Naruto 3-in-1 11 (volume 31-32-33) Review

I owe a lot of thanks to the person at Viz Media who thought of collecting some of their popular, multi-volume manga into these delightful omnibus editions. It works so well for shonen manga and I’m sure that even non-shonen manga read well in this format. More manga for less money! What’s not to love? Well, if you’re talking about this particular 3-in-1 volume of Naruto, there is one thing. One character, to be exact, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

The opening volume to this omnibus, volume 30, includes the final few chapters of the Kazekage Rescue Mission arc. Sakura and Granny Chiyo are fighting Sasori, one of the Akatsuki’s members. With this fight, Masashi Kishimoto has given readers multiples examples of the kind of jutsu and attacks that puppet masters wield in battle. Seeing the experience of Granny Chiyo’s mastery of puppet jutsu used against the powerful and inventive puppet jutsu of her grandson, Sasori, is very enjoyable. Throwing Sakura in the mix and having her show off her surprisingly strong physical attacks simply adds to the enjoyment of this fight and this story arc. It’s also a good showcase of Sakura’s new abilities. This is the first time we see Sakura fight following her training with Tsunade and it’s impressive. I find that Sakura has been grossly underused in Part One and it’s nice to see her get some much deserved attention here. It’s very successful and make for a few great. She’s fearless compared to the younger Sakura we used to know. In this fight she proves to be strong, resourceful, and a commendable team player.

Naruto 3-in-1 10 (volumes 28-29-30) review (Unread 009)

I was very, very excited to start reading volume 10 of the Naruto 3-in-1 editions. Back when I first started to read Naruto in Shonen Jump, I stopped reading somewhere along volume 29 or so. This means that I my Naruto reread would soon become, well, a read. “New” chapters! How can you not be excited for that?

This omnibus edition contains volumes 28 to 30 which are the first three volumes of Part Two of the entire series. With these volumes Masashi Kishimoto gives himself the task of reintroducing familiar characters after a two and a half years jump forward in time. I really enjoyed these first few chapters. Seeing all these familiar faces and finding new elements added to their character such as slightly different personalities and clothing. It seemed a little odd to feel as though I’m supposed to be pleased and surprised by meeting several characters again. In reality that’s the effect good storytelling has on readers. I care for these characters and it’s great to see them grow and change. I really like that Kishimoto wrote an interlude focusing on a young Kakashi in volume 27 because it contributes to the feeling that time has passed since we last saw Naruto and the rest of the cast.

Naruto 3-in-1: volumes 25-26-27 review (Unread 002)

Naruto 3-in-1 volume 9 is a collection of the individual volumes 25, 26, and 27. The first volume collected in this edition deals with a subject that Naruto fans have been waiting for since the very first volume of the series. It’s the climactic battle between Naruto and Sasuke, his biggest rival. It’s a climactic battle because these events wrap up Part One of the series. While that wasn’t obvious to fans who original read it, it’s made very clear in hindsight. It doesn’t really matter because the hook here is simply reading about a no-holds-barred fight between two powerful and promising ninjas of Konoha, the Land of Fire. More specifically, this is a chance to see Naruto and Sasuke’s respective special abilities measured up and potentially put an end to fan debates that have existed since the beginning of the series: who is the strongest shinobi?

The battle takes up all of volumes 25 and 26. For better or worse, it’s made up of as many fight scenes as there are flashbacks. I believe it’s for the best as the flashbacks simultaneously develop Sasuke’s past, specifically his childhood while also providing additional information regarding Sasuke’s brother, Itachi, and the Uchiha clan. As one of the more mysterious figures at this point in the series, these flashbacks are welcomed and make for a good read.

Azumanga Daioh Omnibus review

I’ve read two series by mangaka Kiyohiko Azuma and unsurprisingly it’s his two most popular series: Azumanga Daioh and Yotsuba&!. I have no recollection as to why I picked up the omnibus edition of Azumanga Daioh as I don’t think I knew of Azuma before I made the purchase. Likewise, I only bought the first volume of Yotsuba&! after finishing Azumanga Daioh. Really though, none of that matters because I’m glad I discovered Azuma and his work. He is, quite clearly, one of the funniest comics creators working today and nobody does slice of life storytelling quite as exiting, refreshing and insightful. The most enjoyable thing about his manga is that he doesn’t take slice of life as meaning introspective or melodramatic manga. He conveys a wide range of emotion but never strays too far from humorous elements. It’s excellent, accessible humour that deals with a wide range of subjects, yet it all feels so effortless. I would be surprised that there aren’t more people doing this kind of work until I realized that it must be rather challenging to make manga so good look so easy.

When it comes to plot, Azumanga Daioh really doesn’t have much going on. That’s fine because it’s not a manga in the same vein of which most comics readers are familiar with. The series is technically yonkoma, a four-panel comic strip. The panels are traditionally the same size and shape and are stacked vertically with the first panel being on top and the final panel being on the bottom. There are two strips per page and like all manga, you read the right strip first before moving on to the left one. Like a lot of Japanese art forms there is a very specific structure to the yonkoma.

It’s interesting to compare Azuma’s four-panel strips to similar comic strips found in North American publications. It’s different from famous strips like Peanuts, Bloom County or Calvin & Hobbes because the effectiveness of some strips depend more heavily upon being read at the same time as other strips taking place before or after them. Certainly the American comic strips also had storylines but the individual strips making up a larger story had to stand on their own as they were originally serialized in daily newspapers. Some of the yonkoma in Azumanga Daioh simply don’t work well as individual strips. After reading several strips it’s not surprising to hear that the manga was originally serialized in a magazine titled Dengeki Daioh where several strips were grouped together to form chapters. Azuma’s name and the title of the magazine also served as the basis for the manga’s title.

Yet the manga strips are also different from serialized adventure comic strips. When it comes to adventure strips there are some which were serialized in Sunday newspapers but others that also ran in daily newspaper. I’m thinking specifically of the latter but unfortunately the only example I can come up with right now is the Star Trek comic strip from the late 70s and early 80s. In Star Trek the story would continue each day in strips made up of (mostly) three panels and with a full page on Sundays. That kind of storytelling is very choppy due to repetitive panels from one day to the next. Azumanga Daioh is quick and punchy but it has more focus on the individual strips because of the goal to make a gag of them. The individual strips don’t concern themselves with advancing the plot. It’s difficult to describe how Azumanga Daioh simultaneously reminds me of gag strips and adventure strips while also being a separate kind of strip altogether.

Azumanga Daioh is as concerned with the structure of each four panel gag as it is about tying those gags into storylines of various lengths. Azuma is actually good at doing both though and the omnibus collects a fair amount of individual gags and gags that depend upon the strips preceding it or following it. I mentioned earlier that plot doesn’t matter much, and it doesn’t. The plot of the entire series is about a group of girls attending their final three years of high school and studying for their college acceptance exams. That’s it but that’s all the series needs because the focus is never really on anything for longer than Azuma needs it to be in order to tell his jokes. In the case of this particular manga, the plot is simply a form of set dressing to allow the presence of specific kind of characters and letting them run wild. The simple structure which is equal parts rigid (the four panel yonkoma) and supple (the story’s high school setting) gives Azuma the freedom to focus on characters and that’s where the manga really succeeds.

Like most successful American comic strips the humour is derived from how well the reader knows the characters. Good characterization acts as a short hand for making jokes. A particular character in one situation is funny while another wouldn’t be. Writers form situations around specific characters and the combination of characters and events (or characters with other characters) result in humorous interactions. Azumanga has five main characters (all students) with three main supporting characters (all teachers). Along with a few more supporting characters and the high school setting, Azuma is able to provide a wide range of different kinds of jokes but based on his characters he also develops some standard strip formats.

Early on there are strips that focus on Yukari-sensei standing before the class in front of the chalkboard. The bottoms of the panels are framed by the students’ heads, shaded. It’s used throughout the entire manga and often to good effect as Yukari seems to speak to herself just as much as she speaks with her students. I particularly like how it makes the reader feel like they’re one of the students sitting in class.

Azuma breaks from the four-panel yonkoma format of the strip on occasion.

There is a short description of the main characters on the back of the omnibus edition that reads as follows:

Sakaki - strong and silent with a soft fuzzy center
Chiyo - a towering intellect wrapped in a ten-year-old package
Tomo - The Mouth
Yomi - should stop eating if she wants to lose weight
Osaka - well, she’s . . . different

At first glance the characters seem one-dimensional and that’s ok because the narrative format is such that simpler is better. Still, the characters are better defined as the manga progresses and soon you know them so well that you can anticipate the kind of strip you’re about to read just by seeing which characters are in it. I particularly enjoy how the girls influence one another. The character interactions are one of the things that make this manga so great. Consider Chiyo, the pre-teen prodigy of the series. She’s easily the smartest of all the students in her class but she is also incredibly caring. When her dimwitted friend Osaka learns the secret to splitting chopsticks without breaking them she appropriates it as her personal good luck routine. While finding this particular behaviour odd Chiyo chooses to split chopsticks when her friends are writing an entrance exam. In fact, she buys disposable chopsticks in bulk and proceeds to split them expertly over and over.

A popular form of humour is observational comedy. There are quite a bit of jokes in this book that make observations on Japanese subject matter. For fans of anime and manga it might be easy to follow the more obscure jokes. For newer fans of manga they’ll get most jokes but they will have difficulty understanding some of the more complicated jokes. It’s not a major criticism of the work since most of the jokes are easily understood because the information necessary for understanding the gag are present in the four panels. Likewise there are certain elements in the humour that transcend different cultures or language barriers. One of the pleasures of reading this book is learning about Japan. As a slice-of-life story there are many elements that seem strange or simply different from what we know but the further you get in the book the more you become familiar with it all. I’ve read a lot of manga but most of it has been science fiction or shounen and so learning about house gifts, kotatsu, watermelon splitting, Osaka humour and American humour has been delightful.  The laugher helps with the learning curve.

Osaka is already not the brightest of people but she's even less aware of her
surroundings when she just waking up. 

It’s always a little tricky to talk about humour comics because you can’t really retell the jokes effectively. Explaining gags takes away what makes them work in the first place. That’s why I chose to focus on the structural elements of the manga as they’ll likely be as new and different to English reading audiences than the content itself. Azumanga Daioh’s strength is its characters. They don’t really change much during the course of the manga but we get to know them so well they really don’t need to do much towards the end to make us smile and laugh. That’s not the say the humour isn’t consistent throughout, it is, but you get to know Tomo and the gang so well you want to spend more time with them. Nearly anybody who picks up this manga will find it delightful as the pages are just filled with laughs it’s impossible not to enjoy yourself. With all four volumes collected into one omnibus edition, including insightful translation notes, it’s a bargain you can’t pass up. 

Miscellaneous Reviews 12: Dragon Ball Z Viz Big 01 and Skeleton Crew

Dragon Ball Z Viz Big volume 1 by Akira Toriyama:

I was introduced to Dragon Ball Z before ever being aware of Dragon Ball. Nowadays I consider both series to be one long series as it originally way in Japan. The popular series by creator Akira Toriyama was split into two different series in North America. The first series chronicles Goku’s childhood and rise to becoming the most powerful fighter on the planet. The second series tells of Goku’s ever-increasing strength caused by the necessity of regularly saving his adopted home planet of Earth and sometimes the entire universe. I suspect that even if the series had not been split in two we would still consider these volumes of Dragon Ball Z (volumes 1, 2 and 3 collected together in this edition) as a clear departure from the earlier Dragon Ball volumes.

At this point in the series the story has pulled away from the collection of Dragon Balls which was more of an adventure story with a focus on martial arts. The whole thing was also a vehicle for Toriyama’s sense of humour which dominated his first manga series, Dr. Slump. Dragon Ball Z focused much more on the fighting component and saw characters becoming increasingly, even ridiculously powerful during its publication. Even in the first volume you notice that loveable characters from Goku’s younger years will be playing a much smaller role during his years as Earth’s champion simply because they’re not strong enough to fight along with him against their new enemies. They still maintain a key role in the series but it’s mostly to provide additional character interactions, character development, and comic relief.

The most noteworthy change though is that Toriyama provides one of the most incredible retcon, or retroactive continuity, that I can remember so clearly. He did a radical change in Goku’s backstory by making him an alien. We learn that he’s native of planet Vegeta and he’s a Saiyan, a race of bloodthirsty warriors who completely eradicate planets of their sentient life forms in order to sell off the planets to rich clients. This is where the series attains its vast scope; from now on the outcome of Goku and the Z-Fighters battles will have consequences on the intergalactic scale. There are a few other retcons aside from Goku’s heritage but they all fall under the same category of the story’s overall expansion. We learn that the Demon King Piccolo and his god-like counterpart Kami are not mythological or supernatural beings, they too are aliens. Namekians, to be precise. In Dragon Ball Kami was thought to be one of the higher rankings of celestial officials but we quickly learn that there are other guardians above him with the introduction of King Kay who watches over the north quadrant of the galaxy.

The first three volumes of Dragon Ball Z are very impressive. Toriyama manages to completely change his story from an adventure, quest and coming of age story to a grand scale fighting extravaganza on the intergalactic level. The most impressive thing about this change in direction is that he did it without losing the main elements of the 16 volumes that preceded the arrival of Saiyans on Earth. Indeed, many of the characters from Dragon Ball will be present until the very last chapters of Dragon Ball Z. It’s all very different but also quite familiar, allowing fans of young Goku to join up with new fans of adult Goku in enjoying one of the most popular and loved action manga of all time.

Skeleton Crew by Stephen King:

In an effort to get over my unfounded prejudice against Stephen King and his massive body of work, I’m been sampling some of his books. Even though this is my second attempt to read Skeleton Crew the results have been pretty positive so far. The first time I read this collection of short stories and one novella, I couldn’t get past “The Monkey”. I really enjoyed “The Mist”, so much in fact that I wrote a review of just that story, but everything I read after it didn’t work for me. I wasn’t entirely surprised by this since I’ve found that collections of stories tend to vary greatly in quality and this is true of Skeleton Crew. Some stories were simply bad while other’s had a tone or style that didn’t particularly grab me. That’s not to say there aren’t any good stories. There are but I’m not able to recommended Skeleton Crew in its entirety. Instead, I would recommend the stories I think are the best or at least the most interesting thing and then let the reader decide if they’d like to read the rest. Here are a few quick thoughts on the stories I liked the most.

                                                                                                                                        

"The Mist"

Similarly to ‘Salem’s Lot what makes this story shine is the villagers and how they interact. The core of the story is surviving an invasion on inter-dimensional monsters but the monsters aren’t the focus of the story. It’s a character piece at heart and at just over a 100 pages it pretty powerfully condensed.

"Mrs. Todd's Shortcut"

This is a fun story that also deals with other dimensions. One woman’s passion for finding shortcuts leads her to speeding down roads that few or none others have travelled down before. It has a build but the entire thing is just off kilter enough to work well, even if you know how the story will end by the time you reach the halfway point. I’d like to read more stories like these. There is a definitive supernatural bent but there’s not real horror in sight.

"The Jaunt"

“The Jaunt”, is another story that can’t be described simply as horror though there is a clear horror element to it. It’s one of King’s few (so I’m told) science fiction stories. A father tells his family of the history of Jaunting, a form of teleportation that has been popularized in the future. During the telling he struggles to provide a complete narrative while also hiding some of the more unpleasant truths about Jaunting. He fails by leaving his listeners more curious than informed and the consequence is unsettling.

"The Raft"

This is probably the purest dose of horror in this collection. It’s incredibly straightforward but that simplicity helps it work. Four students go swimming out to the raft in the middle of a lake at midnight. It’s their last time swimming before the raft gets put away for the winter. They’re met by a dark oil slick on the surface of the water which proceeds to terrorize and attack them. It’s a chilling and gory story that completely captivated me. It’s probably the story that engaged me the most from all the other stories in Skeleton Crew.

"The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands"

I like this story more for the bookends than the story of the title. Again, it’s a story told within a story. King creates a gentlemen’s club with a never-aging butler and patrons that all seem to have dark secrets. The telling of “The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands” is one of those secret stories. While anybody with a bit of imagination can figure out why he doesn’t shake hands, the atmospheric tone of the storytelling made it a worthwhile read for me.

"Beachworld"

I found King’s second science fiction story in Skeleton Crew to be a disappointment but it was a good disappointing story. The story is too simple and even though I’ve only read a very small amount of stories by King, it has a pretty common structure amongst his work. Characters come face to face with an incarnation of evil, in this case a desert planet that appears to be sentient, and one of them stares into the abyss and is unable to look away, resulting in his destruction. It’s the one story I would have liked to see further developed as it could have been better or at least more interesting than how it is now.

"Survivor Type"

A man finds himself the lone survivor of a sunken cruise ship. He’s on an island with no food and a large amount of heroin. The story is told through his diary entries which become increasingly disjointed and strange as he slips into insanity. The best thing about this story is that King takes it to its natural conclusion and I appreciated that.

King’s ideas for short stories are generally pretty straight forward with the occasional twist ending. The problem with that is he takes time with his stories. He doesn’t rush to the end and he doesn’t drop the entire idea on the reader in just a few pages. This has the unfortunate consequence of making quite a few stories in this book slow to read and difficult to get through, not because of their difficulty but because it doesn’t successfully engage the reader. On the other hand, his better stories are a delight to read. Even some of the longer ones or those that have a simple idea that doesn’t hide away from the reader or is revealed in a twist ending. Reading “Mrs. Todd’s Shortcut” it was clear that she would find a shortcut but what wasn’t obvious is the nature of that shortcut. Add to that a good style and an enjoyable pace and the result is one of the better stories. Likewise, “Survivor Type” and “The Raft” are very simple stories but King’s commitment to taking the story to their just conclusion is what makes them compulsively readable and enjoyable (well, a specific kind of enjoyable – they are pretty gruesome) stories.

                                                             

Miscellaneous Reviews 05: Dr. Slump vol. 18 and Maria M. Book One

Dr. Slump volume 18:

This is the final volume of Dr. Slump. I have to say, it’s a bitter sweet moment. I’m glad that the series is ending because there is no way to make an open ended humour series work. It will eventually grow stale and if I’m being perfectly honest with myself and with Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dr. Slump and Dragon Ball, some of the stories in the later volumes demonstrated that things had indeed started to slow down. Part of this could be that while ending Dr. Slump, Toriyama was also working on the early chapters of Dragon Ball which as well all know became and international phenomenon. Maybe he was getting a bit distracted by his new series. It’s not surprising to thing that after four years of non-stop hilarity in Penguin Village, a new series with new characters and a different setting would have its appeal. Why wouldn’t Toriyama want to focus on a different project? I’m not saying this to complain or to rationalize a depressive decrease in quality in the 18^th volume of Dr. Slump. The opposite is closer to the truth.

It’s impressive that Toriyama still manages to write funny stories about the townspeople who live in Penguin Village. If there’s one thing you need to understand about Dr. Slump is that there is a rotating cast of villagers that regularly pop up in stories. Some only appear one or just a handful of times but others appear at least once or twice a volume. Even after 18 volumes Toriyama is still creating new characters. The most notable in this volume is Biker Boy which should come at no real surprise considering the focus of this volume. Toriyama didn’t shy away from infusing Dr. Slump with his hobbies and all the other things he enjoys in life. Toriyama loves science fiction movies, building models, motorized vehicles and animals. He didn’t just incorporate this in the bonus feature pages in-between the chapters in the collections, he also incorporate these elements to the title pages and the stories themselves.

If there is one predominant theme to the final volume it’s advertising his new series, Dragon Ball. Seriously, if you haven’t read it, go out and buy a copy. It’s great stuff! I actually enjoy Dr. Slump far more than I ever liked Dragon Ball (and I really like it!). It’s one of the most overlooked manga series I know of. Sorry, I lost focus there. If there is one predominant theme to this volume its setting up stories in which Toriyama gets to draw vehicles of all sorts but specifically motorcycles. The standout new character of this volume is Biker Boy. A boy who has a rare and complicated (and entirely real) disease: he will die if he is not riding his motorcycle. He lives his life riding around the island never stopping for anything. A truck has to drive next to him so he can refill. He radios his favourite food truck to toss food at him while he drives by. Biker Boy’s condition is so serious he can’t even stop to use the bathroom. He wears a biking suit which is cut out at the back allowing him to poo in a special compartment of his bike which then flings it out onto the side of the road. This solves one of the great mysteries of Dr. Slump: just where do all the little piles of poo come from? Now we know where Arale finds it all. Thanks Toriyama, fans around the world also thank you for finally revealing the greatest secret in all of manga history.

Maria M. Book One review:

Gilbert Hernandez is a genius. He’s been hard at work on one of the best long form comic works of all time. Along with his brothers, Jaime and Mario, they’ve been regularly releasing Love and Rockets for over thirty years. Gilbert been pushing his work and bringing it to very interesting places since the Luba in America stories have been published. The most notable of these comics is the “Fritz B-movie” sub-series. Half-sister of Luba, Rosalba “Fritz” Martinez gave up her job as a psychotherapist to take up acting and Maria M. is her long lost masterpiece.

All of the Fritz B-movies are low-grade sexploitation films taking advantage of and displaying her unique physique. Maria M. is based on a true story and it has Fritz playing her own mother. The true story on which this “movie” is based is Gilbert’s incredibly dense Poison River, a huge and complex comic book opus. Already without looking at the story itself, Maria M. is a complex work simply based on its origins, both metatextual and real. The story though is pretty impressive for a 135 page comic that averages four panels per page. Maria Martinez has recently arrived in America (having run away from her home country in South America after an affair with her father’s gardener which resulted in the birth of her first daughter, Luba – that is if my memory serves me well, I haven’t read Poison River in quite some time). She finds a few “modelling” jobs and finally gets a few acting jobs as well. An influential gangster helps to produce one of those films, falls in love and marries Maria. The inconsistencies, or specifically, the artistic liberties being taken by Beto (a widely used nickname for Hernandez) with one of his previous stories is fascinating. In part because of how it contrasts with the earlier story and also on how it reflects more of Fritz’s character than it does on her mother. That makes sense of course since she’s had her story told in Poison River. But details such as Maria’s husband actually loving her or Gorgo having a brother and being Maria’s step-son bodyguard all feel kind of off but it makes for an engrossing read due to the depth of meaning these seemingly minor changes could have on the larger story of Fritz found in Beto’s work.

The Fritz B-movies has varied in complexity and quality but this latest one is pretty damn good. I feel like I’m missing some of the nuances the comic has to offer because it’s been such a long time since I’ve read the stories in my hardcover collection of Luba as well as Poison River that I’m certain I’m missing quite a bit. This comic, like most of the Fritz B-movies can only truly be appreciated by fans of Beto’s previous work. Still, I’m convinced Maria M. is a very good read because it’s a fast paced, haphardously paced crime comic. There is sex and violence to be found on nearly every page and the paranoia filled lives of Senor Cienfuegos (Maria’s husband), Gorgo and even Maria herself will delight even the most biased and critical fans of crime comics. I can’t believe Beto and Fantagraphics decided to split this story in two because the wait might just make me lose my mind but I shouldn’t complain too much since it gives me time to revisit earlier stories with Fritz and refresh my memory on just how big an impact making this movie had on her as well as her family. 

Naruto 3-in-1: volumes 19-20-21 review

Naruto 3-in-1 volume 7 is an omnibus edition of the original volumes 19, 20 and 21. Like all of the previous Naruto omnibus editions, this volume collects a very nice selection of stories. Each volume tells its own story while also serving as satisfying continuation of the series. Volume 19 is the direct continuation of the previous volume’s story. Naruto and Jiraiya have just found Tsunade, another of the Three Legendary Shinobi, and they are trying to convince her to accept the position as the Fifth Hokage of Konohagakure village.  Orochimaru and Kabuto are also after Tsunade but their goal is to have her heal Orochimaru’s arms that he can continue with his plot to acquire the Sharingan and destroy Konohagakure.  The whole volume is an extended fight sequence and as exciting as it is to have the Three Legendary Shinobi fight, it was a bit of a disappointing fight. Part of it had to do with the fact that all three were incapacitated in some way. Orochimaru is unable to use his arms since his fight with the Third Hokage. Tsunade is emotionally crippled as she is struggling between her responsibilities as a Konoha ninja and her more selfish goals. Jiraiya, well, he got poisoned by Tsunade in an earlier story. The other reason the fight was a disappointment had to do with the type of fighting. All three used summoning jutsu and the whole fight escalates in scale and it actually becomes less interesting sine the summoned animals (toad, slug and snake) do much of the fighting. Still, it’s not all bad. We get to see some interesting fighting combinations like Gamabunta (the chief toad) spitting out oil and Jiraiya igniting it with a flame ball. It’s also nice to see Kabuto and Tsunade using their medical jutsu to fight.

Volume 20 served as a nice change of pace. It’s breather volume, taking place between a story arc that just finished an another one that is about to begin. Masashi Kishimoto takes the time to catch up on a few of the other characters and develop them further. He spends time shedding new light on Naruto and Sasuke’s mutual friendship and rivalry. He also spends some time on Rock Lee. Lee is still recovering from the injuries he suffered while fighting Gaara in the Chûnin exam. I have to admit I’ve always been a little disturbed by Guy’s teaching techniques. It’s like brainwashing to a degree. Lee is limited in what he can do. He’s only able to do one of the three main types of justsu. Guy acts as if that’s not a handicap at all but it is. He convinces Lee that even without special abilities he’s able to achieve the same heights in fighting abilities as all of the other genin (low-level ninja). Part of Guy’s teachings are true, Lee can still become a great ninja, but what I don’t like about Guy’s message is that he doesn’t seem to acknowledge that everything Lee will achieve will come at a high price. We witnessed Lee’s incredible taijutsu (physical techniques) during his fight we Gaara but it has left him nearly crippled. It’s nice to get to catch up on all the younger ninjas as the series has had some really hectic plot developments and it elevated the series to a whole new level of action and story but a little breather from time to time is nice.

The final volume of this collection, volume 21, is the beginning of a new arc. After being healed by Tsunade and recognizing Naruto’s impressive growth, Sasuke feels like he hasn’t progressed as a ninja as well as he should have. He’s recently been spurred to achieve greater strength following an encounter with his brother, the man on how he will like to get his revenger for annihilating the Uchiha clan. Sasuke departs to join Orochimaru to become stronger. This leads to Tsunade sending out Shikamaru on a mission to bring Sasuke back to Konohagakure. Shikamaru has always been one of my favourite characters in Naruto. I think it’s great that we get to see him actually lead a team. That’s what he is really good at as opposed to one-on-one fighting. He’s a good fighter but being a ninja is more than just being a strong fighter. Giving Shikamaru this mission and having us follow him on it gives the reader a slightly different look at the world of Naruto, a world in which countries military is made up of ninjas. I was pretty excited about this story arc when I first read it and I’m excited about it now, too. Even though Sasuke isn’t one of my favourite characters (he’s too much of a brooder and feels much too sorry for himself) it’s nice to see him get into action. He’s been moping a lot for several volumes now and if he’s serious about getting stronger, he’s got to go out and do something about it. I don’t think he’s going about it the right way but that’s what makes the story interesting. I’m also excited about this arc because we’ll be seeing some of the Genins in action; some in particular we haven’t really seen do much before. 

 

All three volumes collected in this omnibus edition are a tad underwhelming compared to the crazy volumes that preceded it. The series really came into its own as of the 5^th volume, the start of the Chûnin exam. It continued to reach new heights with the end of the exam and Orochimaru’s attack on the village in volume 13. It’s only natural that things started to come down a bit in order to recoup and prepare for the next big storyline. Naruto is also a series that has tons of regular and recurring characters. Kishimoto has regularly been introducing characters since the first volume but in volume 20, he gave the readers the time to catch up with a few characters before starting the next art and though it wasn’t as exciting as some of the stories, I appreciated the change to catch up. The Sasuke Retrieval Team is made up in part of some ninjas we haven’t spent a whole lot of time with before and the spotlight chapters on Choji and his battles (one inner and exterior) for his self-confidence was a rather nice way to start off the new arc. It’s unnecessary to say, but I’m really looking forward to the next 3-in-1 omnibus!

Naruto 3-in-1: volumes 16-17-18 review

Naruto is one of my favourite manga series of all times. It’s also one of the first manga I’ve ever read. It all started when I was in grade 7 or 8, when Shonen Jump was first published here in Canada. I had a friend who would buy every single issue and because he was a kind and generous person he lent it to me every single time. He would read it first and because he knew I wanted to read it after him, he would hurry up and read it as fast as he could which was a big deal because he read slowly. I love all of the series in the first couple of years of Shonen Jump except for Yu-Gi-Oh!.

When I move out of my home town I kept on reading Naruto because I love nearly everything about it. In the last couple of years Viz has been publishing 3-in-1 omnibus editions of popular manga series that have several dozens of volumes. I’ve been collection One Piece and Naruto. I’ve also been interesting in picking up Full Metal Alchemist as I really liked the first anime but I’ll wait until I’ve finished buying a few other series I’ve got on the go. Before the 3-in-1 publications began appearing in bookstores, I haven’t read Naruto in about three years. It’s been great to be able to revisit the series and fall in love with it all over again.

I haven’t reviewed any of the previous 3-in-1 volumes and but I might at a later date. Right now I just want to talk about the greatness to be found in volumes 16, 17 and 18. I find that long shonen series have a cyclical nature to them. Single issues or chapters build saga or story arcs which make up the huge story of the entire series. The story arcs in Naruto aren’t as clearly defined as they are in other series (Dragon Ball or One Piece are good examples) but it’s still part of the overall structure of the series. Because of the differences in style and narrative technique between comics and manga, I generally consider manga to be a quicker read than comics. The storytelling, the art style and the publication format all seem to indicate that. Contrary to my dislike of excessive decompression in comic book, I do not feel the same way towards manga which regularly uses decompression, particularly shonen manga. I find manga can sometimes be disappointing to read if you’re reading in the monthly format or the collections. The monthly format of Shonen Jump just doesn’t have enough content to truly satisfy and stories can take forever to come to a conclusion. I remember being surprised by the small number of chapters it took to tell the story of Buggy the Clown and the cat pirate captain in One Piece. It felt like they took forever when I first read them in Shonen Jump. Reading shonen manga in volume can also be frustrating when you’re waiting months for the next volume to be published (I’m thinking of you 20th Century Boys) but that doesn’t really matter if you have several volumes and you’re reading them all at the same time but eventually, you will be all caught up.

Reading the stories in the 3-in-1 editions isn’t nearly as frustrating. For one, I’ve already read all of these Naruto stories so I know what’s coming up. It’s also nice because of the amount of story you’re getting in one chunk. The 3-in-1 editions come in at 500 to 600 pages. Depending on the pace of the stories, a single omnibus edition can contain most or all of a story arc. With the sixth omnibus edition, containing volumes 16, 17 and 18, Masashi Kishimoto ends the storyline from the previous volumes, setups the plot for future stories while telling an epilogue and preparing the groundwork for the next story arc. The stories of volume 18 are the first chapters from the next storyline. For a bit of perspective, volume 16 ends the attack on Konoha, has parts of the aftermath, includes Kakashi’s decisions on Naruto and Sasuke’s training and introduces the Akatsuki. Volume 17 is the transition volume. It includes the continuation of Jiraiya’s training with Naruto, the continuing story of Orochimaru and the beginning of the search for Tsunade. The last volume, volume 18, includes the meeting of the Three Legendary Shinobi thus really kicking off the next storyline and it also includes more of Naruto’s training. That’s a lot of story!

I love the Three Legendary Shinobi because it adds so much depth and history to the world of Naruto. I also really love the parallels between the multiple generations of ninjas of Konoha village. Kishimoto does an excellent job of using his flashbacks to add depth to characters and story. The sheer amount of story included in this omnibus is just one of the many reason to love it. The story is supported by great action and the art which has changed a bit since the series began is still very, very good. The amount of detail that goes into the series is great and it’s one of the series strength that the action, characters and backgrounds are clear and easy to read despite the detail and the black and white art. If you’ve been avoiding these omnibus editions, you should really give them a look. The two series I collect have more than convinced me this is the way to read long running shonen series.

Miscellaneous reviews 03

Dr. Slump volume 9 by Akira Toriyama:

Akira Toriyama’s first weekly manga series, Dr. Slump, is an excellent read. It’s one of the funniest things I’ve ever read. Toriyama has a combination of intelligent, crass and simply stupid jokes. Each chapter is a barrage of various different types of jokes that incessantly pummel the reader. It all sound violent but trust me, it’s an excellent read. Arale is one of the cutest robots in the history of the medium.

I missed volume 9 when I was first buying the volume. I have most of the series and volume 9 was one of the two gaps I had in my collection. I was upset to have missed it because Dr. Senbei Norimaki and Ms. Midori Yamabuki get married. The weeding is followed by romping multi-part honeymoon. It was great to read about the wedding and honeymoon because I was wondering how the whole thing happened. Needless to say, Toriyama did not disappoint. I was a little weird to read one of the volumes at the half way mark because there was a surprising amount of differences from earlier stories. Someday I plan on writing a longer post about why this is one the most hilarious comics ever published. Each volume has special feature pages and this volume is no different. Half of the pages are slice of life type newspaper articles making fun of Toriyama. The rest are short, one page comics about the creation of some of the main characters. Dr. Slump is always an absolute joy to read I wouldn’t trust anybody who tells you they don’t enjoy it. They’re lying to you.

Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany:

I really enjoyed Babel-17. It’s the first novel by Samuel R. Delany that I’ve ever read. I’ve been interested in reading some of his books as he sounds like a tremendous influence in the field of science fiction and fantasy. There were several of his novels at a used book store near home so I decided to pick up a few. I wasn’t sure where to start so I picked the book with the cover I enjoyed the most. It was a quick read but one that provided me with a few hours of enjoyment while reading and several more afterword. There is a lot to think about long after you put down the book.

The book deals with linguistic relativity (also known as the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis) or how language affects your understanding of the world. Some people believe that your ability to communicate something in directly linked to your understanding of it. Rydra Wong, a renowned poet, is asked to decode Babel-17, a code which is being used to orchestrate strategic military attacks. It turns out that Babel-17 is not a code but a highly advances language from the depth a space. As Rydra learns the language her perception and understanding of the world around her radically changes.

I read an interview in which Delany mentions how he discovered the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis a few years after writing Babel-17 which completely disproved the theory in his opinion. Delany thought of about linguistic relativity without being able to label it with specific words. I enjoyed Delany’s style. It was poetic and managed to starkly describe the world in which the characters exist while also portraying the beauty of things. There are also neat ideas about the future like the extensive use of “cosmetisurgery” that not only modify the appearance of individuals but can also give enhanced abilities. It’s also rather funny at times. I particularly enjoyed how one of the characters references James Bond as being a real person. I enjoyed Babel-17 and I understand why it’s regularly considered a classic science-fiction novel. I’ve not entirely made up my mind on Delany but I know for certain that I’ll be reading more of his books because I’ve rather enjoyed this one.

Jack Kirby’s Fourth World Omnibus volume 2:

Jack Kirby continues his opus in the second collection of all the Fourth World stories, Superman’s Pal: Jimmy Olsen, Forever People, New Gods and Mister Miracle. I think it’s great that the titles are organized chronologically in theses collections. It’s not all great though because there is a downside. Walter Simonson mentions the incredible momentum that Kirby was building with four titles coming out on bi-monthly schedules. I don’t see it. I don’t feel it, either. Most of these title have a momentum building up within their own pages but skipping from one title to another nullifies that feeling of momentum and growth in the story. It’s as if the story is too big and it’s taking an unnecessarily long time to really get going. I guess what I’m trying to say is that the omnibus collection and therefore the entire Fourth World saga feels unfocussed and unnecessarily bloated.

Two volumes in and I find it very difficult to enjoy any of the Jimmy Olsen issues. Unless something happens in that title in later volumes, I think it could have been completely cut out from the Fourth World story. I wish I didn’t have to say that, but it’s true. But, for every issue of Jimmy Olsen I get one issue New Gods and another of Mister Miracle which are just superb. I absolutely adore both of those two titles. Kirby’s crazy ideas are at their finest in those two titles and his art is spectacular. Mister Miracle because much more interesting than it was in the first volume with the introduction of Big Barda, it’s hard to believe, I know, but she’s a great character. Forever People also continues to be good. It’s much better than Jimmy Olsen but there is something holding it back from being as good as New Gods or Mister Miracle. Either way, these are great comics from the 70s and I’ll definitively enjoy revisiting this once I’m done the series. I might end up skimming through the Jimmy Olsen issues though. Especially those Don Rickles co-star issues.

Sand Land by Akira Toriyama review

Akira Toriyama is one of my favourite manga creators and he’s also one of the first mangaka whose work ever caught my eye. As a child who grew up in the nineties, Dragon Ball Z has been on television for as long as I can remember. To this day I’m still a big fan of Dragon Ball. In recent years I’ve also been collecting Toriyama’s first ongoing series, the hilarious Dr. Slump. I love his body of work for various reasons from his excellent character designs, his excellent grasp of anatomy to his choreography of hand to hand combat and the combination of dumb and intelligent humour. Rereading Sand Land several years after I first read it in the pages of Shonen Jump was a real treat. At the time I had somewhat dismissed Sand Land as that “other comic” Toriyama wrote and drew but it’s clear to me now that it’s a modern classic manga in a single volume.

Sand Land is one of Toriyama’s works from the later part of his career. After completing Dragon Ball in the mid-nineties, Toriyama wisely chose to never create such a long series. Sand Land was supposed to be a short work about a man and a tank and the whole thing is only one volume long. Even then you get the feeling it went on longer than Toriyama was expecting. It was published in Japan in 2000 and it was first published in English in issues #1-11 of Shonen Jump. The story is rather simple, in a post-apocalyptic desert land, an old Sheriff and a couple of demons go on a journey to find the mysterious Phantom Lake. Along the way they meet various strange characters and a couple of monsters all the while uncovering the dark secrets of the King’s Army and the war that took place 30 years earlier.

There isn’t an enormous amount of depth but the story is entertaining and it moves at a breakneck pace. Yet, it’s not a quick read it just that so many things happen every chapter. There are demons stealing water from cargo trucks, monster chases through the desert, driving lessons, fights with crooks, tank battles, plenty of hand to hand combat, a couple military conspiracy and that’s only about half of the content of the manga! So there’s not a lot of depth because the focus is to write and draw a fun manga and hope the reader has fun too. That’s exactly what Toriyama achieves.

It’s not all fun in the sun and desert hijinks though. There are some environmental and social-economic concerns in there too for readers who need a bit food for thought with their entertainment. General Zeu’s use of the King vas a puppet leader to create a monopoly on the water of Sand Land is a pretty dark and surprisingly contemporary socio-economic issue. At first I was a bit disappointed that the villainous General Zeu didn’t appear to have any further motivation for his actions than wanting to amass power and money. That’s it for his motivation, actually. It works, though. That’s the driving factor for some of most of the corrupt military and political leaders of modern times. Greed is the driving factor that contributes directly to the suffering of hundreds of millions every year. Sheriff Roa, Thief and Prince Beelzebub are putting their foot down and choosing to end the needless suffering of the people of Sand Land.

Clean water should not be a luxury. It’s a foundational pillar of life and should be shared amongst all living creatures, be they man, animal or demon. It’s interesting that Toriyama makes Zeu a cyborg. He’s equal parts man and machine. By pursuing his greedy aim his body has decayed to the point where he needed to attach cybernetics to maintain his health. His need for water is presumably less important to him individually than it is for the average human. It’s grim that he’s the sole possessor of the Land’s water supply. His continued persecution of the people has nothing to do with his need for water but for his illusionary need for increased wealth.

The art here is some of Toriyama’s best. In his short introduction to this volume he states that he thinks his drawings of the tank are less than satisfactory which is completely inaccurate. It’s very well drawn from its first appearance to its last. He draws the exterior as well as the interior with great attention to detail. He draws several other motorized vehicles, some real and some imaginary. His character work, as always, is great. His villains look like villains and his heroes are tough but fair. Beelzebub and the Sheriff look great. I would really like to see more of their adventures.

Sand Land wasn’t a quick read but it was a light read. The book feels dense even though there isn’t an overabundance of story but there are a lot of plot points, nearly each chapter feels like a story unto itself. It all keeps the story rolling along but it also makes you feel as though it was money well spent. It was to see a storytelling master at work. Sand Land could be dismiss as just another fun adventure manga with demons, tanks and an old secretive Sherriff but to dismiss it as such is to entirely miss the point. The entire point is to have fun but there is a more depth to the work for those who wish to pay attention to it. Sand Land allows for a more engaged reading experience. Viz Media gave the collected volume an “A for All Ages” rating and that’s spot on because Sand Land works well on so many different levels. Truly a manga for the whole family.

7 Billion Needles volumes 3 & 4 review

Volume 3:
The third volume of Nabuaki Tadano’s science fiction manga based on “Needle” by Hal Clement mixes elements Tadano previously established in the previous volume with some strange new things and dials it up to eleven. Hikaru continues to make friends and spending time with them is beginning to really affect them in special ways. The introduction of an evolutionary sub-species and a new alien contribute to keeping the chaos that erupts in this volume. If you were concerned about the lack of action in the series thus far, no worries, Tadano brings his A game.

Evolution becomes increasingly important as the series goes on. Earth is ready for a macro evolution and the arrival of Horizon and Maelstrom seems to have triggered that. There are more aliens present other than Horizon and Maelstrom. All these events are starting to converge and 7 Billion Needles volume three is an erratic and sporadic read. Tadano’s storytelling abilities ensure that it never feels chaotic. I'm frankly surprised at how much story is contained between both covers of volume three. It's not so much that the comic is dense, the pace of this volume is quicker than the first two, but so many events happen. There are a lot of storytelling beats, and Tadano pummels the reader with them with increasing speed. Volume three is a barrage of science fiction ideas, art and action. It’s a sheer delight after the relatively slow burn of the first two volumes. 

Despite the advancements and new complexities of the story, it feels quite natural. It's a progression of what came before. The biggest surprise in volume three is the shift of tone. It resembles something more akin to shonen or your adult action manga but there is an adult sensibility that adds a lot of depth. The story feels unique though. The tone is closer to shonen by the story is uniquely its own. And this new tone would not be as engaging and quite simply so good if it wasn't for the building blocks Tadano put in the first two volumes. That's also what prevents the reader from being lost in the multitude of events that transpire in this penultimate volume.


Volume 4:
I wasn’t as surprised as I was pleased that Tadano sticks the landing in this final volume. He’s clearly demonstrated that he’s an excellent storyteller. Still, it’s very nice to have that confirm with an ending that feels like it belongs with the rest of the story. There is no copout here. It’s emotionally satisfying and that’s what we really needed for this to work. It would not have been enough for Tadano to give us 150 pages of non-stop action in a battle to save the planet if there wasn’t also some emotional depth. Such a big part, and I believe the essential part, of the manga so far has been Hikaru’s personal growth and the growth of a few other characters. Even Horizon and Maelstrom mature and change throughout the story.

 

In short, all of 7 Billion Needles's themes crystallize in volume four. Tadano wraps everything up. There weren't a lot of questions being answered in the series so far but volume four answers most of the questions. I don't want to go into any further detail because this manga volume should be experienced firsthand. 

To Tadano’s credit, he’s made me want to go and find a copy of Hal Clement’s book Needle. I want to see how many of the themes found in 7 Billion Needles were also in Clement’s story. I have a feeling that the psyche of individuals who lived during the Cold War has been transported and redefined in modern terms. Characters in 7 Billion Needles make a big deal out of being alone or not alone. To Chika, it’s so important not to be alone that she makes an attempt of absorbing every living thing into one huge entity. In the first volume it was incredibly important for Hikaru to be alone. Her isolation was so important to her it made everything else look unimportant and unworthy of her attention. There’s a fight for individuality in opposition to a fight for a society that conforms to strict standards and practices. The last two volumes bring forward themes that weren’t present in the first two that remind me of Rick Veitch’s masterful The One comic.

I’m not sure I entirely understand this feeling of wanting to be isolated but that’s ok because a story that acts as a precursor to 7 Billion Needles is included in the final volume. “Hikikomori Headphone Girl” is a short story about an experimental treatment to Hikikomori. For those who have never heard of Hikikomori (this was my first time) it’s a phenomenon that, in short, can be described as an acute form of social withdrawal that affects a surprisingly large number of Japanese teens and young adults. It’s thought by some that this isn’t the cause of other psychological problems, but can nonetheless result from one. It’s pretty complicated and something that’s widely discussed in Japan. If anything else, the inclusion of “Hikikomori Headphone Girl” helps me to understand and sympathize with the Hikaru we encounter in volume 1. It also makes the four volumes of 7 Billion Needles a complete collection that begs, and deserves, to have a place on your shelf next to you favourite science fiction stories.

7 Billion Needles volumes 1 & 2 review

7 Billion Needles is a four volume science fiction manga series written and drawn by Nabuaki Tadano. This is his manga debut and it is based on the science fiction story “Needle” by Hal Clement. It’s an impressive debut for Tadano and his art was well utilized in the design of the covers for the four volumes. That’s initially what caught my eye and sparked my interest in this short (by manga standards) story. They did exactly what cover art is supposed to do, it grabbed my attention. I really like that the designer kept the original Japanese lettering in the speech bubbles.

Volume 1:
While on a school trip near the ocean, loner Hikaru, undergoes a transformative event when she encounters an alien life form recently arrived on earth. Before she can even make a guess as to what’s happening, she’s atomized and reconstructed by the alien entity. She remembered nothing of the even and the story quickly cuts to the present day. She’s going about her daily life as if nothing has changed until sometime later when the alien in question reveals itself to her by speaking to her telepathically.

Hikaru is incredibly chocked by this discovery. She’s a social outcast by choice, walking around with her music playing on her headphones in order to block out the world around her. She’s this way because of a personal tragedy. I almost missed this reason for her behavior while reading the first volume and it’s a key element to understanding Hikaru’s character. It helps you to understand and sympathize with her. She’s distant because of the death of her father she’s been this way for years. This alien, calling itself Horizon, is caught in the middle of an inter-galactic game of cat and mouse and forces Hikaru to join him on his mission while he’s on earth. She doesn’t have much of a choice either. When Horizon reconstructed Hikaru’s body, he did so while fusing himself to her, using Hikaru as a host body.

This book of alien possession or alien cohabitation is not in the traditional vein of shonen manga. The tone is more serious and it doesn’t preoccupy itself with “kewl” powers and overly deconstructed action sequences. The help Hikaru must offer Horizon is rather simple, investigate any strange occurrences in her community to try and discover the whereabouts of the other alien Horizon is tracking. Doing such a thing is a daunting task for Hikaru who has barely socialized in years. She proves to be up to the task however and the courage she demonstrates in the first half of this story, collected in volumes 1 and 2, is that of making friends and talking to others. That might seem like a completely underwhelming, especially for a science fiction manga that features aliens, but Tadano writes with such confidence and respect for characters and story that make 7 Billion Needles a compelling story about personal growth, evolution, and friendship.

The first volume felt a bit cold and distant but it reflected Hikaru’s feeling towards the outside world. She’s very secluded and introverted. She’s forced to cast her shell once she discovers the presence of Horizon but this is a slow process and it’s a bit slow but the first volume does provide plenty of action and a surprising amount of suspense I was a bit underwhelmed when I finished reading the first volume but the story stuck with me. I finished the book in one sitting and couldn’t keep it out of my head. The next morning I brought the second volume with me for my commute to and from work.  

Volume 2:

After Horizon’s face to face confrontation with the other alien, Maelstrom, at the end of the first and the beginning of the second volume, Tadano takes a short break from the science fiction elements and shifts his focus on Hikaru and her past. Again, there is a bit of a slow start but Tadano does most of his storytelling in the first half of the book, leaving the second half free to indulge in the sci-fi elements and the action. By setting the stage in this manner, the writer gives more weight to the action that follows and it’s a good technique, simply one I had to get used to.

Essentially, the second volume confirms that 7 Billion Needles is worth the attention I'm giving it. The first volume was a tried and test science fiction story using new tricks. It was unusual in its execution and surprisingly charming despite the protagonist's aloofness. Tadano also continues to pursue the themes of friendship, personal growth and evolution as well as increasing the tension of the conflict between the two aliens. The volume ends with a spectacular way that doesn't feel cheap. This isn't a twist for the sake of a twist. The revelation feels well deserved and it feels like a natural, if surprising, progression of the events that preceded it.

The art is very pleasant. The characters facial expression and body language is clear. Tadano is as good at drawing charming, quiet and moving pages as he is drawing horrific action that feels visceral and immediate. There is a powerful sense of intimacy to his art that added a lot of weigh to many key scenes in the book. My only criticism is regarding the background and scenery type panels. They’re so incredibly detailed and use a lot of what can only been some sort of computerized technique. They’re nice on their own but when combined with the cleaner, gentler lines used on the characters, it’s jarring. There is a cold and stiff quality to those images and it distracts from the otherwise skilfully rendered characters.

In the second volume, Tadano continues to pursue the themes of friendship, personal growth and evolution as well as increasing the tension of the conflict between the two aliens. The volume ends with a spectacular way that doesn't feel cheap. This isn't a twist for the sake of a twist. The revelation feels well deserved and it feels like a natural, if surprising, progression of the events that preceded it. The first half of 7 Billion Needles is an excellent science fiction story that manages to keep one foot planted in reality which contributes to it being an engaging story. The art is crisp and very detailed, if sometimes a little stiff. Tadano’s debut manga focuses on intelligent storytelling, drama, and conflict instead of shonen style superhuman brawling. This is a manga with heart and an interesting message for 21 century youth. It's also got plasma based aliens and other smart science fiction elements which make for a truly successful story. I look forward to reading the second half.