Manga Round Up – July

July 9th, 2011

Vampire Knight Guilty: Volume 3
Released: 27 June 2011 on DVD

A shojo (or little girl) comic by Matsuri Hino, Vampire Knight is a manga that will mainly appeal to hardcore fans of anime, vampires or girls aged from ten to their early teens. Think of it as a Japanese version of Twilight. Employing a bishonen (read pretty boy) art style, the characters that populate the world are elegant or cute girls, and effeminate, good-looking boys. While action dominates most of the male-focused anime, here it is strictly second place to romantic entanglements. Expect characters to spend more time agonising over their emotions than plunging their fangs into one another.

Like the popular Twilight, Vampire Knight is set at a school, and charts the romance between the protagonist and (not one, but two) vampires. Yuki, adopted daughter of school headmaster Kaien Cross, lives at the Cross Academy, which is populated by day students (humans) and night students (vampires). This concept, designed to promote harmony between the two races, inevitably leads to problems as humans smitten by their counterparts are prone to allowing vampires to sink their teeth in. Yuki’s role as a guardian is prefect-like; she prevents vampires from taking advantage of the more gullible human students, but hypocritically, she has developed a feeding relationship with her fellow guardian and vampire, Zero Kiryuu, a human turned into a vampire as a child. Meanwhile, Yuki also has feelings for Zero’s love rival, Kaname Kuran. The love triangle that develops touches on the friction and political undercurrents of the human and vampire worlds, shaping the lives of the three characters.

Vampire Knight Guilty is not a bad anime; its biggest failing is a lack of individuality. The characters, from the naive, lovable lead, Yuki, to the gruff, self-loathing Zero and the intelligent, manipulator Kaname, never really seem to break their stereotypes. However, I suspect fans of the vampire fiction and of bishonen will overlook this flaw and enjoy the story, which does pepper enough emotional drama to keep the plot chugging along. It is also important to note that unless the viewer has seen the original series, Vampire Knight, it will be difficult to appreciate the relationships between the characters.

Words > Adam Gaudry

Naruto: Shippuden Volume Six
Released: 11 July 2011 on DVD

Naruto will probably be familiar to even those with only a fleeting interest in anime. A modern-day equivalent to Eighties behemoth Dragonball, the long-running manga series by Masashi Kishimoto has become a blockbuster hit worldwide, complete with an anime adaptation running into more than 400 episodes long, computer games and toys.

To the uninitiated, Naruto follows the titular hero, a young ninja in training, whose goal is to eventually become leader of his community, the Hidden Leaf village Konoha. Naruto is distinct from his peers – a nine-tailed monster of unbelievable power is sealed inside his body, a simultaneous source of power and self-destruction. Shippuden follows Naruto at the age of 15, as his personality and skills are beginning to mature. While it is better at storytelling and character development than the Dragonball anime series, comparisons are obvious. With each story arc, a new or returning antagonist is introduced, threatening to kill a main character, forcing Naruto and his comrades to become stronger.

The biggest frustration in Naruto is the at times appalling animation, the studio using every trick in the book to squeeze out value for money. Lingering shots of anguished teenagers, a panning camera over a still image and needless recaps of earlier scenes all plague the series. Not only do they make the anime seem cheap, but considerably hold back the narrative.

The series’ strength is its distinctive art style and its character-driven plot. Sadly, that is lacking in just over half of volume six’s episodes. The speed of the anime means it frequently catches up to the manga’s plot. To enable the anime to carry on while it waits for Kishimoto to create more manga, a “filler” story arc is created. These arcs invariably consist of weaker plots and poorer character design. And while the filler arc in this volume, set partly around a “zombie invasion” threatening Konoha, is better than previous filler plots, it remains distinctly worse than the main story.

Regardless of what I say, fans actively following Naruto: Shippuden will buy this, if nothing else, for the few canon episodes contained within the volume. But this is far from Konoha’s finest moment.

Words > Adam Gaudry

Birdy the Mighty: Decode 1
Released: 11 July 2011 on DVD

Symbiosis is nothing new to anime. The process of two opposing forces learning to coincide and get along together is a concept that seemingly appeals to all studios designing cartoons for young people; trying to entertain whilst passing on a “message” to the viewer. Birdy the Mighty takes this well-worn trope and runs with it. Birdy, a bimbo/intergalatic space-babe/detective in a skimpy outfit, is hunting down alien-looking criminals who flee to the Earth to enact a universe-threatening scheme.

During a chase, human schoolboy Tsutomu gets in Birdy’s way as she takes a shot and is killed. To save him, Birdy transplants his consciousness into her body and sends his corpse to her homeworld to get repaired. In the meantime, nerd entering puberty and bird with big boobies must share bodies, often with “hilarious consequences”. If any of this sounds familiar, it is because Birdy follows tropes established for nearly two decades in anime, stretching back to models laid down in such works as Tencho Muyo and 3×3 Eyes. Birdy is a manga penned in the Eighties, and it shows. It’s not all bad, but you have seen all this before and done better.

With the exception of the alien species, character design is largely bland in Birdy. But the animation is smooth and crisp, with a distinctive blue hue hanging over the streets of Tokyo at night. The plot rolls on nicely, but Birdy’s story is strictly run of the mill, with few surprises. Disappointingly, there are hints of a more interesting political make-up in Birdy’s universe, and most of the action is confined to the Earth. The series plays it safe by sticking to romance and fan service (shots of big boobs and pert bums), rather than try to explore the wider galaxy.

Words > Adam Gaudry

XAM’D: Lost Memories, Collection 1
Released: 18 July 2011 on DVD and BR

Takehara Akiyuki was a normal boy living a normal day until a fateful meeting with a mysterious girl on a bus ride changed his life forever. After catching the army lead bus ride from his war torn home town he is caught in an explosion of glowing light caused by the aforementioned girl mutates him into a Xam’d, a strange life form hell bent on destruction. Now he must learn to control his new found powers before they turn him to stone.

Xam’d had a very untraditional birth for an anime having debuted on Sony Playstation’s PSN video download service, a risky gamble that paid off for creators Bones as Xam’d’s debut episode was the most download video that month. The presentation of the show is a highlight with superb visuals and almost Ghibli art style topped off by a rocking opening theme by Boom Boom Satellites (the Japanese Chemical Brothers).

The strength of the series lies in its characters who are very well developed and mature, and as the series progresses it manages to avoid or at least change slightly the usual anime clichés; the story for the most part keeps you interested but flounders slightly towards the end leaving a few unanswered questions. Xam’d is at times beautiful and well written but occasional dips and becomes a bit bland, but not enough to take away from the series as a whole.

Words > Jason Potter

Casshern Sins Part 2
Released: 18 July 2011 on DVD

Casshern has quite a different view of the robot future depicted by the like of terminator, where machines rule with a (literal) iron fist; in Casshern Sins the world is still post apocalyptic, however the robots are succumbing to rust.

Casshern, the hero of this title (who may be familiar to fans who played last year’s Tatsunko Vs Capcom on the Wii), is a cyborg assassin with no memories of his past, fighting to restore his memories or just to survive as he becomes surrounded by enemies he doesn’t remember – sort of like an average high school reunion.

Casshern Sins Part 2 (which itself is a reboot of the original Casshern series, which in turn spawned the excellent movie of the same name) continues following Casshern and company as they wander the wasteland, with Casshern now grief stricken following Luna’s death in part one. As the plot thickens and Casshern discovers more people from his past and begins unlocking the secrets of his memories, the series goes from strength to strength.

The series as a whole feels much more focused now, after starting off a little slow and feeling a little disjointed at times in part one; the writing is much tighter and has a more developed overall story arc. Casshern’s art design tops off the anime and is very reminiscent of the designs of the original 60s show, making this a worthy purchase for fans new an old (just be sure to pick up part one first).

Words > Jason Potter

Yu-gi-oh! Bonds Beyond Time 3D
Released: 25 July 2011 on DVD and BR

Get ready to get your game on as three generations of duelists collide in Yu-gi-oh: Bonds Beyond Time. Far in the future the world and humanity stands at the brink of extinction, when Paradox (a mysterious masked man and the movie’s antagonist) travels back in time to eliminate what he believes to be the cause of the world’s end, the popular Yu-gi-oh trading card game (yes the franchise is finally eating itself).

Due to this time travel the three heroes Yugi, Jaden and Yusei (of the TV shows Yu-gi-oh, GX and 5D respectively) are able to join forces to battle to save the game they love. The story line, to be honest, is a bit silly, but it’s just a means to unite all the series’ heroes, which will delight long term fans of the show. But with an hour long runtime this is more of an extended episode than a movie, which is a bit disappointing.

For the first time ever for a ‘Saturday morning show’ (think Pokemon and the like) Manga have included the Japanese language track option, acknowledging that fans of the show have expanded outside the 5-10 year old bracket, and it is a welcome addition.

Bonds Beyond Tim is one for the fans only; non fans will be lost when they start summoning stardust dragons and sacrificing monsters to summon others (it does included a summary of the three series at the start, but the rules of the card game will still be a mystery) but fans are going to be right at home with the surprisingly tactical battle at the movies conclusion.

Words > Jason Potter

Tags: Birdy the Might, Casshern Sins, Manga Entertainment, Naruto Shippuden, Vampire Knight Guilty, XAM'D, Yu Gi Oh!