Monthly Archives: January 2010

One Piece Volume 26

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By Eiichiro Oda. Released in Japan by Shueisha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Weekly Shonen Jump. Released in North America by Viz.

The first half of this volume continues to introduce the new arc, as our heroes (who are all on the cover for once) arrive in Skypeia. Sky Islands turn out to be quite different from what they’re used to, and the scene where Usopp demonstrates why one should not swim to the bottom of a cloud sea is both hysterical and unnerving. Oda is essentially world building here, and later of we get such things as wavers, dials, giant trees and fauna, and a world ruled by God. Literally.

Speaking of which, I’m pleased with how Viz handled the translation with Enel. They generally use the Japanese word ‘Kami’, but are not shy about noting that it can mean ‘God’. Enel is not any sort of a God, of course, but try telling that to the citizens of Skypeia after he zaps them.

Having arrived and met a few new characters, the Straw Hats naturally get right into trouble. (As a side note, Robin’s comment about finding adventure through exploration, rather than more dangerous definitions of piracy, is rather touching, and Zoro’s glance to her is pretty much the last time he’ll be grumpy about her joining the crew.) Oddly enough, it’s Nami starting it off, powering her waver to the Forbidden Forest and getting noticed by the Kami’s henchgoons.

This being One Piece, you know that the assistants to the Big Bad are going to be incredibly goofy. We only have a chance to meet the first one in this volume, Satori, but his appearance fits in well with Oda’s tendency to match looks with powers. He’s a round ball-like guy… who controls balls! What a coincidence!

Oh yes, on Page 179 Sanji says Idoit. Bad Viz! Spellchecker should have caught that!

The most striking moment in the volume is where Enel decides that cute young lady Conis has revealed too much to the strangers, and decides to call down heavenly fire on her. The lightning strike that follows (which Luffy and the Sky Knight only barely rescue her from) is really impressive in the way that it’s built up, and helps to establish Enel (still unseen at this point) as a terrifying presence.

And as always, seeds are planted that end up being important much later on. The description of the various dials and how they work is done in a “welcome to this weird world” way, but will have a huge impact (pardon the pun) on the rest of Skypeia, as well as future arcs.

And hands down, the funniest moment of the volume goes to Sanji, who looks through binoculars, sees Nami and the others being kidnapped, and his first thought is “why’d she put her T-shirt back on?”. Oh Sanji, the fact that some fans actually think you are a smooth ladies’ man amuses the hell out of me.

So it’s not as fantastic as the previous two volumes, but it’s still a nice solid One Piece.

Teru Teru x Shonen Volume 6

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By Shigeru Takao. Released in Japan by Hakusensha, serialized in the magazine Hana to Yume. Released in North America by CMX.

Those who know me well know that I have a certain bad habit of defending lost causes. Give me a series where there’s a character everyone hates, and inevitably they will be my favorite. Likewise, give me a series people say is the worst thing ever, and I’ll start talking about its virtues.

To be fair, Teru Teru x Shonen doesn’t quite have the bad reputation that, say, The Magic Touch does. This is partly because it’s a CMX title, so barely anyone sees it or hears of it beyond the blogosphere. But it’s also because of many flaws that make it a hard title to get behind. Despite this, I think it’s a series that rewards a patient reader with many sweet, suspenseful, and fun moments.

(I tend to pick on CMX for its lack of marketing quite a bit, but seriously. This is a romance manga about NINJAS! How are you letting the opportunity slip through your fingers?! There are teens out there who will buy anything that even looks like it has ninjas!)

To mention its faults, let’s start with the heroine. Shinobu is a very typical Japanese shoujo trope, which is to say she’s a girl who’s had such a traumatic upbringing that she’s found it easiest to live with a veneer of ‘rich bitch’ around her, so that no one gets close enough to hurt her. Unfortunately, she can sometimes be too good at this, and it becomes hard to like her. It doesn’t help that the hero of this story, Saizo, tends to act like a doormat around her.

Well, most of the time. This manga juggles several plot balls, and one of them is that Saizo seems to have a touch of split personality. Glasses on, he’s a wimpy wuss who cries and frets. Glasses off, he’s a kick-ass ninja who’ll destroy anyone who tries to hurt his Shinobu-sama. Volume 6 is an especially good one as Shinobu is starting to reveal her secrets to him, and also has confessed her love (after being double-dog-dared to by her mother, sort of). These two are terrified of ruining what they have, so communication is an effort.

We also get melodrama. If I had to describe the genre of this manga, I’d call it a potboiler. Shinobu’s relationship with her mother is emotionally abusive, there are enemies constantly attempting to kidnap her, and to top it off, her revelation right at the end of the volume might turn everything around 180 degrees. And then there’s Sasuke, who’s dealing with his brother’s betrayal. Really, this series reminds me a lot of Fruits Basket (which was running in Hana to Yume concurrently with this) in the way that it deals with angst. It starts off looking like a typical school comedy with an arrogant princess and her crybaby ninja, and then starts to reveal that every single person has a backstory from hell.

Oh, and for those who recall Shinobu’s troubling relationship with her guardian, Shogo, you’ll be relieved to hear that she decides to stop sleeping in his bed after confessing her love to Saizo. And thank God, frankly. Their casual affection was incredibly creepy.

There’s not as much humor here as previous volumes, mostly as the plot is moving away from the school setting and into revelations and the ninja clan. The one amusing part is Shinobu and Saizo realizing that yes, the exams will contain everything they missed while away dealing with ninja plots, and that they don’t get a free pass for being absent.

There’s a few other issues. I understand CMX’s decision not to translate the title, as it translates to ‘Shiny-Shiny x Boy’ literally (I think it’s meant to reflect Shinobu and Saizo), but it makes it harder to sell to casual buyers. As always, CMX’s lower paper quality might also stop a buyer. And there’s an unfortunate tendency, whenever Shinobu tries to get involved and solve her own problems, to tell her that she should just sit back and let herself be protected or else she’ll get hurt. Saizo is especially bad at this. I’m hoping that it’s deliberate and making a point that will come to fruition later, because for the moment it reads like “Get back in your cage please, adorable little bird”.

But overall, I think the good outweighs the bad. I always find myself eager to see what happens next. And now that we’re over halfway through, I expect events to move even faster. If you want an angst-filled adventure with ninjas and princesses, this could be the title for you!

One Piece Volume 25

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By Eiichiro Oda. Released in Japan by Shueisha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Weekly Shonen Jump. Released in North America by Viz.

When I read this volume, I was rather surprised to see exactly how much was going on in it. Not only do we finish the setup for Skypeia, but there’s also lots of arc elements introduced that become far more important years later in this manga. I was surprised because I mostly remembered this volume for exactly two big events.

Let’s start with those, in fact. Bellamy was introduced last volume as an annoying braggart who clearly was crying out for a beating. We felt Nami’s frustration at Luffy and Zoro sitting there and taking their abuse, but Luffy was making a point. Now, however, Bellamy has gone too far, beating up Cricket and stealing their hard-won gold. Luffy is pissed. And it doesn’t help that Bellamy has a rather dull Devil Fruit power, the Boing Boing fruit (which makes his legs into springs, by the way. I think it’d be cooler if the Boing Boing fruit brought down your enemies’ server by too many visitor hits…)

And so Luffy gives him all the attention he deserves, by bringing him down with one simple punch. He doesn’t even use any Devil Fruit powers. It’s possibly one of the most beautiful two-page spreads in the series, and shows you that one does not need Devil Fruit to be utterly BADASS.

The other major thing I recall from this volume is the ending, where the Going Merry and its crew manage to evade Blackbeard and his crew and survive the Knock Up Stream. Sometimes you get a sequence that shows the main reason that Oda is drawing this manga. In fact, it’s the main reason shonen manga exists, in my opinion. The Spirit Of Adventure. The reason we love the Straw Hat Pirates so much is not their strength, or how funny they are, or even their hopes and dreams (though those are all important things). It’s because of the sheer joy of adventuring, the idea that they do things because they are amazing. Look at the faces of everyone as they realize that the ship is flying up the stream. I defy you not to break out in a big grin.

That said, there’s a lot more to this volume. We meet the World Government’s leaders, as well as the head of the Marines. We also meet two more of the Warlords Of The Sea, Donquixote Donflamingo and Bartholomew Kuma, and are reintroduced to Hawkeye. And we also get properly introduced to the bare-chested guy from last volume, who turns out to be Blackbeard D. Teech. (Always watch out for anyone with a D. in their names in this manga). There’s Shanks! There’s Buggy and Alvida! It’s like old home week. One gets the sense of things happening while the Straw Hats are off adventuring, as opposed to everyone simply waiting offstage for their cue.

And we get the story of Skypeia, and Noland the Liar. It’s presented as a silly children’s story, but is of course based in reality, as we will discover.

There’s also some great funny bits. Seeing Usopp, normally so terrified of everything, being happy around snakes and bugs while Nami and Sanji screech is wonderful. Robin’s casual capture of the South Bird is a wonderfully timed anticlimax. And the reaction shots of everyone throughout the volume, especially Luffy, Usopp, and Nami, are perpetual comedy gold.

A huge volume, for many reasons. Next up, Skypeia proper!