Monthly Archives: March 2013

One Piece, Vol. 66

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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 cover to this volume of One Piece is very telling, given that this volume ends one arc and begins another. In the foreground, we have Luffy, Jimbei and Shirahoshi, but new events are creeping in in the background, with Big Mom’s pirates one the right and Smoker and Tashigi on the left. Things are in a state of flux, and we aren’t quite sure where the manga is headed next. (That is, if we’re reading the manga only by volumes, Most North American readers can now read Shonen Jump weekly on Viz’s site, where Punk Hazard has just finished. Viz seems content to have the volumes be about a year behind the weekly chapters.)

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Hody Jones having been defeated at the end of the last volume (and his comeuppance is highly amusing, and makes for a good capper to the “drugs are bad” plotline he and his mates had), all that’s left is to stop the ark crashing into the island and sinking it. Which is done, with the help of some ancient and powerful sea monsters who are mostly there to be mysterious. Then there’s the standard “we’ve won, let’s have a party” finale, which always gives us a nice two-page spread.

Most of what’s interesting about this volume, though, is the backstory we don’t really see. Robin has discovered the true nature of Shirahoshi, and it’s quite surprising. (And makes me wonder about Alabasta, which told of the location of another one of those ancient weapons – man, if it turns out to be Vivi, I’ll be highly amused.) Jimbei tells us that Akainu and Aokiji fought to see who would be leader of the Marines. It’s not a big surprise that Akainu wins, but Aokiji then resigning might lead to more surprises down the road. Oda sometimes compresses manga stories for time, and I suspect this is a battle he wanted to show but just never got a chance to. And of course this means the Marines are still after them, with Smoker and Tashigi, both now promoted, hot on their trail.

Speaking of Tashigi, the Marines seem to be treating her as they did Hina, which is to say half-awesome Captain and half sexpot. Hina, like Nami and Robin, didn’t really give a rat’s ass what they said. But Tashigi is obviously bothered by the sexism, and calls it out. Of course, I doubt very much this will stop it. Oda’s less sexist than some other Jump authors, but it creeps in here and there (look at how he draws most of the women now vs. 10 years ago), and I think Tashigi drawing attention to it just makes it more obvious. But hey, I’m glad to see her back regardless.

The Straw-Hat crew, meanwhile, leave Fishman Island to travel to, naturally, the most dangerous place Luffy can find (this is after going through a deathtrap waterspout with the help of some whales who aren’t Laboon, but could be his parents). There’s some lovely art here, and I like that, while the spout itself terrifies the designated crew members who get scared (Nami, Usopp, and Chopper), the terrifying visage of the New World just makes everyone happy. Well, happy till they reach Punk Hazard, with its ravaged landscape, fire-breathing dragons, and bottom halves of samurai. Oh, and half the crew already captured. Never let it be said that Oda paces things slowly.

If you love One Piece, you’ll love this. If not, this is absolutely not the perfect place to start – go back and read the early volumes.

Neon Genesis Evangelion: Comic Tribute

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By Various Artists, based on the franchise created by khara and GAINAX. Released in Japan by Kadokawa Shoten direct to tankobon. Released in North America by Dark Horse.

We’ve been seeing more and more of these doujinshi anthologies over here in North America. Quite common in Japan, both official product and fan-produced, doujinshi in this case doesn’t mean porn featuring the characters (at least not yet; Kadokawa just announced another Eva spinoff and I think they’re running out of other ways to make it work), but getting other artists around the office to draw parody comics making fun of said franchise, with the tacit approval of the creators. Given that Anno is quite happy making fun of his own work, an anthology like this was probably inevitable. But the question is, is it readable?

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Well, yes, but only if you’re a hardcore Evangelion fan. As you’d expect, this volume makes absolutely no attempt to interest casual readers, and relies on everyone knowing not only the series itself but also the fandom and cliches regarding said series. The very first story involves the pilots dealing with their public approval rating dropping because they’re whiny and morose, there’s mocking of the fake “episode 26”, Shinji Ikari Raising Project, and even the live-action Eva that was in production at one point. Everyone is equally skewered, though admittedly Shinji gets the majority of the abuse here. And fear not, Eva fans who like to admire the girls, there’s lots of fanservice here, from normal “Ooooh, pretty girl” art from the Macross character designer all the way to leeringly horrible “Look, boobs!” parody as Misato and Ritsuko try to get Shinji to study by dressing in increasingly skimpy outfits.

That said, I feel pretty safe in saying this isn’t for everyone. It’s almost entirely comedy, with only the author of Loveless, Yun Kouga, providing a serious character study towards the end. Much of the humor relies on knowing the other titles the artist is famous for, which is fine if it’s say, the Sgt. Frog artist (who did the cover, of course) but verges towards incomprehensibility when you see artists such as Keiichi Tanaka and Tony Takazaki clearly making use of their own stylistic humor… which is lost on me. Given this is edited by Carl Horn, some liner notes might have been appreciated. Then again, given there’s a Sambo joke towards the end, maybe they were better off without them.

All that said, I did laugh quite a bit while reading this, even if it was sometimes “what the hell, this is so stupid!” laughter. Easily the best bits in here are the ones by Yushi Kawata and Yukito, “Neon Genesis Revolutionary Legend Evangelion”. They get three short chapters all to themselves, so I suspect the editors liked them as well, and have just the right amount of humor, snark, and insanity. Yoko Sanri’s Eva-san (the author of B Gata H Kei) is also fun, an amusing 4-koma Eva that feels like a relaxing breeze amidst all the loud Osaka comedy in this that tries a bit too hard.

I think Evangelion fans will like this, but even for them it may be a bit of a risk, as it’s simply so diffuse. The sort of book you’d describe as madcap. But recommended to Eva fans anyway, provided you don’t mind a lot of making fun of the cast. Oh yes, and Rikdo Koshi does a color page at the start, in case people wondered if my Excel Saga radar hadn’t gone off.

Even More Vertical Licenses

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Yes, they just won’t stop announcing things! Well, they may stop for a couple of months at least, as they’ve now filled their 2013 calendar. (Except they say ACen will have 2014 licenses. Can anyone stop Vertical, those mad licensing fools?) So, what do we have this time?

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Shin Sekai Yori, aka From the New World, is an adaptation of a 2003 novel that’s been running in Bessatsu Shonen Magazine, which these days is getting far more licenses over here than its parent weekly magazine. Seems to be a future utopia that may not be as utopian as the lead characters would like to think, and also has BL and yuri elements. It’s 2+ volumes, though I imagine that Vertical got an assurance from Kodansha that it wouldn’t go over 10 volumes before they picked it up.

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Meanwhile, for those who saw Vertical’s license of Helter Skelter and wondered if that meant they might get more Kyoko Okazaki josei titles, wonder no more! Pink is a late 80s title from the publisher Magazine House, and is a heartwarming, touching story about a girl and her pet. Sort of. Anyone who says there’s not enough josei out there should love this complete-in-one title.