panel, however, and the cityscapes are simply breathtaking. The artwork is flipped to accommodate English readers, and it's sometimes a little weird as the flow gets interrupted in spots. The translation is also pretty accurate. The dialogue isn't the greatest prose ever written or anything, but it's a far better translation than one might expect. No book collection is complete without Akira, I’m not talking manga or comics I’m talking books! A+
Bloody Kiss vol. 2
Story & Art: Kasuko Furumiya
Translation: Monica Seya Chin
Adaptation: Magda Erik-Soussi
Publisher: Tokyopop
It seems that the vampire craze has been sweeping the nation because of Twilight. But I guess vampires were always a part of our culture. We’ve had titles in manga like Trinity Blood, Chibi Vampire, and of course Vampire Hunter D (yes, I know that it’s a novel, but there is a manga out there). The premise of this book is pretty simple: After Kiyo inherits her late grandmother's run-down mansion and decides to temporarily move in as she prepares to become a lawyer. The catch is she also inherts two kind, handsome vampires, Kuroboshi and his servant Alshu, that have been living for years with her grandmother. Things turn for the worse when both vampires decide that they need to enroll in school to check out the female student body…well Alshu pretends to be a school nurse. It seems that Kiyo’s feelings for Kuroboshi are stronger than she first thought and is willing to keep him at school by playing a tennis match against Fujiwara. There is also another vampire story called Wishing on a Vampire at the end of the book. The story was interesting although sort of predictable, and is gets pretty repetitive. The idea of the story isn't new and I found it similar to Fruits basket in some aspects. Sometimes the art looked awkward and it got confusing to follow, but it really does fit the book, specially the chibi style used in parts of it. B
Ode To Kirihito
Story & Art: Osamu Tezuka
Translation: Camellia Nieh
Publisher: Vertical
As much of a fan that I am of Tezuka it’s amazing that I never heard of this book until I started looking at Vertical’s back log of manga they have on their website. The plot of this book is pretty simple at first, but turns into a beautiful complex story. It starts with a young doctor named Kirihito Osanai and his efforts to cure a strange disease that deforms its victims so that they look like dog people. He eventually becomes infected with the disease himself and is led on a wild odyssey around the world as he is kidnapped and treated like a fool by many people. During his journey he meets strange allies and stranger foes. Many of the characters are portrayed as neither outright good nor bad. The series also includes a number of references to Christianity; and that is somewhat unusual in Japanese manga. This really just summarizes the plot, but there is a great deal more going on here; with many subplots, a raft of well-developed characters, and actions and reactions that feel completely realistic. Tezuka has created a wonderfully detailed world here, and the truly amazing thing about Ode to Kirihito is that, like all truly well-crafted graphic novels, it feels like we just don't spend enough time in that world. Osamu is simply brilliant and is a master story teller weaving all human emotions in this superbly crafted book. His brilliance lies in developing each character and handling it in such a way that left you gasping and wondering how keen an observer Osamu was. Eight hundred pages just don’t seem enough to read about. I could follow Kirihito’s life for more volumes. The cover is which features a slider that, when moved to the left, reveals Kirihito's face after he has contracted Monmow's disease. The only drawback to the book is that the last 350 pages started dragging the plot down because the pace slowed down dramatically. I had to push myself to get pass some of those pages. But the overall product is still an amazing story. A-
Tsubasa vols. 23 & 24
Story & Art: CLAMP
Translation: William Flanagan
Lettering: Dana Hayward
Publisher: Del Rey
I have been completely out of the loop in Tsubasa. After reading 17 volumes back to back I found it difficult to skip to volume 23 and 24, because it seems like I missed a full chunk of story. I guess if you aren’t familiar with Tsubasa you can check out our huge review of the books. Here is a quick catch-you-up just in case you didn’t want to read all that: Sakura is the princess of Clow and Syaoran is a young archaeologist passionate about the past and about Sakura. Before she can tell him that she, too, loves him, she is drawn into ancient ruins, where her memories, in the form of feathers, are scattered across multiple worlds. Syaoran goes with the dying Sakura to Yuko, the time-space witch, who grants him, along with Kurogane and Fai D. Flowright, the ability to travel across worlds to seek out the feathers. It’s been one hell of a ride with so many cameos by other CLAMP characters. It seems that volume 23 wraps up the story with Syoaran clone. They crammed so much into one volume with Syaoran's battle to stop the clone's rampage, protect Sakura, and salvage Fai's last chance at a life without physical dependency on Kurogane. The line that really got to me was when Sakura asked Syaoran if she could call him Syaoran. This shows that she has grown close to him and wants to express how much she cares about him without using honorifics. Volume 24 is the beginning of the final Tsubasa story arc (it ended in Japan with volume 28 just this month). The flashback sequences were really nice to see in this volume. This series has been epic so far and I can’t wait to see how it ends. A
