Action manga, I guess.

Lupin III Vol. 1 (Monkey Punch, Manga Action/Seinen)

I initially came away from this with very mixed feelings but after mulling it over, I’ve come to appreciate it a lot. It’s an episodic spy caper about an unlikable thief who spies, tortures, murders, backstabs, and uses surveillance to get what he wants. If you can get past that, well, some of the stories may seem pretty dumb or otherwise unpleasant. The most entertaining chapters rely on twists or hiding information from the reader. However, what really grabbed me was the way the author indirectly commented on things related to justice and law that reminded me of the most thoughtful parts of Death Note.

As previous stated, Lupin is a criminal who uses some underhanded methods to succeed. In one chapter, he is sent to save a spy who has been apprehended in another country. Long story, short, he causes the two witnesses that are needed to testify against the captured spy to lose their voices. As a result, they can’t testify and the spy goes free. What’s important about this is that Lupin only succeeds because the country uses a just legal system. On the other hand, the idea of putting faith in verbal testimony is called in to question earlier in the chapter. While breaking in to the prison, Lupin is able to throw his voice and pretend to be a guard that he had previously killed.

Another more obvious chapter focuses on capital punishment. Lupin is arrested and placed in jail to await his execution. At the last possible opportunity, he’s able to swap roles with one of his guards. An official later realizes that he’s been fooled but because he now has to go and stop the execution, Lupin is able to walk right out the door.

The last and strangest chapter involves Lupin finding himself on an artificial island that could explode at any moment. It’s revealed that his captor is a powerful vigilante who wants to rid the world of criminals. The ending is random and inexplicable, with Lupin suddenly gaining the upper hand some how, almost reflecting the world with no firm rules or guidelines that the captor seems to believe in.

Additionally, the adult aspects are decently handled, and the art work is fairly strong. I’ll be giving this another read at some point.

Caution: Industry Comments – TokyoPop’s cancelled titles, CMX’s mature titles, Yen Plus

 

The first wave of possible Tokyopop cancellations has been released. The only series I was actively following was Suppli. If that series is being dropped, as opposed to delayed, I wonder if Tokyopop has decided to give up on josei titles all together. Other titles on the cancelled list that I probably would have sampled some day include Blood Sucker, Forget About Love, Lagoon Engine, Liling-Po, and Pick of the Litter.

 

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Now I really like CMX as a manga publisher. They have the best shoujo manga line up right now, and their eccentric licensing choices come off as eye catching rather than desperate and pathetic.

 

The other night I stumbled upon the old Flipped interview with CMX’s main editor. What caught my eye was a discussion of seperating mature titles from the others. This dicussion included a list of previously released titles that could also quality as mature. It was just about the oddest list of licensed manga I’ve seen yet: Sword of the Dark Ones, Young Magician, Madara, Kikaider Code 02, Testerotho, and Monster Collection. Admittedly when I first read this I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. However, there do seem to be supporters of Monster Collection and Young Magician around, and Madara was done by the same team that created MPD Psycho.

 

Any ways, this is the first I’ve heard of any kind of separation of mature titles. Good luck finding out anything about it on their website.

 

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I have to say that I am excited about the new upcoming manga magazine from Yen Press, Yen Plus. Granted, the only title that interests me specifically is Bamboo Blade but I mean come on… magazine!

 

If you look closely you’ll see that Yen Plus is clearly aimed at males, particularly males on the older side of the traditional shounen demographic. I figured it was only a matter of time before something like this arrived, but I actually thought we’d see a female equivalent first. There is a number of appealing Japanese shoujo magazines that are popular amongst a slightly older demographic than what’s commonly licensed that could be used to piece together a similar anthology for release here.

 

I am surprised that they’re including manhwa in it. I mean, what’s the point of getting an exclusive deal with Square-Enix and then releasing manhwa?

 

high-concept manga

 

Translucent Vol. 1 (Kazuhiro Okamoto, Comic Flapper/Seinen)

 

Translucent is about the friendship between two high school students, Tadami, who I’d say serves as an entry point for the reader, and Shiroyama, a girl with Translucent Syndrome, a mysterious disease that causes her to go invisible periodically. So yes, this is a high concept story, almost science fiction even. As far as understanding the disease goes, it’s pretty obvious that it’s a sort of superpower that the heroine doesn’t have conscious control over, but it does work on a subconscious level. I loved the little bit where the author pokes fun at people interpreting the condition. Shiroyama has recently reappeared in time to perform in a play and Tadami says “She’s not translucent any more. I guess she’s not nervous any more either!” No, no she isn’t. But enough about that…

 

This volume seemed to me, to be about sentimentality or at least about public displays of emotion. I enjoyed reading the first three chapters but their conclusions seemed too pat. Tadami says or does something sappy and all is better. This pattern continues in chapter 4 but then at the very end something unexpected happens. Shiroyama thanks Tadami for helping her in a very formal/sentimental way, and out of nervousness, he “runs away”. That is, the author admits that people may be turned off by such emotional displays. So Tadami can dish it out when Shiroyama is in a vulnerable state but he can’t take it when she’s feeling more confident.

 

The last two chapters are similar but a bit different. Shiroyama wants to take up acting but her father won’t allow it. In frustration, Shiroyama and Tadami later indulge in shouting out their feelings. This inspires Tadami to meeting with Shiroyama’s father. The two of them get in to a huge shouting match that’s both funny and unpleasant in its awkwardness. Despite that, the conflict does have a positive effect on Shiroyama’s father.