Monthly Archives: July 2012

Review: Crying Freeman, Vols. 1-5

Posted on by
Reply

If there is one particular thing that Kazuo Koike is known for in the United States, it is most likely his long running samurai historical-action manga Lone Wolf and Cub. Koike has written other manga as well, and all of them are pretty strange. Indeed most of the series he has written are the type of manga you read as a sort of guilty pleasure. Crying Freeman is that kind of title; it stars a ridiculously handsome super-assassin named Yo Hinomura and his perfect lover Emu Hino. The bulk of the series is Yo murdering rival gangs and secret societies, all the while being beautiful and having pornographic sex with the many women of the show.

Wait, wait, let’s rewind a bit. The story starts out as a young artist, Yo Hinomura, reports a murder, and ends up being kidnapped by a gang called the 108 Dragons. These Chinese gangsters use acupuncture and hypnosis to turn Yo into the perfect assassin. His nickname soon becomes “Crying Freeman” because after he kills, he is released from posthypnotic suggestion and weeps for the person he has just murdered. Emu Hino sees him murder someone, and expects to die because of it – instead, Freeman spares her and makes her his wife.

Later, the series devolves in to the weirdest, kinkiest gangs and secret societies doing battle with one another with Crying Freeman at the lead. He fights gangs made up of Vietnam veterans, strange-ass bear worshipers, an African terrorist group, and others. The stories are all interchangeable, because Freeman is perfect and unkillable. After the beginning of the series, you could read all of the volumes out of order and still maintain the same storytelling. Freeman gets involved in some conflict, it turns out someone is trying to destroy the 108 Dragons, he intervenes as its leader, has fabulous, hot, pornographic sex with some buxom beauty, and then murders a slew of bad guys who can’t hope to touch him.

What Crying Freeman could have been with a slightly different storytelling focus is not so clear, but what is absolutely clear is that this manga is like a giant fantasy. It’s machoism wank material, written in a completely chauvinist way. Defending the content as anything more than that would be a gross overstatement of its purpose and intent. But the manga itself is something of a strange creature, because even though there is all this murder and sex, the books are actually rather boring, likely due to the same repeating storyline.

The art of Crying Freeman is ridiculously complex and lifelike – The artist who illustrated Crying Freeman also illustrated another of Viz’s Pulp titles - Strain. It is the mix of absurdist story and hyperrealistic art that gives Crying Freeman a shot. Without the realistic art, this series would have floundered; it needs that weight to transmit its story.

The art may be complex, but it isn’t always pretty. Crying Freeman, Vol. 2.

If anyone that likes the idea of Crying Freeman enough to want to own it actually frequents this blog, I would be surprised – however, getting a copy of all 5 of Dark Horse‘s print run is not that hard. I picked up a set on eBay, and it took me the better part of 2 years to finally getting around to reading them. But now that I’ve finished the series, I can understand the appeal, especially in the 1990s where something like Crying Freeman could potentially do quite well in the direct comic market. You do have to understand what it is, and its major failings, which I have mentioned. You have to want to read the kind of story that Crying Freeman is telling. For me, that story isn’t worth keeping (or even worth reading, honestly). And for many, Crying Freeman is a relic of a male dominated manga market that has not held up well over time.

The current Dark Horse versions are out of print, but are easily accessible secondhand, either through Amazon or through eBay. This is not a comic I would give to strangers or young adults; it’s hardly a manga I would give to another comicbook reader. But there may be some that will enjoy the hyperrealistic violence and sex that is a major component of Crying Freeman. It’s just not my cup of tea.

Manga Widget Investigates: 3 AM Dangerous Zone

Posted on by
8

While I am not back to full speed on the blog, I wanted to bring back a few of the long-running series that I have worked on in the past – the most popular of these is Manga Widget Investigates, and so we are back for more license requests and grovelling.

I have complained about the lack of josei manga published in the USA again and again, and to be honest, there still isn’t a lot published in the USA. We can call Bunny Drop josei, and there is plenty of BL, but there isn’t a whole lot of material besides that, and it’s a pretty big shame.

I’ve campaigned for other josei series in the past - so my bias for the content is pretty clear. Those other josei titles at least had a running chance at being licensed. However, the title I’m focusing on today is more of a long shot – not because it isn’t potentially a good series, but because it focuses on two things that are a little foreign to the US reader – salary-manga, and pachinko.

3 AM Dangerous Zone (午前3時の無法地帯 or Gozen 3 Ji no Muhouchitai) by Nemu Youko is a story about a girl recently graduated from college intending to become an illustrator, who ends up working for a design firm that does nothing but designs for pachinko machines, a popular form of gambling in Japan. These games are somewhat like the game of Plinko in the United States, and they revolve around acquiring metallic balls from machines. While Japanese law prevents exchanging the balls directly for cash, they are generally exchanged for some nominal token prize which is then “sold” to a handler for cash.

In 3 AM Dangerous Zone, the main character, Momoko, ends up getting sucked into the life of the firm and works like crazy to get experience and to get some sleep (she is constantly working all ends of the night). The series supposedly deals with her dislike for her working environment, her relationship with her boyfriend and other men in the department, and the comedy/drama that ensues from working at such a crazy company. Also, look at that haircut! And these covers!

Published in Shodensha‘s Feel Young josei anthology, this series seems like it has a mix of exuberance and romantic drama that would make it a fun read. It clocks in at a scant three volumes, however it also has two separate sequels, 3 AM Terrible Zone and 3 AM Dissonance Zone.

From what I understand, TokyoPop previously did work with Shodensha, including their line of books from Erica Sakurazawa and Happy Mania from the author of Sakuran, Moyoko Anno, but it is unclear what their current relationship with that company is; my assumption is that it is like most other relationships that Tokyopop has with publishers – broken.

Of note, critically acclaimed (and as of yet unfinished) Suppli is also from Feel Young. Still waiting to hear back on when I am going to get more volumes of Suppli.

I doubt that this manga has much of a life in the world of print manga, so my assumption is that the biggest target for a request here is JManga, which has already published Shodensha‘s COUSIN and Love My Life through their online platform. This book may add to JManga‘s growing josei presence on the internet, and seems like a small and fun license. At 3 volumes, it’s not a huge risk, and if it turns out to be very successful, we can also get all the sequels associated with it. A win-win for josei fans and JManga!

One thing of note here – most publishers are listening, especially JManga and Vertical. These publishers take great steps to connect with fans via social media, and I think that’s a great way to express your wants and desires. So JManga, you are officially on notice – I want more josei, and I want it to be like this. Pretty please?

Review: House of Five Leaves, Vol. 4

Posted on by
Reply

Getting halfway through a series and finding things to talk about can sometimes be quite challenging; with Natsume Ono’s work, it’s a fairly simple matter. It may be my love for her characters, her designs, and her writing, but the complexities are fascinating and are great for discussion.

Volume 4 introduces us to the cast again, and in this volume, introduces us to a new character, Ginta. Ginta is a self-styled negotiator, and works with a rival gang to help them negotiate hostage returns. He tries initially to insert himself into the gang, and after a first failed attempt, becomes more direct in his actions. He eventually succeeds, and ends up working with the House of Five Leaves.

Masterful character drama is not always about profound moments and sweeping changes; but at times, these things help bring tension and change to what could be a fairly noninteractive script. Clearly there is some of that in this volume of House of Five Leaves; the introduction of a new cast member, Ginta the negotiator, shakes up the crew, and a certain scene involving Yaichi, which I won’t spoil, also reveals a lot about the future tone of the series. There are also the quiet moments that I have come to expect from Ono in this series. Masa’s interactions with the whole cast are endearing at times, and he is an excellent focus on what has clearly become a very broad and complicated story.

But what is truly interesting about House of Five Leaves, and has been from the start, is Masa’s interaction with Yaichi. The tenuous “friendship” that they share, and their interaction here is beginning to be tested by Yaichi’s past, and Masa begins to feel the weight of Yaichi’s true feelings. To complicate the story further, Masa has begun to spend more time with Yagi, a police superintendent, which makes things difficult for the gang.

Ono’s art continues to be fantastic. I’ve written about her unique camera angles before, and I think she uses them to great effect in this volume. The story reads very smoothly, and the paneling allows the timing of the story to come across perfectly.

House of Five Leaves has always been about the build up, and we are inching ever closer to it in volume 4. I expect to see some big changes in the next 2-3 volumes, and I know that I am excited to read them.

Some Initial Thoughts On Barrage

Posted on by
2

One of the most interesting developments of the past year is Shonen Jump Alpha, and more specifically, the end of Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata’s Bakuman. While the comics running in Shonen Jump Alpha are all of the long running variety (Bakuman, one of the shorter works in the magazine, finished at a  measly 20 volumes), they are bound to end at some point, and when they do, the question of what to add in their place is an issue.

In Japan, this is not a problem. New comics are being released all the time. New one-shots and new series are being debuted at every corner, so if a comic goes out of an anthology, it’s not a big deal; there are plenty of backups to work with the missing space. However, in the one major shonen anthology, Shonen Jump Alpha, losing a series means finding a replacement, and using a replacement that is likely to be a long-term success.

When Bakuman ended, the powers that be at Shueisha/Viz decided that the newest manga for Shonen Jump Alpha would be Barrage, by Kouhei Horikoshi.

Barrage is about a young boy named Astro who lives on the streets. After the planet’s prince finds Astro and determines that they are exact look-a-likes, he forces Astro to take his place, and become Prince Barrage, with all the rights, priveledges, and responsibilities therein (including using the Orgue, something like a magical spear of destiny that can only be wielded by someone with the power to become king). What follows is a battle/adventure manga with sci-fi elements rooted in the notions of the power of family that is not your typical shonen manga and the stock bravery and guts that are oh so typical. The story pulls deeply from The Prince and the Pauper, although character designs, especially the alien in the first chapter, seem like something straight out of a Final Fantasy Tactics game. Industrial landscapes and rundown cities and towns show the decay of a ruler unable to lead his people and the ruinous results of an alien invasion.

While the content is overly similar in the first few chapters, things start to brighten up and expand as the manga moves into later chapters. We are starting to see what motivates Astro, the intricacies of the Orgue, Astro’s mystical weapon, and the struggles of the people of Astro’s home planet. The supporting cast is small at this point – only Tiamat, the royal retainer/bodyguard has become a main fixture in the cast, but like most adventure manga, I am certain that we will be collecting more characters very soon.

Barrage is like a good chocolate chip cookie. It is warm, familiar, and satisfying, but not particularly original. While the originality may Barrage start to show itself in future chapters, we are still seeing what is assuredly a mostly stock introduction, and until the series really comes into its own and builds the cast, I expect that’s what we can continue to see. Overall, Barrage makes up for its lack of immediate inventiveness for a certain amount of technical prowess; the images are sharp, the illustrations are clean, and overall it’s a fun reading experience. I am reminded quite a bit of Toto: The Wonderful Adventure by Yuko Osada, which had a similar style and flavor. We shall see how Barrage differentiates itself in the months to come.

When I first started subscribing to Shonen Jump Alpha, I didn’t know what to do with myself. I did not read scans, so hopping into these series this far advanced was very strange to me. Seeing a new series from the get-go has been an excellent eye-opener to what Shonen Jump Alpha can be, and I hope more new series are in the pipeline for Viz’s digital anthology.