To Terra Volume 1

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By Keiko Takemiya. Released in Japan as “Tera he…” by Asahi Sonorama, serialized in the magazine Monthly Manga Shonen. Released in North America by Vertical.

I had purchased Vol. 1 of this series back when it came out, but never got around to reading it. You know how it is, you get a pile of stuff in at the same time, your brain decides it’s more interested in magical harems and wacky misunderstandings, and the retro manga from 1977 slips down the pile. So I’m glad that the Manga Roundtable this month gave me a chance to revisit it, as it’s riveting stuff.

There is a certain amount of unavoidable nostalgia with reading a title like this. Not for 1980s fandom, although that certainly came into my head. It seems hard to imagine, but the anime fandom of the mid 80s to early 90s was completely invested in titles like this – the anime version, at least. Macross, Megazone 23, Iczer-1… heck, even the style of the Dirty Pair is rooted in this sort of epic hard science fiction sort of thing. Sadly, as fandom moved on – both in Japan and North America – to other things, this sort of story has become far rarer. Viz took a shot on Please Save My Earth, but it was not exactly a huge seller. Same with CMX and the utterly weird Moon Child.

In any case, that was NOT what I was reminded of while reading this. Well, OK, the Dirty Pair a little. No, this took me right back to reading old-school Robert Heinlein books. The ones he wrote for Scribner’s childrens line, designed to create a sense of wonder and a love of space exploration. And, inevitably, the aftermath of such exploration, seeing humanity struggle against its baser impulses.

Keiko Takemiya creates a fantastic mood. I kept thinking, throughout the volume, that I was going to be getting to a lull in the volume any time now. It never actually happened. Even when the narrative completely switched from one POV character to the other, the volume never let up. Pacing is one of the book’s core strengths. The few action sequences here are short and sharp, not drawn out to 100 pages the way some might try it today. But when it’s about DISCOVERY, about learning new things and discovering what the heroes can truly become, the book takes its time, showing us both their wonder and – more importantly – their horror at such a fate. Jomy, in particular, is a very reluctant messiah, which makes his transformation all the more startling and electric.

The plot has two forces battling against each other, and as with most good science fiction, we get the sense that both communities have big flaws. Mother Eliza tends to try to guide her people through a weird sort of brainwashing, and yet also encourages her top student, Keith, to keep doubting everything that he’s experiencing. Heck, he even gets a rebellious young rival to help him buck against the system! Meanwhile, Jomy is kidnapped by the Mu, told he’s been chosen to be their new leader, and then essentially mentally assaulted with 300 years’ worth of memories as they’re running short on time. The surprise is that he takes to it so well, as the later pages show him being a capable, if flawed, leader.

The Mu seem to be set up as the ‘good guys’ in this world, though as with most science fiction of this type such descriptions are deceiving. Jomy is developing a cult of personality around him, especially with the younger Mu, who tend to act more like disciples than followers. Meanwhile, unsurprisingly, the human side of things tend to act more… well, human. The use of Sam Houston as the connection between the two worlds is very well done, especially with the use of memory wipes by BOTH sides. I love juxtaposition like that.

This story is not particularly original, not are the characters all that dazzling. However, the writing itself is amazingly compelling, to the point where I desperately want to find out what happens next. The world building is top-notch as well. As for the art, yes, it’s very 1977, but it’s not as flowery shoujo as you’d expect coming from a member of the 49ers. In fact, some of the expressions, particularly the comedic ones, reminded me of Takahashi’s earlier Urusei Yatsura art.

A terrific change of pace, and a reminder of where manga once was. Grab this series, you won’t regret it. I’m definitely going to track down Vol. 2 and 3 now.

Black Butler Volume 2

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By Yana Toboso. Released in Japan as “Kuroshitsuji” by Square Enix, serialization ongoing in the magazine GFantasy. Released in North America by Yen Press.

Sometimes it’s hard not to make your reviews one line. Generally speaking I try to avoid being snarky, and I will be delving into Black Butler here. But basically, “Remember what I said in my last review? That, only more so.” Even more pretty, even more calculating… and even more addicting.

The first chapter is the worst, with yet another ‘the staff of the house is useless and incompetent, so Sebastian must do everything’ chapter that’s supposed to be comedic but instead is merely annoying. Luckily, the staff don’t show up for the rest of the volume, which is instead concerned with Jack the Ripper. The manga takes place in one of those ‘sort of Victorian’ alternate universes, and Jack is just getting started here. Ciel is in charge of investigating, as there’s thought to be a supernatural element to the murders.

Honestly, the plot of BB is just an excuse for having the characters look handsome and cool. Sebastian, of course, looks awesome, and gets to do several impossible things (after breakfast, though). Madame Red, her butler Grelle, and the Undertaker they get information from are all larger than life caricatures, and many panels make it look like they’re stepping outside of reality to pose for Toboso-san.

Things get even worse when their prime suspect turns out to be a Lord with a suspicion of liking young girls a little too much. So naturally, the answer is to dress Ciel up as a young woman. This is once again where my brain turns off, and I stop being drawn in by the grand guignol plot and start going “Oh come on, you just drew that to make all the fangirls squee!” And yes, Ciel as a little girl is cute and adorable and more importantly, oh so abductable. So not only do we get Ciel dressed as a Victorian girl, we get her dressed as such in a giant cage, being auctioned off. As this is a fantasy manga, Ciel’s being auctioned for sacrificial rites rather than just to mere pedophiles. Not that this matters, as Sebastian comes to the rescue anyway.

As if to add insult to injury, they turn out to have the wrong man, so this was all merely fanservice dressing in the first place. As for the reveal of the real Jack the Ripper, it’s not all that surprising (there were a minimal number of suspects), but as always it’s handled stylishly, and there’s some fantastically over the top dialogue in the final scene (which ends with a cliffhanger, natch). They even manage to work-in a modern-day chainsaw and not have it seem stupid… well, no, it does seem stupid. But it fits anyway.

If you read manga for plot and characterization, then you’re in the wrong place. But style? This manga OOZES style from every pore. It gives the reader what they want. And generally, if they’re reading Black Butler, what they want is smirks, gay subtext, a nice helping of horror/gore, and Sebastian being awesome on every page. In that, it delivers. Yes, it’s the sort of manga that seems pointedly designed to SELL rather than to tell a story, but I can think of worse titles to be on the NYT bestseller list for umpteen straight weeks.

Excel Saga Volume 12

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By Rikdo Koshi. Released in Japan by Shonen Gahosha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Young King OURS. Released in North America by Viz.

I tend to divide the Excel Saga manga into 5 parts. Part 1 are the first 6 books, establishing characters and featuring Excel and Hyatt getting into wacky situations. Part 2 is Books 7-11, and introduces Elgala, changing the dynamic of the main heroines. Part 3 is about to begin here, with Books 12-15, which starts to actually advance the main plot. Part 4 I call the “Teriha” arc, for reasons I won’t spoil, and is Volumes 16-20. And the likely final arc is currently going on, and is Volumes 21-present.

However, we don’t begin Excel Saga 12 immediately. Indeed, Viz’s credits for the volume don’t even appear until Page 50! (Which is a great touch). Instead, the first quarter of this volume is devoted to the wacky, lovable adventures of Umi Rengaya, an 18-year-old dojikko who acts as assistant and dogsbody to our favorite loli-lovin’ mad scientist, Gojyou Shiouji. Umi is cute, and very busty (the notes helpfully tell us her 3 sizes, 98-58-82), and eager to please, and sadly has a brain the size of a peanut. Her scientist father (who we don’t actually meet here) has sent her off to work with Dr. Shiouji, presumably to try to make her slightly more capable.

These quick, 6-8 page chapterlets take place at approximately the same time as Volumes 9 and 10 of Excel Saga proper, and indeed we see some of the phone calls between Kabapu and Shiouji from the other side of the conversation, now realizing why they cut off so abruptly. I’m not sure if they ran as special extras in Young King OURS proper, or if they ran in the side magazine which also runs Rikdo’s softcore comedy Holy Brownie, Young King OURS+. They’re cute, if slight, and help us realize the basics of their relationship: Umi loves Shouji, but is dumb as a post and the clumsiest girl in the world; Shiouji is exasperated by Umi but tolerates her due to their past and a sort of grudging duty.

We get a flashback in Excel Saga proper explaining their relationship; they first met when Shiouji was 14 and Umi was 6, at a party given by her father. He was entranced by her innocent beauty, she was just happy to meet someone new. Unfortunately, even at 6 years old she seems to have a developing bust, and it just keeps on developing. This is possibly the first time that we see Shiouji’s lolita complex to not just be a love of young girls, but equally a hatred of large-breasted women. WHY he hates them will be left for Volume 13, but for now let’s just say Umi’s chest growing but her IQ staying the same has removed any infatuation he once had, though he does still seem to try to protect her innocence (which has only grown more shiny over the years.)

Meanwhile, Excel, Hyatt and Elgala are at the beach! They’ve signed on as waitresses at a beach cafe being run by Miss Manager, the Emeraldas-alike we met in Volume 7. Mister Owner is still off fighting the war, but no worries, as she has enough German jokes for all of us. (Including one very disturbing one where she asks Hyatt to clean the showers and the ovens, and Hyatt immediately drops dead after turning on the shower. I’m not sure if it’s deliberate or not, but if so it probably ranks as the most distasteful Excel Saga joke ever. Especially since it comes about 3 panels after Miss Manager saying “Tomorrow Belongs To Me.”) A lot of beach jokes follow, as Excel and Elgala provide fanservice and accidentally blow things up, and Hyatt dies, fries, and goes on a boat ride with Watanabe.

Meanwhile, Kabapu is increasingly disturbed at the series of intentional blowing things up that Excel and Elgala did in Volume 11. It’s terrorism, sure. but boy it sure did help out the city. It’s what HE would have done had he been less ethical. (And man, arguing the ethics of Kabapu is an essay in itself.) He decides to try contacting Shiouji’s mother, Miwa… something he is very apprehensive about. Shiouji, meanwhile, refuses point blank to contact her. What we do find out is that Shiouji’s father (the creator of the Ropponmatsu core) disappeared 20 years earlier, and that after his disappearance Miwa… changed. She used to be so quiet before. Even Umi seems terrified of Miwa showing up again. Luckily, she doesn’t appear… yet.

Sadly, Watanabe’s boat ride turns disastrous, and though he manages to be rescued, he’s in a near-coma due to thinking that his beloved Miss Ayasugi has perished. In fact, Hyatt merely drifted until she washed up on the shore of the beach, with Excel noting that she passed through the inter-tidal zone. Misaki and company find her walking by the hospital, and arrange for her to visit Watanabe’s room, as they think that he’s having delusions. Her assurance that she fell into the sea then woke up on the beach do reassure him, but don’t help the others believe that he was telling the truth.

Meanwhile, as sort of a cliffhanger ending, we see Il Palazzo having an internal monologue in the middle of a vast sci-fi-ish control room. He admits that things are progressing very slowly (in point of fact, ACROSS has done almost nothing to take over the world the last 12 volumes), and seems to give his alternate personality permission to shake things up. This is good news for ACROSS, but not necessarily for Excel; Il Palazzo is passive-aggressive towards her when he’s himself, but positively horrid when he’s in his other guise. Will she be OK? And how bad could Shiouji’s mother be, anyway?

Find out in Volume 13! As always, highly recommended.