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Golosseum, Vol. 1

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By Yasushi Baba. Released in Japan by Kodansha, serialized in the magazine Nemesis. Released in North America by Kodansha Comics. Translated by Kevin Gifford.

There are two scenes that I think between them perfectly sum up the mood of this manga and the demographic it’s going to appeal to. The first has a cute couple, just married, asking a stranger to take a picture of them outside the church. All three are then shot in the head by passing terrorists. In loving detail. The other is when we see a shirtless Vladimir Putin, whose name has been slightly changed to protect the guilty, drinking tea and laughing as bullets vanish before hitting his incredibly muscular body. Which is also drawn in loving detail. In between this, we get the actual story, which is about alien bracelets that protect and strengthen the wearer – sometimes to ludicrous degrees – and a sad yet incredibly violent woman who can see other people’s past. At heart, though, Golosseum reminds me a bit of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, in that it’s totally ridiculous, and also filled with ridiculous deaths.

There is a certain element of political satire here, though frankly it can get somewhat lost among the muscular posing. In addition to “Vladislav Putinov”, we also see the United States equivalent, “Billary Quintone”, and one of the villains rampaging through America is clearly an ersatz Hulk Hogan. More than a political thriller, though, Golosseum feels like one of those ultraviolent 90s comic books, attracting your attention through fights, murders, more fights and more murders. Sasha, our heroine, doesn’t really seem to want to do this (she’s the one who reminded me a bit of Crying Freeman, though I suspect she won’t be making love to her cute waitress friend anytime soon), but she’s certainly capable of taking on smug Chinese martial artists if need be. As the volumes go on, I’m hoping that her story remains the priority. Also, I could have done without the narrative saying that, despite her age, she has the body of a mature 14-year-old, with accompanying nudity.

That said, glorifying the body is in many ways what this is about. The main villains throughout are people who are wearing the “Peacemaker” bracelets and using them for evil, which mostly involves being really strong. The best reason to read this is to see these guys show off and eventually get what’s coming to them. It’s a glorious spectacle, though not for the faint of heart – being shot in the head like the newlywed couple is at the start is actually one of the milder deaths in the book. As for the politics and backstory, unsurprisingly, the bracelets are being treated as political capital in a quest to have the most world power, so no doubt we will be seeing a lot more of Vladislav and Billary. That said, it’s a bit sad when the most nuanced of your real-life caricatures is Rasputin. Oh, and for those who like Hijikata, we get two desce4ndents here – one male, one female, and one good, one bad.

In the end, I liked reading Golosseum, but more in a “Good Lord” sort of way than actively being interested in the story. It’s complete at six volumes, which should be enough. If you like ridiculous ultraviolence, or just big muscley shirtless guys, come read this immediately.

Toradora!, Vol. 1

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By Yuyuko Takemiya and Yasu. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Jan Cash & Vincent Castaneda. Adapted by J.P. Sullivan.

This really isn’t a review for the Toradora! newbie. It’s been about 8 years since the manga debuted over here, and I still think the main reason Seven Seas licensed the novels is that they got tired of the slow schedule for the Japanese manga releases. The anime is also ten years old this fall. And, sorry about this, but like A Certain Magical Index, Toradora! is one where I did read the fan translated novels, as I had no confidence it would ever be licensed. I mean, there’s no supernatural content in it! But the novels are finally out in North America, and I am pleased, as I really love the story and characters and want to experience them the way they were originally intended. Which, oddly enough, means reading this book like a stand-alone, as it was clearly written. Despite the author’s afterword saying to look forward to more, the book itself wraps everything up (if slightly ambiguously) in one package.

I’ll do a quick summary, just in case any readers who hadn’t experienced this series finished that last paragraph. Ryuuji is a young man who has “angry eyes” (see also Haganai), and has dealt with people misunderstanding him because of it. But now he’s in high school, and can make a fresh start. That is until he runs into Taiga, a short and angry girl who is a giant cloud of issues all bubbling to the surface. Due to various misunderstandings which make up the bulk of the book, each realizes that they love someone else – Ryuuji loves Taiga’s best friend Minori, and Taiga loves Kitamura, a charming and bespectacled young man in their class. Ryuuji, who is a very nice guy, and not in the modern sense of “nice guy”, tries to help Taiga win her love. This is difficult, because it’s really clear from the start that Ryuuji and Taiga are perfect for each other.

Later in these volumes (the series runs to ten books plus side stories) there is an attempt to try to ‘balance’ the harem a bit, adding another girl and showing more of Minori’s feelings about Ryuuji. But honestly, I hope anyone who doesn’t like Taiga knows enough to stop reading and find another property, because Taiga is absolutely Best Girl here. Taiga is less of a tiger and more of a miniature hurricane, leaving chaos and destruction in her wake. As for Ryuuji, he’s a sweetie pie, something Taiga straight up says near the end of the book. He’s dealing with a lot, and his natural inclination is to try to help this chaotic event that has just strolled into his life. Fortunately, he is the rock that Taiga can cling to.

There’s a few things in this book that make it feel like a first volume – in particular, Minori and Kitamura aren’t given the chance to be as eccentric or deep as they become later on. And Seven Seas’ translation has a few issues – I did notice one point where Ryuuji’s mom, Yasuko, should have been speaking but the paragraph got mangled a bit. Still, any Toradora! fan will want to read this, primarily for the amazing chemistry between its two leads.

Dorohedoro, Vol. 22

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By Q Hayashida. Released in Japan by Shogakukan, serialization ongoing in the magazine Hibana. Released in North America by Viz. Translated by AltJapan Co., Ltd. (Hiroko Yoda + Matt Alt).

In general, one does not really read Dorohedoro for the romantic pairings. That isn’t to say there aren’t any in the fandom, or even in the manga itself. Noi pretty clearly has a giant crush on Shin, though it’s uncertain if it will be requited. There’s something going on between Ebisu and Fujita, though given the way the author uses Ebisu as sort of a walking disaster, I’m not certain if that will go anywhere either. And then there’s Caiman and Nikaido, which honestly has gotten the least attention. Yes, Caiman has a lizard head, and they’ve spent a great deal of the story separated from each other for one reason or another, but the writing of the series also seemed to indicate that these two were more “best buds” than anything else. But romantic or no, the two have one of the strongest bonds in the series, and the events of this volume try their damnedest to strengthen it and tear it to bits.

Actually, Nikaido gets more to do here than in any of the volumes since we found out about her backstory. She’s finally fully evolved into a devil, and is ready to take on the massive sorcerer-killing THING that’s walking all around the Hole and its environs ramping up the body count massively. (Yes, despite the fact that I say this literally every review, a word of warning: this volume of Dorohedoro is astonishingly violent and gory.) But even the Store Knife that cuts everything may not get them out of this one. The creature (which Chidaruma, who spends the entire volume essentially being Deadpool, nicknames “Holey”) has a one-track mind, immense powers, and the ability to defend itself to a ridiculous degree, which includes making miniature rainstorms to wipe out a group of sorcerers who took shelter in the hospital. It’s really not a good volume to be a sorcerer, and lots of the future corpses mention that they’re connected to En’s group. That said, the characters we actually know from said group seem to be OK for now.

As for Nikaido, she does an awesome job, but let’s face it, by the end of the volume she’s been killed, used up her time travel abilities, is no longer a devil, and then is killed AGAIN. It’s just not her day. The most interesting part of the volume may be her discussion with Asu and Caiman about the way she views time-travel, which doesn’t quite mesh with most time-travel narratives a reader may have come across before. It’s always nice when Dorohedoro slows down long enough to have these conversations. Of course, the question now is whether they’ll be much of a cast left to deal with things after this. I’m taking a wild guess that Caiman will be able to do something about Nikaido, but that likely doesn’t fix the overall disasters that are befalling this entire world, and En and company aren’t in good shape either. Can Dorohedoro ever get back to some sort of equilibrium by its finale? Dunno, but I’m in this for the long haul.