I Reads You Review: LIVES, VOL. 1

Creator: Masayuki Taguchi with Bryce P. Coleman (English adaptation) and Monica Seya Chin (translation)

Publishing Information: TOKYOPOP, B&W, paperback, 192 pages, $12.99 (US), $16.99 CAN

Ordering Numbers: ISBN: 978-1-4278-1667-2

 

Action/Fantasy; Rated “M” for “Mature Ages 18+”

 

I enjoy reading manga, and for most of the last eight years, I’ve been exposed to a lot of it. Manga offers high-quality series in so many genres and sub-genres, and there is such diversity that some manga are simply hard to classify. There are also titles that I call “guy comics” because those manga appeal to the action-loving, science fiction/fantasy fan that cannot get enough of kick-ass shonen and seinen manga like Bleach, Naruto, Black Lagoon and Akira. I just discovered a new seinen manga (comics for adult men) that has made me anxious for the next volume.

TOKYOPOP recently published the first volume of their English language release of Lives. Created by Masayuki Taguchi (the artist of the Battle Royale manga), Lives has elements of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and monster comics. It also has a passing resemblance to TOKYOPOP’s World of Warcraft graphic novels.

Lives, Vol. 1 focuses on a group of people who live in the Kanto region of Japan, which is devastated by a freak meteor storm. People caught in the terrific blasts caused by meteors hitting the area are mysteriously transported to a strange world that one of them dubs “Afterworld.” There, the human arrivals transform into monstrous cannibalistic beasts that must fight and sometimes eat each other to survive. Shinma Shingo, a genial martial arts student, leads a small group of survivors. His peaceful and protecting ways, however, are at odds with what seems to be the way to deal with life on Afterworld.

Readers who enjoy battles between behemoths and other super freaks, like those found in teen-oriented, battle manga, will like Lives. The story is a little confusing in places because Taguchi uses a non-linear narrative in which he builds chapters around the back story, arrival, and survival stories of individual characters. Chronologically, Vol. 1’s opening chapter, which his about a girl group singer, actually takes place after the main character’s (Shinma Shingo) story has already taken place. Shingo’s story doesn’t appear until late in the second half of this volume, although it is chronologically the beginning of this story.

Still, Taguchi is very good at telling a story using graphics and the word-and-pictures dynamic of comic books. While his art is beautiful, the beauty is merely an element in what is a spry and expressive visual narrative that is capable of conveying the characters’ thoughts, emotions, and actions. I have to praise Taguchi, though, for his imaginative creature design, which mixes dinosaurs, reptiles, big cats, assorted mammals, and a touch of Cthulhu. Shinma’s beast mode is like a mix of Wolverine and Sabertooth, but with three-foot claws.

If the monsters aren’t enough for potential readers, there is fanservice in the form of crotch shots and tits-and-ass galore. I look forward to more cool monsters.

A-

I Reads You Review: RATMAN, VOL. 1

Creators: Sekihiko Inui with Bryce P. Coleman (English adaptation) and Adrienne Beck (translation)
Publishing Information: TOKYOPOP, B&W, paperback, 208 pages, $10.99 (US), $13.99 CAN
Ordering Numbers: ISBN: 978-1-4278-1745-7 (ISBN-13)

Ratman is a shonen manga (comics for teen boys) from Sekihiko Inui. To date, Ratman is the manga that is most like an American superhero comic book that I’ve read.

The protagonist of Ratman is a teenaged boy named Shuto Katsuragi. Shuto is a superhero otaku (fanboy), and it is his fervent desire to grow up to be a superhero. Superheroes do exist in Shuto’s world, and it is possible for someone to become a superhero (through various means). That dream seems impossible for Shuto, a short of stature boy who is a joke to many people.

However, a meeting with an apparent criminal syndicate, the Jackal Organization, changes Shuto’s life when they give him the suit that turns him into Ratman. Shuto sees the suit as his chance to be a superhero, but can he be a hero when he works for the bad guys and steals from the good guys, the Hero Association?

Like Animal Academy, TOKYOPOP has a young readers’ winner in Ratman. As a superhero comic, it reads just as well as any of the superhero titles that Marvel Comics (their “First Class” and “Marvel Adventures” lines) and DC Comics (Johnny DC) aim at young readers. I also think that Ratman, while it does have the missteps and misfires one would expect early in a series, has much potential.

As of right now, the series has a winning character in Shuto Katsuragi. He is the underdog, that everyman (or boy) with which readers can identify and for whom they will certainly root. Shuto is the main reason that this is an energetic series, and his adventures promise to keep readers interested. Combining superhero comics with a strong shonen manga and anime flavor, Ratman certainly puts fun into teen superheroes.

B+


Ratman Volume 1

I Reads You Review: DEADMAN WONDERLAND, VOL. 1

Creators: Jinsei Kataoka (writer) and Kazuma Kondou (artist) with Ray Yoshimoto (translation) and Bryce P. Coleman (English adaptation)
Publishing Information: TOKYOPOP, B&W, paperback, 246 pages, $10.99 (US), $13.99 CAN
Ordering Numbers: ISBN: 978-1-4278-1741-9 (ISBN-13)

After his classmates are slaughtered before his very eyes, 14-year-old Ganta Igarashi is sentenced to death for the murders. Ganta is imprisoned at Deadman Wonderland, Japan’s only fully privately owned and operated prison. Deadman Wonderland is also a tourist prison, where visitors can enjoy the spectacle of inmates competing in death sports. The prison guards are brutal, and the other inmates are the worst of the worst.

But Ganta is innocent, and the real killer, the mysterious “Red Man,” has also found his way to Deadman Wonderland. How and why is Ganta connected to this shadowy figure? Aided by a mysterious albino girl named Shiro, Ganta may live long enough to answer that question.

Just the fact that Deadman Wonderland, Vol. 1 is set in a prison is enough to give a reader the chills, but the execution of this story also delivers chills and thrills. Deadman Wonderland (originally published in Japan’s Shōnen Ace) combines elements of the dystopian science fiction sports film (Death Race 2000, Rollerball) and the prison drama – unusual elements for a comic book (or maybe not strange in the world of manga).

As executed by creators, writer Jinsei Kataoka and artist Kazuma Kondou, Deadman Wonderland is a story that is both a quest for survival and a journey of self-discovery, with requisite shonen action and super powers. Kataoka composes his script as an exercise in dropping just enough crumbs to keep his readers chasing after the mysteries of Deadman Wonderland; the action scenes, fights, and confrontations are candy to satisfy and keep us interested. Kondou’s art is stylish, but has plenty of substance. The compositions are strong, and the contents of each panel are designed for maximum dramatic impact. In a John Buscema-like way, Kondou is looking to grab the reader with this story.

Deadman Wonderland is a high-quality shonen manga. It is dark without being too edgy and has enough imagination to deserve the word “Wonderland” in its title.

A-

[This book also contains a preview of Hanako and the Terror of Allegory, Vol. 1.]

Buy Deadman Wonderland Volume 1

I Reads You Review: HANAKO AND THE TERROR OF ALLEGORY, VOL. 1

Creator: Sakae Esuno with Satsuki Yamashita (translation) and Bryce P. Coleman (English adaptation)
Publishing Information: TOKYOPOP, B&W, paperback, 222 pages, $10.99 (US), $13.99 CAN
Ordering Numbers: ISBN: 978-1-4278-1608-5 (ISBN-13)

The new manga series from TOKYOPOP, Hanako and the Terror of Allegory, has an unwieldy title, but this breezy read offers ghost stories for your afternoon reading delight. Created by Sakae Esuno (Future Diary), Hanako and the Terror of Allegory is about a detective who battles urban legends come to life.

Hanako and the Terror of Allegory, Vol. 1 introduces Detective Daisuke Aso. He usually deals with con artists and cheating spouses, but he is also known as the Allegory Detective… much to his chagrin. Folktales, legends, old wives’ tales, myths, etc. (the killer with hook for a hand who stalks lovers’ lane) have a way of coming to life, and Aso is the man who battles these monsters.

Aso doesn’t fight alone. Kanae Hiranuma is a recent client; she was vexed by the man with an axe hiding under the bed, an allegory come to life and haunting Kanae’s days and nights. Because she was too poor to pay him, Kanae became Aso’s assistant at the Aso Detective Agency. Even there, Kanae finds more weirdness. The agency’s resident computer and tech geek is actually a resident of the office. Hanako is the allegory of the girl in the bathroom.

Hanako and the Terror of Allegory is pretty standard in terms of story structure – inciting incident (usually a customer), complications, climax, and the end. There is a surprising amount of action – fights, chases, and some gunplay, and there is even minor violence and a few panels featuring semi-nudity and sexuality. That is the strange thing about this title: it seems like a teen horror series with a mixture of shojo and shonen elements. However, it has quite a bit of edge, which makes Hanako and the Terror of Allegory just offbeat enough to attract adult fans looking for ghost story manga.

B+

Buy Hanako and the Terror of Allegory Volume 1 (Hanako & the Terror of Allegory)