Pluto vol.3

Three Astro Boy posts in a row! This volume is mainly split up between two stories: A group of robot haters who have it in for Gesicht, and Uran's encounter with a strange bum.

The Gesicht side of this volume is actually one of Urasawa's infamous tangents. It is about Gesicht, but we don't seem him all that much. It's actually about the group of robot haters mentioned above, who wear pointy white hoods (...subtle). One in particular has a grudge against Gesicht (I won't say why), and plans to bring him down. This storyline adds two things, one being a new layer to the future presented in this manga. As obvious as the real life reference might be with the hoods and all, it makes sense that their would be those prejudiced against robots being integrated into society, and those who would take that prejudice to the extreme. The other thing it adds is a clue regarding Gesicht's missing memories and why they would have been erased.

As for Uran's story, anyone familiar with the original story (or any of it's anime adaptations) knows that Uran plays an important role, and they will immediately where this volume is headed. Still, Urasawa's take on it is great. It also includes one of the most interesting uses of color I've ever seen in a manga.

Other highlights of this volume include the seventh super robot, Epsilon, a semi-good glimpse at Pluto and what his abilities are, and a robot that barfs a bunch of robotic bugs!!!
I was also pleased to Abracadabra (aka Kino from "The Third Magician"). Abra is changed into "Abullah," but Tawashi calls him Abra Cadabra at first. He only appeared in one Astro Boy story, so he's not the type of character I'd expect to make it into Pluto, much less in what seems to be a very important role. I actually recognized him first because of his sideburns, which is what stood out to me about Kino. This new character adds another piece to the puzzle by showing us that someone might be pulling the strings, and that Pluto might just be a pawn in a larger plan.

In other Urasawa news:
MONSTER is coming to Syfy's Animonday block in October!!!!! I've never seen or read Monster, so I'm excited about this.

More Mighty Atom!

There's a preview for IDW's Astro Boy movie miniseries at USA Today of all places. Click.
It doesn't look that bad, actually. It might give an idea of what to expect from the movie, as well. And there's totally Rock and Pinoko lookalikes in his classroom! It would be neat if the movie had a bunch of Tezuka characters hanging out in the background like extras.

Go, Go, Go, Astro Boy!

'Astro Boy' Trailer
There's a new trailer for the Astro Boy movie, and it's looking pretty cool (the butt guns are there!). Imagi did a pretty awesome job with TMNT, and this looks even better. I love Astro Boy, so I have high hopes for this movie. Apparently, the footage they showed at Comic-Con was well received, but I wonder how this will actually do at the box office. Do kids care about Astro Boy? Is the nostalgia factor strong enough for the adults who do know him?

And guess who made it into the movie?:

The man himself, pulling a Stan Lee! Just like he'd insert himself in his own manga.

Also, over at Japanator, they have a look at some of the toys (by Hot Toys) for the movie, which are also looking very nice and will probably end up on my bookshelf.

License Wishlist Wednesday! Giant Killing

This week, Giant Killing!!! It's published in Kodansha's Morning, written by Masaya Tsunamoto and drawn by Tsujitomo.

It's not about Shadow of the Colossus, or mass murder, it's about soccer. Specifically, about a professional soccer team, East Tokyo United, on it's last legs and the coach (Tatsumi) who's determined to bring them out of their rut. From what I've heard about it, it differs from most sports manga in that it focuses more on the coach than the team, and that's what interests me about this series. Underdog sports stories are nothing new, but this story's angle, as well as the art, make it seem pretty nifty. The series is currently at 11 volumes and still going.

I'm not a sports guy at all (who has time for sports when there's manga to be read!), but this seems to have the Eyeshield 21 factor, where the art is solid enough to attract me to the story regardless of its subject matter. Admittedly, I haven't read Eyeshield 21 since volume 10, but super kudos for keeping my interest as long as it did despite being about something I'd normally not care for.
Anyways, take a peek at the goods:



I really like Tsujitomo's art style. It has enough energy to make an otherwise boring (to me) sport look damn exciting. There's a shift in panel layout whenever there's "action." Any non-game scenes play out in mostly square and rectangular panels, but once the games start, it's crazy quadrilaterals and parallelograms aplenty! The sequence in the fourth page above is pretty boss. Check out the way he draws knees, too. I guess in most manga, you wouldn't notice them, but here they'd be important, so it's fitting that they have a distinct look. They look unusual, but appropriately muscular in a boxy, Dragonball Z way.
Also, Coach Tatsumi looks so cool!


Who: Del Rey
Likelihood: The way I see it, this has several knocks against it. One, it's a sports manga. We have a few sports manga in the US, but I wouldn't call it a popular genre. Two, it's soccer. It might be the world's game, but it certainly isn't America's game. I say Del Rey because it's published in Morning, and Kodansha seems to be their buddy, but while they have released some seinen (from Morning as well as others), they don't do it quite as often as other companies. Even if they were to release more Morning manga, I'm not sure this would be high on their list. Maybe when the World Cup comes around and everyone pretends to care about soccer for a few weeks, Del Rey might find it an opportune time to release and market the series. For now, I'll say a 20% chance.

Reborn! vol.11

The fight for the Vongola Rings has started!
Members of the Varia show up earlier than expected, even though not everyone from Tsuna's side is prepared. Their attack is stopped, though, by a message from the 9th Vongola boss himself, saying that the conflict will be settled in the form of a tournament. The first two fights are for the Sun Ring and the Lightning Ring.

Usually, I don't like it when a shonen manga introduces a tournament into the plot. It just feels like there's some bit of danger taken out of it by having organized fights, and they end up throwing in a bunch of characters that aren't really important, and sometimes the fights might not involve any of the main characters at all. It feels like a story shortcut; instead of thinking up a plot where this encounter would happen, the author just tosses everyone in an arena to take turns. However, I don't quite mind it as much here for two reasons: 1. This isn't like most shonen tournaments because the fight is only between two groups, meaning only the main characters will be involved. These fights were going to happen anyway. 2. Reborn is bananas. It can get away with just about anything, just by virtue of the fact that the core concept of the series is absolutely ridiculous. The reaction is this:"Geeze a tournament? Flinging the salt from evaporated sweat off your arm like bullets(not kidding) ? Oh wait...this is that series about the talking baby hitman and the Japanese kid trying to become and Italian mob boss. Okay, I buy it. A tournament isn't that farfetched."

While it would've been more interesting for this arc to go like the beginning of the volume, with the Varia chasing after them, these fights were gonna happen anyway, so it doesn't really matter if it's being done tournament style. It doesn't feel like a plot shortcut, because the scenario for everything was already set up before the tournament was even introduced.

As for the fights themselves, we get two of them: Ryohei's and Lambo's. I'm glad Ryohei's came first, because...it's Ryohei. He's the least important of the group, and while his fight was interesting (the salt thing I mentioned), it was the one I was looking forward to least. I was really looking forward to Lambo's, though. He's one of my favorite characters, so I loved him getting the spotlight. It only lasted two chapters (both fights wrapped up relatively quickly), but his fight was very eventful and creative, and just pure fun to read. Electric powers, time travel? Good times.

The art has improved in leaps and bounds from the first few volumes. The art was somewhat awkward and amateurish at first, but Amano has really hit her stride now, and her character designs have become much more stylized. However, a bit of that early awkwardness still remains, especially when she draws her characters at certain angles. It's not very noticeable, but it's there. But like I said, it has improved. Lambo's fight in particular is very well drawn.

This volume was pretty exciting, and I can only imagine it getting better from here. I can't wait to see the rest of this arc. I just wish Viz would release this series faster!

Rin-ne Ch.1-14

Rinne is the newest series by Rumiko Takahashi currently being release by Viz at The Rumic World. It's about the adventures of a student/shinigami name Rinne Rokudo, and Sakura Mamiya, a girl who can see ghosts.
When this series started, a lot of people (myself included) were expecting some sort of Inuyasha/Bleach mashup. The first chapter didn't exactly disprove that either, with Rinne fighting an evil spirit and all. But then the series went on, and each chapter has involved Rinne and Sakura dealing with some ghostly problems, but nary a bit of fighting. Instead there's been comedy, and an ever growing cast of silly ghosts.
While most were expecting the next Inuyasha, what we actually got was the next Ranma 1/2 or Urusei Yatsura. A shonen series with some action but with the true emphasis on comedy and silliness. And I'm definitely not complaining.
It's a nice, lighthearted series, and the chapters feel light and breezy, going by quicker than expected, which is part of what's made it so readable. Only recently, was a villain/rival character introduced, but he's mostly been a source of more gags.
When I first heard about the series, I thought what Viz was doing was awesome, but I didn't think I'd follow it. Now here I am, months later, having read each chapter right on the day they came out. Each story has been light fun, though nothing amazing. But it's been pretty enjoyable, and I love the clever ways Takahashi uses Japanese folklore in her story (the blog on the manga's site does a great job of explaining a bunch of references). I can't say it's a must-read though. I don't think I'd buy it when the actual volumes come out either. But who knows, it might develop a really interesting main plot in the future.

For now, it's a very fun, light series, and it's worth at least checking out. If you're a Takahashi fan, it's a no-brainer (and you've probably read every chapter already).