Recap: Futaba Shimeru is a teenage boy barely coping with male puberty and new feelings towards his friend who’s a girl Misaki. Then he discovers he’sRecap: Futaba Shimeru is a teenage boy barely coping with male puberty and new feelings towards his friend who’s a girl Misaki. Then he discovers he’s also going through female puberty! Due to his family’s unusual genetic structure, they turn into the opposite sex when excited, and the person Futaba always thought of as his father was the one who gave birth to him. (How our hero failed to notice this about his family is a mystery.) Since Futaba is a gender-neutral name, female Futaba is enrolled at the same school as male Futaba’s cousin. Hijinks ensue!
Female Futaba, hereinafter referred to as Futaba-chan, is pretty and new, so the various school clubs want her to join. Since this is a screwball comedy, it’s been decided (without consulting Futaba) that this will be settled via a fighting tournament. Representing the wrestling club is male Futaba, or as we’ll call him, Futaba-kun. Once again, he was not consulted about this. As the volume opens, he’s up against the Gardening Club representative.
Not being much of a fighter himself, the gardener is using a giant bloodsucking plant as his weapon. The head judge allows this, as he was once attacked by a madman with a frozen banana. Futaba-kun nearly passes out due to blood loss, but the plant seems to be adversely affected by his body fluids and there’s a technical ring out.
After a couple of brief matches to get us to the semi-finals, it’s time for a break. Queen X, mistress of darkness and “secretly” Takako Hiroin, daughter of the principal, decides it’s time to ramp up the cheating and disables most of the remaining contestants with laxatives.
Futaba-kun misses this as he was in the doctor’s office getting his wounds treated, and Misaki (representing the swim team) hit the restroom (it’s her calm place) first and got out just as the others needed to get in. Thus the pair are matched in the first semi-final round.
Neither wants to fight their sweetie, but Futaba-kun both has to uphold the honor of the wrestling club and wants to remain free to make his own choices, while Misaki wants to protect her new best friend Futaba-chan from exploitation. Turns out that Futaba-kun can’t lay hands on Misaki without getting turned on and into a girl so he has to forfeit. Queen X fights the one person who’s immune to laxatives, but still manages to dirty trick her way to victory.
So it’s Queen X vs. Misaki for the final match, with the dark lady cheating with magnets. But look! By gawd, it’s Futaba-chan with a steel chair! She asserts her need to make her own choices only to get dragooned into the wrestling club anyway.
Misaki invites Futaba-chan to visit her house whilst Misaki’s parents are away. In addition to the usual awkwardness of boy in girl’s body being alone with his crush, it turns out Misaki has an insane sweet tooth so all of her cooking is way over-sugared.
The next story is…oof. Misaki is groped by a chikan (pervert) on the crowded train, who is heavily implied to be Futana, Futaba’s lecherous older sister. Misaki’s other friend, the money-hungry Negiri Shusendou, is surprisingly jealous–a plain-looking, “flat” girl, she thinks perverts will never care enough to molest her. Futaba is sent on a mission to pick up some outfits for Futana via train. On the way out, Futaba-kun winds up having multiple accidents that make him look like a perv. On the way back, Futaba-chan is groped, and has accidents that put her into an embarrassing bondage situation. (We also learn there are specialized tailors that create reversible clothing that can be swapped from male to female fashion almost instantly.)
Then it’s time for Misaki to return the favor and visit Futaba-chan’s house. Except that Futaba-chan’s room is Futaba-kun’s room, and doesn’t exactly look like a girl lives there…and as she’s leaving, Misaki looks up at the window and sees Futaba-kun in “Futaba-chan’s” room. Cliffhanger!
There is a lot of male-oriented fanservice in this volume. Underwear shots, female nudity (nipples!) and bizarre poses. Plus molestation is played for laughs. The early Nineties were a different time in manga. Oh, and body function humor.
The overall humor level is pretty juvenile and a bit crude. This isn’t great art by any means, but it does raise some chuckles and was one of the few gender-bender stories in the mainstream marketplace at the time.
The Studio Ironcat volumes are long out of print, so may be difficult to track down, but there are affordable Kindle versions. Recommended for the sort of manga fan who enjoys ecchi humor....more
In the early 21st Century, the United American State has become a caste society. The Upper 1% have most of the wealth and power, while the Lower 90% hIn the early 21st Century, the United American State has become a caste society. The Upper 1% have most of the wealth and power, while the Lower 90% have been automated out of jobs and must subsist on the People’s Capitalism, a welfare state that keeps them drugged and entertained. The most popular form of entertainment is gladitorial combat on the telly. Corporate disputes, regional quarrels, and even international kerfuffels that would previously lead to war are now settled by fracas in the arena.
Dennis “Denny” Land is somewhat atypical for a gladiator. He’s actually a Mid-Middle class college history professor, specializing in Etruscanology. As part of his studies, he became interested in ancient weapons, and researched them by participating in an amateur gladiatorial club. When the National Games started, the Upper who was the official head of the club decided he wanted the glory of club participation, so voluntold Denny for the qualifiers. And you don’t go against the Uppers. A combination of skill (Denny’s also a black belt in karate), luck, and people taking dives before he could has gotten Denny to the National finals.
An impromptu team-up with fellow finalist Jesus “Zero” Gonzales allows Denny to survive the finals and become a champion. Hello, fame! Unfortunately, the Upper who’s the head of his department at the university is displeased by Denny taking the spotlight, cuts his research stipend, and puts the professor on indefinite suspension.
Meanwhile, in the Soviet Complex, Colonel Yuri Malyshev is summoned to the headquarters of his security organization in Budapest. He briefly meets the head of his organization, who is stone drunk before noon, before being directed to the underling who does all the practical work. It seems that a Belgian scientist currently living in Common Europe, Auguste Balzin, has developed an anti-anti-missile system that could change the balance of power. To keep it out of the wrong hands, Yuri must get this scientist into Sov-World control.
Denny, at somewhat loose ends, is surprised when he’s summoned to the Octagon in what used to be Washington, D.C. It turns out that Zero’s day job is secret agent, and Denny’s particular set of skills and circumstances make him an ideal candidate for the mission of recruiting Balzin. Balzin, it seems, is a big Etruscan history buff. He also has a weakness for pretty women, so the team is rounded out with Bette Yardborough, a capable agent as well as eye candy.
The plan falls apart almost immediately after Denny meets Balzin. In the excitement, Balzin disappears, and the West, the Sovs, and Common Europe all accuse each other of having him. The Neut-World countries are also interested. Only one thing for it! A three-way gladiatorial combat with three teams of three men entering, and one team leaving.
One of the Sov-World team is Yuri, and when he and Denny meet, there’s a surprise in store….
Despite the title, there’s no time travel or other time wackiness going on in this novel, which was originally serialized in Analog in 1964. There are gladiators, though.
One of the big themes of the book is that West-world and Sov-world are mirror images. While the West has its rigid castes, the Soviets have Party membership, which is now hereditary rather than optional or earned. Both societies have become stagnant with little in the way of scientific progress. (They do have tap-to-pay credit card screens, however.) Common Europe seems a little more vital, but it is led by hereditary strongman The Gaulle.
Bette is all for change, and secretly belongs to The Sons of Liberty, one of those armchair rebellion groups. The difficulty of pulling off a revolution in a society where the majority of people don’t read anything “hard” or want to rock the boat is emphasized. The Lowers might not have good lives, but they’re not suffering, exactly.
There are a number of twists and reveals, so the story does not end anywhere near where you might have thought it would from the opening chapters. This is both a good point and a weakness, the latter because it makes a lot of what our protagonists have done seem like wasted effort and sacrifice.
The politics have dated this book severely, despite some of the underlying points still being relevant. This may make the story less appealing to younger readers who aren’t familiar with the world situation in the 1960s. People with a good grasp of the relevant history should be okay.
There’s just a bit of future slang in the story, which is mostly applied to sneaking dirty words past the puritanical editorial standards of the day.
Content note: Several people die in gladiatorial combat. It’s not over-described. Drug and alcohol abuse. Outdated ethnic terms. Classism. Bette is mostly judged on her appearance, while the men tend to be judged according to accomplishments.
This is a middling science fiction book, competently written, but of its time. Most recommended to gladiator fans....more
Johnathan Zhang isn’t content with being a crimelord. True, he has substantial power in the underworld of Hong Kong, and has never been arrested for hJohnathan Zhang isn’t content with being a crimelord. True, he has substantial power in the underworld of Hong Kong, and has never been arrested for his many murders due to his habit of leaving no witnesses. But he wants more, and a certain set of counterfeit plates is the key to the plan. Problem! Zhang’s latest murder was in fact witness by recent arrival Brandon Willis, who has come under the dubious protection of Inspector Kaiden Chan, who may be an alcoholic wreck, but is also the only police officer who is on to Zhang’s true nature. Can the inspector, his young but martially skilled witness, and his estranged daughter foil Zhang’s master plan?
The genre of this book is, well, Hong Kong action movie. Guns, martial arts, motorcycle stunts, unlikely teammates, I could easily see this on film in the late Eighties-early Nineties. Several scenes are described as “if this were a movie.”
Brandon Willis is a mixed-race teenager from Australia; his father instructed him in the martial arts before his recent death, and in his absence the racism and general bullying of his fellow students and certain teachers has sent Brandon into a self-pitying spiral. He’s turned to heroin to ease the pain, but after he beats a particularly obnoxious teacher into the hospital, his mother decides to take him to her hometown of Hong Kong early.
They’ve been in town less than four hours when Brandon gets mixed up with Zhang’s plans, and his mother is severely wounded. Inspector Chan means well, but has his own deep man-pain, and soon becomes there’s a mole in the police department. The two are on their own against Zhang and his goon squad, and the police detective is forced to turn for help to the White Crane Wing Chun school he abandoned along with his daughter.
The “Ghost Ninja” of the title comes in about halfway through, as the Japanese assassin Shibasaki is lured out of retirement by Zhang to face Inspector Chan. (Chan doesn’t realize it yet, but the two men have history.) Shibasaki has seemingly mystical abilities, and is a formidable opponent.
Good: Lots of cinematic-type action, mixing it up so that no two scenes feel the same. The protagonists’ desperation feels real.
Less good: Given the genre of the book, it feels odd that none of the movies referenced by the characters are Hong Kong movies. And since Zhang’s ultimate goal is political, the lack of exploration of what Hong Kong’s political status was at the time of the story (I don’t think it’s supposed to be set in 2021) makes it feel a little disconnected.
Interesting: The author is Australian, and this book has not been edited for the United States audience, so there is some vocabulary and some turns of phrase that come across as exotic.
Content note: Lots of violence, some lethal. Torture and mutilation. Racism and bullying. Brandon uses heroin. While Brandon’s a teenager, this really doesn’t feel written for the young adult market. Senior high readers on up should be able to handle it.
Overall: An exciting book for fans of Hong Kong action movies. Do your own fan casting! There’s already a sequel out if you like this one.
Disclaimer: I received a free download of this book via the author for the purpose of writing this review. No other compensation was offered or received....more
When JFK realized that there were certain threats to America and the world that could not be handled by normal government agencies and it wasn’t wise When JFK realized that there were certain threats to America and the world that could not be handled by normal government agencies and it wasn’t wise to rely on random good people stepping up, he turned to bureaucrat and former CIA man Harold W. Smith. Smith devised an agency to fight unsuspected infections, CURE. Most of CURE is people who gather information or move resources and have no idea who they work for, but it also needed an enforcement arm. Young police officer Remo Williams was framed for murder and put to death to make him officially not exist. He was then trained in the martial arts of Sinanju by an ancient Korean named Chuin. Now when secret danger threatens, CURE can call upon…the Destroyer!
I’ve posted before about my love of men’s adventure paperback series of the 1970s. The Destroyer was one of my favorites. The first book was written in 1963, but most publishers rejected it until Pinnacle Books was looking for something to go with its successful Mack Bolan series in 1971. That first book was honestly pretty bad, but sold enough to get sequels, and the authors quickly realized that the relationship between Remo and Chiun was the key charm point. At that point, the series really took off.
In this volume, published in 1976, a Senate investigation into CIA malfeasance somehow leads to an order to disarm Sunflower, the Central Intelligence Agency’s European answer to the elite Soviet assassin squad known as Treska. Now that Sunflower can’t fight back effectively, Treska goes ahead and wipes out the American team. With no real opposition, the Communists can assassinate anyone they please, and the Moscow masters have a long list of targets.
Back in the States, the accident-prone president (transparently Gerald Ford) realizes the pooch is screwed badly, and as long as the Senate is looking, the CIA will not be able to strike back. So he reluctantly contacts CURE and Smitty unleashes Remo on the problem with Chiun tagging along as usual.
Remo clears out the Treska problem in a few days, but the Russians have their own human superweapon to unleash, Ludmilla Tchernova the flawless beauty. Her mission, find Remo, learn the secret of his strength, and then get him killed.
Good: The Destroyer series is more directly humorous than most of its rivals. The constant bickering of Remo and Chiun, the social and political satire, and often black comedy situations make these books enjoyable. Remo is the standard omnicompetent action hero in abilities (and Chuin is outright superhuman) but this is undercut by him being kind of an ass in ways that are not meant to be admired.
The books also excel at introducing minor or throwaway characters in a way that makes them memorable, not just a pile of skills and plot points. Like luckless CIA agent Walter Forbier who got a degree in a “good jobs” field only to get drafted and have his training obsolete by the time he got out, married only to have lesbianism suddenly become slightly socially acceptable, and joining Sunflower on the day they all die.
Ludmilla is more or less the villain of the book. Born with fortunate genes and family connections, she has been crafted into the “perfect” honey trap, largely through her own supreme vanity. She’s the kind of woman who will offer ice cream cones to children, so she can study and imitate their smiles of sudden joy, then drop the ice cream in the dirt and turn away bored. Her outward emotions are entirely artificial and thus nearly flawless. Ludmilla’s beauty is such that she can even partially bypass Remo’s cynicism and willpower to make him fall in love with her. Most impressive of all, she is the first woman in years not to immediately lose all ability to resist once exposed to Remo’s lovemaking.
It’s revealed that Remo and Chiun were responsible for President Nixon resigning rather than taking America down with him.
Less good: There’s a bunch of 1970s racism, sexism and ethnic prejudice here. This is played for comedy with Chiun, who as the world’s greatest assassin, holder of the true story of history, and the master of the sun source of all martial arts understandably considers everyone else below him. Remo, on the other hand, is a pig.
Like the later Parker/Stone combo, Sapir and Murphy are so strongly dedicated to their “mock everything” style of humor that it can suddenly come across as tasteless or nihilistic, and they sometimes run into blind spots in what they consider funny or important. (In real life, someone desperately does need to be making sure our intelligence agencies are doing the right thing and not screwing up.)
Content note: Lethal violence, often played for laughs. The aforementioned racism, sexism and ethnic prejudice. Extramarital sex, cuckolding.
Overall: A good example of the early days of the series. You can probably find many of the volumes in garage sales, used book stores and your grandparents’ attic (if not on the shelf where people can see it.) Skip the first book though; see if you can find the rewritten version published some years later....more
Years ago, Kinnikuman (“Muscle Man”) was the world’s worst superhero. When he wasn’t causing disasters due to his profound stupidity instead of stoppiYears ago, Kinnikuman (“Muscle Man”) was the world’s worst superhero. When he wasn’t causing disasters due to his profound stupidity instead of stopping them, civilians were actively embarrassed to be saved by him. (This is, after all, a man who flew using the power of compressed farts.) Eventually, it was revealed that he was actually Suguru Kinniku, an alien prince from a planet of professional wrestlers who’d accidentally been abandoned on Earth. He made a lateral move into wrestling, saving the world from monstrous evil wrestlers. At the climax of his career he won the throne of his homeworld and became King Kinnikuman. But that was then.
Now a new threat to peace has erupted on Earth due to several of the old evil wrestlers teaming up with new, even more monstrous evil wrestlers. King Muscle has really let himself go since his glory days, so insists that his son Mantarou Kinniku step up. Problem is that Mantarou is a lazy coward who has zero interest in learning to wrestle or risking life and limb in combat. But it’s not as though he’s going to have a lot of choice, and soon Mantarou has become the reluctant hero Kid Muscle. (That’s him in the center on the cover, though he’s barely in the story in this volume.)
Yudetamago is the pen name of creators Yoshinori Nakai and Takashi Shimada, who started the original Kinnikuman manga back in 1979. It got an animated adaptation, which did not appear on American television as the strict broadcast rules at the time would not have allowed it (again, weaponized farts.) The plastic toys of the characters, however, showed up in American stores as Mattel’s M.U.S.C.L.E. line. This sequel, Kinnikuman II Sei (Second Generation Kinnikuman) started in 1998, and was given the American title “Ultimate Muscle” to cash in on nostalgia for the old toys.
While the series itself is comedic, within the story, professional wrestling is absolutely real with no scripted fights or kayfabe. The “heels” are genuinely bad people who want to conquer/destroy the earth, only bound by the loose rules of the wrestling ring.
So the 24th volume, which I have to hand. The Demon Seed superhumans have succeeded in slicing the heroes’ strategist, Meat (and it says something when the smart guy of the team is named “Meat”} into several pieces to hold hostage and force battles at several locations in an attempt to resurrect one of their ancient leaders. Just to make it harder, the evil superhumans have erected barriers around their arenas that are impossible for truly good people to get through. (And considering some of Kid Muscle’s behavior, “good” has a wide definition.) This means that the battles must actually be fought by the Army of Idols, formerly evil wrestlers who are trying to turn over a new leaf.
This volume opens in the middle of the battle between Comrade Turbinski, a fellow who can turn into Russian aircraft, and Meltdown, who turns into a nuclear-powered motorcycle. You’d think that flying would give one combatant the advantage, but Meltdown can create roads in the air, and his demonic GPS guides him straight to his enemy’s weak points, even when Turbinski is in stealth mode! Honestly, I think we’re getting pretty far afield from the “wrestling” concept here.
Once that battle is completed, it’s off to the historical star-shaped fortress Goryokaku in Hakodate, Hokkaido. There the Edo Era-themed Demon Seed superhuman Tattooman holds one of Meat’s legs hostage. Up against him is Barrierfreeman. Barrierfreeman is actually two wrestlers fused together, the youthful but dull Nils, and the ancient but wily Georgioman (“Jijioman” in the Japanese, which is basically “Elderly Man”.) Georgioman is a stereotypical “dirty old man” known as “the nuclear bomb of lust”, who was once trapped inside a tree for 200 years for his sexual harassment crimes. On his way to the ring, Georgioman molests one of the female spectators and steals her bra.
As Tattooman puts it, “Even I can’t stand to watch this, and I’m evil!”
Once inside the ring, however, Barrierfreeman mostly skips the “dirty” part to concentrate on the “old” part, with a couple of bits where Nils takes over to give Georgioman a breather. Tattooman’s clockwork dolls are deadly, but Barrierfreeman is more cunning.
This honestly is not a good place to start looking at the series, as it’s in the middle of a complex plot arc, and the main characters barely appear. Plus, let’s face it, a lot of readers are going to nope out at the dirty old man humor.
As a whole? The series has fun cartoony art, many interesting character designs, and some kickass battle sequences. Most of the humor is vulgar, and likely to appeal to the target audience of middle school boys. Try not to think too hard.
Recommended to middle school boys and those who never quite got over fart humor....more
Austin Swiftbrooke’s sister Skylar disappeared two years ago on the planet Callister. Practicing his fencing alone in the natural “arena” near the humAustin Swiftbrooke’s sister Skylar disappeared two years ago on the planet Callister. Practicing his fencing alone in the natural “arena” near the human colony without her seems hollow, but is a connection to her, and a way of showing he hasn’t given up hope Skylar’s alive. When a strange little man named Ko Lian Po appears and offers to take Austin to his sister, the boy agrees despite his misgivings.
It’s at this point that some monsters show up. As a result, Ko Lian Po is forced to open a gateway further away from Skylar than he had intended, and a much longer voyage is started. It is eventually explained that they are on the parallel world Saffrian. Most of its technological development appears to be at a medieval level, though there are hints that it once was more machine-oriented before a disaster called the Separation occurred. There’s a thriving subculture of competitive swordplay, and artists have an elevated status.
The latter turns out to be because artists tend to have precognitive abilities in this world, creating art that foretells events to be brought about or forestalled. Skylar, as it happens, looks very much like one such artist, Cabrill. Cabrill is on the run from the Art Guild as it’s feared that her visions have driven her mad, and from the lord Kriken, who wants her to solve a crisis in his fiefdom at the cost of her freedom. Skylar is currently impersonating Cabrill in an effort to allow the artist to have enough time to figure out what her artworks truly mean.
Ko Lian Po has fetched Austin not just because Skylar would like to see him again, but because a figure that looks just like Austin appears in Cabrill’s artwork and is presumably key to solving the upcoming crisis.
This small press science fiction novel falls mostly into the young adult category due to the age of the primary protagonists and its themes. There are chapters from other viewpoints to fill in some background details (I like the self-centered fellow who’s stuck in charge of the asylum for mad artists.)
The art creation segments are interesting and varied. It’s fairly obvious though that the writer wrote large sections of this work to reflect an interest in modern fencing. We get a little bit of Austin having to adjust to the more rounded sword combat of Saffrian, only to get matters arranged so that the locals have to play more or less by his rules instead. And the final confrontation is specifically designed to play into the specific kind of swordplay he and Skylar practice.
There’s a lot of world and characters crammed in, and much of it gets short shrift as this is a standalone book. Once the actual villain of the book finally shows up, explanations and motivations are rushed for the big combat scene.
Perhaps the biggest question bandied about but never quite answered is whether the artists’ visions and works create the future, or are created by the future. Certain segments seem railroaded.
There is plenty of room in the setting for other works, though probably not with the same main characters.
Recommended for young adults with an interest in fencing....more
I’ve mentioned before that one of my guilty pleasures is the “men’s adventure” paperback series of the 1970s. Violence, sex, drugs and the particular I’ve mentioned before that one of my guilty pleasures is the “men’s adventure” paperback series of the 1970s. Violence, sex, drugs and the particular cultural trends of the Seventies mixed with a macho writing style and pulpish sensibility. In the case of the Jason Striker series, another cultural trend is added, a fascination with East Asian martial arts. Striker is skilled at judo (his actual job is judo trainer), karate, kung fu and related skills, and has a gift for accessing his ki (inner energy) whenever the plot requires it. He also has a gift for winding up in deadly situations requiring him to use his skills in lethal ways.
In this case, Jason Striker is up against the master villain known as the Hyena. The Hyena is not only a skilled martial artist who runs a lucrative extortion racket, but a druglord, the brains behind the militant organization Blackrev (despite being a white dude), and a famous businessman who regularly hobnobs with the Washington elite. That last part is especially impressive as the Hyena is also known for his pungent body odor and serious cocaine habit.
Striker comes into conflict with the Hyena when he’s talked into being a bodyguard for a wealthy man the Hyena is trying to extort. The rich guy has a hot and barely legal daughter who wants to jump Striker’s bones, which happens after Striker manages to fend off the Hyena’s attack and there’s a brief interruption by the book’s costar.
This is Ilunga, the Black Karate Mistress (her sections are in third person, while Jason’s are in first person.) In addition to being a skilled martial artist herself, Ilunga is the last surviving addict of Killer-13, a drug that gives near superhuman physical prowess at the cost of poor night vision and dying if you stop taking it. Ilunga’s half-brother Danny has gotten in too deep with Blackrev, and she’s seeking Striker’s help as the only white man she kind of trusts.
Striker is kind of busy training America’s team for the World Judo Championship in Cuba, so he gets Ilunga in touch with his old friend Mustapha, and moves on. He’s slightly worried that he doesn’t hear back, but Ilunga is more than capable of taking care of herself. Right?
After the judo championship (America does very poorly), the main plot comes crashing back in as it now turns out Ilunga is working for the Hyena. Or is she? Time for a showdown!
Piers Anthony is better known these days for his long running Xanth fantasy series, and Roberto Fuentes was his judo teacher, who presumably did all the martial arts knowledge bits while Anthony provided the plot and characterization. The book is littered with Japanese and Chinese martial arts terms like anime fanfic is littered with “-chan” and “baka.”
Good: Jason Striker is endearingly fallible, pulling some boneheaded moves like opening the front door to a house he’s just spent most of the chapter fortifying because the Hyena politely knocked. While being lethal in non-tournament combat, he’s not the top guy when he has to follow rules.
The book’s cover promises lots of violence, and the story delivers with multiple fatalities described lovingly. (By comparison, the sex is never described though it is implied that Striker is awesome at it.)
Fidel Castro gets to chew the scenery in a long scene where he gets to be competent and clever, though Striker never lets us forget this man is a Communist dictator who would have him killed in a second if it was convenient.
Less good: Rape. Ilunga’s reason for becoming a lethal martial arts mistress is being raped at age twelve and her white attackers getting off scot-free thanks to white police officers giving them a pass. Her favorite move is crushing men’s testicles, but that hasn’t been enough to prevent her being raped a few times since, including a rape by deception in this volume, and a sexual assault.
Odd: There’s a chapter-long digression where Striker investigates Strate, an anti-drug program for teens. It turns out to use cult-style brainwashing, but is apparently otherwise not connected to the plot at all and is not secretly run by bad guys.
Content note: In addition to the afore-mentioned rape, there’s torture and brainwashing. Racism is a frequent topic and some slurs are used. Cuba not being treated as entirely a third world hellhole may upset some conservatives.
Overall: A pretty good example of men’s adventure of its time period. The series was reprinted in two-novel volumes, which seem to be available online....more
When Elektra Natchios joined the ninja organization known as the Hand, it was with the purpose of training in the martial arts and learning killing teWhen Elektra Natchios joined the ninja organization known as the Hand, it was with the purpose of training in the martial arts and learning killing techniques so that she would never be helpless again. She accepted, at least at the time, that this meant becoming the tool of the Hand and concentrated on the how of her training, without seeking to learn what the Hand actually was or where it had come from. After all, as a woman and a foreigner, why would they tell her such secrets? But now the Hand wants her to know.
Elektra was created by Frank Miller for Daredevil #168 as an old college girlfriend who’d gone away after young Matt Murdock failed to save her father from terrorists. Miller was a fan of manga such as Lone Wolf and Cub and modeled the character as a westernized version of fictional ninja assassins. This was followed up in Daredevil #174 with the introduction of the Hand, the organization that trained her, and also had a previously undisclosed connection with Daredevil’s own martial arts instructor Stick.
The authorship of this miniseries is its own story. C.B. Cebulski was an American who had lived on and off in Japan and was fluent enough in the Japanese language to work as a manga translator for Central Park Media. In 2002 he was hired as an Associate Editor at Marvel Comics. To supplement that income, Cebulski did freelance writing under the pen name “Akira Yoshida.”
Impressed with this work, and not realizing that Akira Yoshida was a psuedonym, another Marvel editor (without asking to meet the writer), asked Yoshida to pitch story concepts. Cebulski agreed without revealing his true identity as this would allow him to circumvent a Marvel company rule against editors also being paid as writers. Thus “Akira Yoshida” wrote several Japanese-themed miniseries for Marvel, including Elektra: The Hand.
After Yoshida “disappeared” once Cebulski was promoted to a position where he could openly write, enough suspicion was raised that there were some pointed questions asked, but Cebulski and Marvel claimed Yoshida was a real person who people had actually met, so the matter dropped for several years. But when Cebulski was promoted to Editor-in-Chief of Marvel Comics in 2017, the old rumors resurfaced and Cebulski admitted the truth.
So, on to the story within the comic book. Elektra herself only appears for three pages at the beginning, and four at the end. The main action is the life story of Kagenobu Oshioka, starting in 1575. These were the final years of the Sengoku Warring States period, but Kagenobu cares little about who is ruling. He’s more concerned about the rising influence of foreigners in his homeland. Especially after a Portuguese merchant assaults his mother after mistaking her for a prostitute.
Kagenobu, though but a stripling, kills the foreigner, and his mother claims she was the murderer to shield him. Her bloody handprint becomes a recurring motif in his life. Kagenobu is taken in by the head of the Ishiyama school of sword training. Kagenobu excels in the martial arts.
After a couple of years of wandering to improve his skills and learn new techniques, Kagenobu is summoned back to the school after the master dies to become the new head, to the jealousy of his old rival Sasaki. They make peace for now as Kagenobu explains his plan to fight foreign influence by creating a secret society that unites warriors from all parts of Japan. Five primary Japanese islands, five fingers for a Hand.
So in 1588, the Hand is formed. At first, things go well, but different members have diverging priorities, and soon an excuse is found to take the organization in a very different and perhaps darker direction.
There’s some good action scenes, and a twisty plot. The art is decent.
However, the provenance of the story makes some of the creative choices seem a little off, appealing more to the American taste in Japanese stories than believability. And then there’s the moment where our hero learns “What? Somehow our allies have learned that the woman I’ve been training, Eliza Martinez, whose name I have not bothered to conceal, whose parentage is a matter of public record, whose foreign father often visits our location, is in fact not full-blooded Japanese? How could this happen!?”
And to be honest, most of this story is irrelevant to the Hand’s current day storylines as it’s what the organization became at the end of the story that has appeared in all other tales.
Still, if Western adaptations of Japanese action films are your cup of tea, you might well enjoy this. Check it out at your local library....more
This is the classic first Zorro story, usually seen under its other title, "The Mark of Zorro." The plot will seem familiar to anyone who's seen one oThis is the classic first Zorro story, usually seen under its other title, "The Mark of Zorro." The plot will seem familiar to anyone who's seen one of the movie versions. Foppish nobleman Don Diego Vega dons a mask and becomes the crusading highwayman Senor Zorro (Mr. Fox) to battle oppression in Spanish California. Author Johnston McCulley leans heavily on the example of Baroness Orczy's Scarlet Pimpernel.
But this first version is distinct. Zorro wears a sombrero and serape, relying on a pistol to intimidate as much as on his fencing skill. (The author liked the costume worn by Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. so much he wrote it in to later stories of Zorro.)
Also, until the big reveal at the end, Don Diego and Zorro are written as two separate characters. It's not a mystery for the readers, as there are no other suspects for the role of Zorro, but there are no scenes where either of them changes into the other or thinks in the other's thought patterns. The story leaves open the possibility that the twist ending is not going to be the one we're all expecting.
Good stuff: exciting adventure, the dashing courtship of Senorita Pulido by Zorro, the humor of Don Diego's lifeless personality contrasted with Zorro's passion.. Lolita Pulido getting to be a dynamic character in her own right.
Not so good: Zorro may be the protector of peons, natives and monks, but he is very much class-conscious. He is insistent that he is a caballero of good blood, and objects to high-born prisoners being housed with those of lesser families. And although Zorro's triumph comes when he inspires the young people to become politically active on the side of justice, it is no democratic uprising, but young lords taking back their power from politicians.
Also, both Zorro and the villainous Captain Ramon make (initially) unwanted romantic overtures towards Senorita Pulido, but they're treated differently by the narration because Zorro's good and Captain Ramon is evil. (Zorro flirts and kisses hands, and then starts asking for consent; Ramon demands affection and goes straight for the lips.)
Content notice: There are scenes of whipping as torture, both by the corrupt government and by Zorro, who then forces others to participate.
Recommended to Zorro fans who've only seen the movies, and to romantic adventure fans of all kinds....more
Hinako is looking forward to high school. She grew up in an orphanage, constantly harassed by bullies until she learned to fight back, only to get a rHinako is looking forward to high school. She grew up in an orphanage, constantly harassed by bullies until she learned to fight back, only to get a reputation as a violent tomboy. Ever since, the rumors about her fighting skills have kept her from having any friends. But now she’s going into an elegant girls-only academy, where Hinako will finally be able to be feminine and have friendships with other girls.
Wrong! On her way to the entrance ceremony, she’s accosted by a boy who looks almost exactly like her, and dragooned into wearing his uniform and going to Shishiku, a boys’ school for rampaging delinquents! The school is essentially a fighting tournament to discover the toughest young hoods to rule the school, and Hinako’s new identity of Hikaru turns out to be a huge target painted on her back. Fight time!
This manga (the title translates roughly as “Violent Delinquent Maiden”) is based on an otome-genre “visual novel.” For those unfamiliar with the terms, a visual novel is a computer/video game that’s like a Find Your Own Adventure book–most of the gameplay consists of making choices and following different paths through the story. The otome genre involves a young woman placed in an unusual situation and given the choice of several attractive young men to romance.
It turns out that Hikaru is Hinako’s long-lost twin brother, the son of a Yakuza (Japanese mobsters) boss. In order to inherit leadership of the clan, he must attend Shishiku. The problem is that he’s a total wimp with no fighting skills. Hikaru’s also self-centered enough not to just ditch the wealth and prestige that comes with the position. So when he found out Hinako was alive, he came up with the switch idea. (In exchange, he attends the all-girl school disguised as Hinako, which he apparently enjoys.)
At Shishiku, Hinako promptly starts busting faces and making friends. Turns out some of these delinquents are amazingly good looking, especially the mysterious Rintaro Kira, who turns out to have a surprise connection to Hinako’s past.
Hinako starts having feelings for some of the boys, but romance is going to be a bit difficult while she’s pretending to be Hikaru.
The storyline has some similarities to So Cute It Hurts!! which I reviewed a while back, but isn’t as engaging. The brother in that one was a bit of a jerk but also had good qualities he showed often, and the plot was balanced. In this story, Hikaru shows no redeeming qualities as of yet, and functions more as a plot device.
The character art is okay, but backgrounds are almost non-existent.
Content notes: bullying, frequent but non-gory violence.
Mostly for fans of the visual novel, but should also appeal to fans of girls disguised as boys and kicking butt....more
Quick recap: In 19th Century England, orphan Dio Brando comes to live with the wealthy and noble Joestar family. In retrospective, they probably shoulQuick recap: In 19th Century England, orphan Dio Brando comes to live with the wealthy and noble Joestar family. In retrospective, they probably should have asked more questions about how he became an orphan. Dio planned to supplant the heir, Jonathan “Jojo” Joestar, then murder his adoptive father for the inheritance. It didn’t quite work out that way, and Dio has been forced to resort to a stone mask with occult properties. See my review of the previous volume.
As this volume opens, the police riddle Dio with bullets, and his presumed corpse falls out the window. Jojo has a touching farewell with his dying father, who now recognizes his fault in treating Jonathan poorly. The police inspector gives a long speech about how he should have exiled Dio’s father Dario Brando to Australia with his family twenty years ago, but Lord Joestar had covered for the wicked man out of kindness.
Speedwagon suddenly notices that Dio’s body has disappeared, but too late. Dio is now a powerful vampire, and slices the police inspector’s head off before draining the blood from another cop. Being shot in the head doesn’t even slow Dio down, and the blood allows him to regenerate.
What follows is the first of the awesome battles that the Jojo franchise is famous for, resulting in a narrow victory for Jonathan at the cost of his home. While Jonathan recovers in the hospital and is reunited with his childhood sweetheart Erina Pendleton, the Chinese shopkeeper returns to the site of the battle to dig up the stone mask. As it turns out, Dio is not quite finished.
Dio is badly wounded, and starts recruiting minions to do his dirty work while he recovers, starting with Jack the Ripper.
Meanwhile, Jojo and Erina meet Baron Zeppeli, an eccentric Italian nobleman with a connection to the stone mask. It seems that when Zeppeli was young, his father was an archaeologist who led an expedition to Mexico, where they found the mysterious artifact. Zeppeli’s father tried it out on the ship home, and slaughtered the crew except Zeppeli before being struck by sunlight. The stone mask vanished with the ship, and somehow wound up being purchased by Mrs. Joestar.
Baron Zeppeli has dedicated his life to tracking down the stone mask and destroying it, as well as the monsters it creates. As part of this, he has learned the martial art “Hamon” which uses human breath to create ripples with the frequency of sunlight, deadly to vampires. Zeppeli teaches hamon to Jonathan, who turns out to be a natural adept at the art. (Unlike Speedwagon, who is nearly crippled by his one exposure.)
Erina is left behind as the three men pursue a vampire minion to Dio’s new lair, an isolated village he’s been draining dry. They’re lured into a trap by a hypnotized young thief, and Dio not only demonstrates an array of new powers, but summons two infamous knights as undead servants to fight the heroes!
This is the good stuff! With the main plot now fully engaged and battles aplenty, there’s plenty of nifty action with stellar art. Zeppeli is a good addition to the main cast; his goofy mannerisms contrast his very serious personality.
There’s a certain amount of biased history retelling regarding Queen Elizabeth and Mary, Queen of Scots that might boggle some British folks, as well as a combination of Victorian and 80’s shounen manga sexism. Araki doesn’t shy away from showing mutilated corpses and body pieces being flung around during violent sequences. The Chinese shopkeeper is also very stereotypical Yellow Peril in appearance.
If you’re a fan of any of the Jojo anime series, you’ll enjoy this as well....more
Quick recap: In 17th Century Japan, failed soldier Shinmen Takezo has reinvented himself as wandering swordsman Miyamoto Musashi. Dedicating his life Quick recap: In 17th Century Japan, failed soldier Shinmen Takezo has reinvented himself as wandering swordsman Miyamoto Musashi. Dedicating his life to perfecting his own style of swordsmanship, he travels to Kyoto and starts a feud with the Yoshioka school of kendo. Unknown to him, his childhood friend Matahachi is also in town, and accidentally sets fire to the Yoshioka dojo.
This volume opens with Musashi being nursed back to health by the rough-edged Buddhist monk Takuan. Realizing he still has a long way to go, Musashi decides to travel to Nara, there to pit himself against the spear style of the Hōzōin Temple monks. A chance encounter with an elderly gardener may be more valuable than any battle.
Musashi is distracted by thoughts of his other childhood friend, the lovely Otsu. She’s now the servant of a master of the Yagyu style of swordsmanship, who Yoshioka Denshichiro has come to train with in preparation for his next duel with Musashi.
Others are also on the road. Gion Toji of the Yoshioka school is tracking Musashi to kill him, and is none too restrained about maiming other people along the way.
Matahachi’s on the run because of the arson thing, and a chance encounter allows him to also reinvent himself as the respected warrior Sasaki Kojirō. His sections of the story are tragicomedy, as he keeps having good intentions, but the flaws in his character prevent him from following through in a crisis, and we watch him make excuse after excuse for doing less than he ought.
Miyamoto Musashi is better at learning from his mistakes; while he is not the sharpest katana in the armory, he’s partially grasped the concept of critical thinking and examining his own mindset. Still has a long way to go before being the best swordsman in Japan though.
The successor to the Hōzōin spear style, Inshun, has his own issues. He’s a natural combat genius who has never known “fear”, or had a truly serious challenge to his skills until now. Thus his growth has stalled; Inshun must learn how to deal with defeat to become stronger. His multi-chapter duel with Musashi is the centerpiece of this volume.
The art is stellar, but much of the credit for the plot and characterization must go to Eiji Yoshikawa, author of the novel this manga is an adaptation of.
There’s a lot of violence in this volume, some of it quite bloody. There’s also a brief sex scene with female nudity–this is a “mature readers” title.
This continues to be a good choice for fans of samurai action stories....more
Futaba Shimeru is a junior high school student whose voice has recently changed, and has started noticing girls, especially his pretty classmate MisakFutaba Shimeru is a junior high school student whose voice has recently changed, and has started noticing girls, especially his pretty classmate Misaki. One day, a wrestling club teammate gives Futaba a girlie magazine, and the young fellow retreats to the boys’ room to read it. The revelation of what girls look like under their clothes is exciting, and Futaba realizes this would apply to Misaki as well, and he becomes so excited he passes out.
When Futaba wakes up, he is startled to discover that he himself is now possessed of female anatomy, and partially undresses to check that yes, it’s for real. It’s at this point Futaba’s wrestling teammates burst in looking for him and find a half-naked girl instead. Some scary moments and the discovery that the transformation is not permanent later, Futaba arrives home and discovers that (unbeknownst to him) his entire family switches sex on a regular basis!
This 1990s shounen manga series was a fairly blatant “follow the leader” of Rumiko Takahashi’s Ranma 1/2, but soon goes off in its own direction. Most notably, while Ranma’s female form was treated more or less as a flesh disguise for the very male Ranma, Futaba’s two forms are both natural to his/her biology and over the course of time he/she is able to switch mental gears as quickly as the physical changes occur. There’s also more attention to what those physical changes involve, which leads to some body function humor over the course of the story.
The series ran eight volumes with an abrupt genre change in the last volume; the author had to wrap it up because of falling sales. It was originally brought to the U.S. by Studio Ironcat but has long been out of print. This new version is only available on Kindle. Nipples have been erased, and there are a couple of instances where the junior high school is referred to as “university.”
Most of the characters have over the top personalities for the sake of humor; for example, Misaki is very superstitious, while her friend Negiri is a money-grubber. This is less pleasant in the case of Futaba’s older sister Futana, who is very lecherous (even hitting on Futaba!) and Mr. Sabuyama, a teacher who lusts after teenage boys. The humor also relies heavily on selective obliviousness; not only has Futaba somehow failed to notice his entire family changing sex, but the very distinctive school principal runs around in a superhero costume every so often and his own daughter fails to make the connection.
There’s a lot of male-oriented fanservice, with the occasional pretty boy tossed in. There’s also quite a bit of slapstick violence–especially in the battle tournament in later volumes. The sexual harassment humor has not aged well.
Recommended (with reservations) for gender-bender comedy fans, and those who like Nineties manga....more
Manji used to be the samurai retainer of Lord Horii, and served faithfully until the day he discovered that the people he’d just killed on orders fromManji used to be the samurai retainer of Lord Horii, and served faithfully until the day he discovered that the people he’d just killed on orders from Horii were in fact not criminals, but innocent peasants who were going to the government with evidence of the lord’s tax embezzlement. In a fit of rage, Manji executed his master. Now a fugitive, Manji wound up killing one hundred police officers in his efforts to remain free.
The last one turned out to be his sister Machi’s husband, and witnessing this event drove her mad. This sobered Manji somewhat, and he reconsidered his habit of resorting to lethal violence while trying to take care of his sister. It was at this point that Manji met the Buddhist nun Yaobikuni, who infested him with the kessen-chu (holy bloodworms) that regenerate any wound, making Manji functionally immortal.
After a ronin (masterless samurai) gang murders Machi to force Manji into a duel, he no longer has a reason to be immortal. It turns out that he can be released from the bloodworms if he can complete a worthy goal. Manji decides to make up for murdering one hundred cops by killing one thousand criminals. But he believes he must have proof of evil before he kills someone, otherwise he’ll just be adding more stains to his soul….
This 1990s seinen manga series (originally titled Mugen no Juunin “Inhabitant of Infinity”) is set in the Edo period of Japanese history, but uses deliberate anachronisms to indicate that historical accuracy is not to be found here. The creator states in an interview contained in this volume that he was trying for a “punk” sensibility.
After the introductory chapter, the story begins to focus on the other protagonist, a young woman named Rin. She is seeking revenge on a man named Anotsu who murdered her father (in revenge for his grandfather’s offense against Anotsu’s grandfather) and had her mother raped before carrying the woman off. The problem is that Anotsu is the leader of the powerful Itto-Ryu gang, renegade warriors who are out to destroy all other schools of weapon use. Rin may be plucky, and can handle weapons, but she hasn’t had nearly enough training to handle expert fighters.
Yaobikuni suggests that Rin hire Manji to help her. He’s dubious at first–he’s been lied to before, after all, and how does he know which if any side of a revenge cycle are the evil ones? But because she reminds him of his sister, he’ll at least come along and see for himself.
As it happens, one of the Itto-Ryu members is locatable as Kuroi Sabato has been sending Rin love poems since participating in the murder of her father. As you might guess from this inappropriate behavior, Kuroi is very wrong in the head(s), and Manji agrees to help Rin out with her revenge.
The remainder of the series is trying to track down Anotsu and getting him to stay in one place long enough for Rin to get revenge, while battling members of the Itto-Ryu and other enemies made along the way.
This omnibus edition covers the first three Japanese volumes. The art is nifty with distinctive character designs (though the young women do tend towards same face.) There’s plenty of exciting blood-drenched fight scenes, and musing on the cycle of vengeance and where it gets you. The dialogue is generally good, but heavy on the snark from most of the characters, which can get tiresome.
Manji wears his namesake symbol, the counter-clockwise swastika, on his back. This is in context a Buddhist reference and has nothing to do with Nazis.
More problematic is that there’s a lot of rape in this series. While none takes place onstage in this volume, there’s discussion of it in the backstory , and male characters often threaten or express a desire to rape women. (Later on in the series, one of the recurring villains is a serial rapist.) Also, when we see Anotsu’s backstory, we learn that his grandfather was physically and emotionally abusive to both him and his cousin.
That cousin, Makie, has a story that’s centered around the ill effects of sexism. Because she has a natural talent for weapons use that is far greater than any other person in the series, Makie can’t fit into the standard social roles for women. (She tries being a prostitute for a while, and then a geisha; neither work out.) But she can also never get the respect or rank that her skills would earn if she were a man. To be Makie is suffering.
I’d recommend this series to fans of samurai revenge drama who enjoy some anachronism and can overlook the problematic elements....more
Ogami Itto was once a samurai warrior of high rank, the official executioner for the shogunate. He had a lovely wife and new son; life was good. But aOgami Itto was once a samurai warrior of high rank, the official executioner for the shogunate. He had a lovely wife and new son; life was good. But another clan was ambitious, and framed Ogami for treason. Under sentence of execution and with his wife murdered, Ogami asked his infant son to make a choice between merciful death and life on the run. now Ogami is a ronin, and an assassin for hire. If you need someone dead, and you can find them, you can hire the Lone Wolf assassin who travels with his cub.
This classic manga series was popular enough to spawn a series of live-action movies, a television series and several spin-off manga. It was also influential outside of Japan, notably influencing the art and storytelling style of Frank Miller (who provided the cover for this omnibus edition.) As such, it was one of the first manga series to be translated for the emerging American market, using the expensive and painstaking “double-flipping” method to make it read left to right.
This volume contains the first three volumes of the Japanese version, and these stories are very episodic, focusing on an difficult assassination, a particular facet of feudal Japanese life, or a philosophical point. It is not until several stories in that anyone recognizes Ogami for who he is, and even longer before even a partial explanation of his past.
Ogami is a stoic character who works hard not to give away his emotions; his tenderness towards Daigoro is almost entirely seen in his actions, not his face. This does not prevent him from placing his son in danger if it will help with an assassination plan. Daigoro himself is one of the most ambiguous characters I’ve ever read. He seems most of the time to act like the small child he is, but in other instances is far too mature for his age, even allowing for the massive trauma Daigoro has undergone in his short life. It makes him kind of creepy to be honest.
The art is dynamic and varied, able to handle both exciting battles and calm scenes of nature. There’s a fair amount of reused faces, which with the episodic stories make the manga feel like a television series with a limited pool of guest star actors.
As expected from a samurai revenge story, there is plenty of violence and death; not all of Ogami’s assassination targets are evil people deserving of death. In particular in this volume, one target is a Buddhist priest who must die for political reasons–he teaches Ogami how to attain mu (“emptiness”) which allows the assassin to strike without projecting sakki (“killing intent”). This becomes an important part of Ogami’s personal sword style going forward.
There is also quite a bit of female nudity, and at least one rape/murder scene. Ogami himself is decent to the women he meets, but feudal Japanese society is not a good place for them.
Because of its influence on the subgenre of samurai manga, this series is well worth reading and rereading. Recommended for fans of this sort of thing....more
Yamada “Decapitator” Asaemon is the o-tameshiyaku, sword-tester for the shogun and official executioner of criminals. It’s not a pretty job, but at leYamada “Decapitator” Asaemon is the o-tameshiyaku, sword-tester for the shogun and official executioner of criminals. It’s not a pretty job, but at least he has one in Edo-era Japan, during a time of peace. Without wars to fight, many of the samurai vassals are on tiny stipends, while ronin without lords can at least get paying jobs if they’re willing to be a bit flexible in their ethics. The merchant class is getting richer, while the underclass of urban poor swells and rural farmers are oppressed by their petty lords. The social conditions breed crime, so there is always plenty of work for Yamada.
This seinen (young men’s) manga series is by the creators of Lone Wolf and Cub, and shares many of the themes and settings. Unlike that earlier work, however, there does not seem to be an overarching plotline. The stories are episodic, and most could take place in any order. Two stories do, however, guest star young cop Sakane Kasajiro, an expert with his hooked chain. Yamada helps him discover new ways of using his weapon to protect lives.
Yamada takes a grim satisfaction at being expert at his craft, able to decapitate the condemned with a single stroke and thus minimize their pain. He was raised from early childhood to succeed his father as executioner, and has chosen to remain single to avoid condemning his children to the same path. (One story in this volume has him briefly reconsider, but it is not to be.) Yamada seems happiest when he can bring small moments of joy into a person’s life, and is often sought out for sage advice.
The first story in the volume has Yamada challenged for the post of sword tester by Tsukuya Bakushuu, a poverty-stricken and largely self-trained swordsman. They participate in a contest of suemonogiri, precision cutting. Tsukuya loses, but cannot accept this result. It ends in tragedy. To be honest, at least half the stories here end in tragedy, not surprising, given Yamada’s job.
The closing story is particularly hard to stomach. O-Toyo murders the woman her lover abandoned him for, and mortally wounds the cheater. However, it’s a slow death wound, and he could live up to four months with good treatment. Her execution will be in three months, and O-Toyo wants to outlive the man out of pure spite. As it happens, there’s one way for a woman to get her execution delayed–getting pregnant. Now, how is that going to happen when she’s locked in a women’s prison? Yes, the story is going there. There are other examples of female nudity and rape in these stories, but this is the most brutal. And then the ending comes, and it is even more brutal. Even Yamada is shaken.
Also outstanding is the story “Tougane Yajirou”, about an elderly police officer whose use of force is considered excessive even by the standards of the time, and who is much more interested in catching criminals than in preventing crime. Yamada disapproves, but there is a story behind the old man’s cruel behavior.
Koike and Kojma do a masterful job of depicting a world that is both very familiar in its everyday life, and alien in its way of thinking. This omnibus edition combines three of the Japanese volumes, and is presented in the expensive and time-consuming fully-flipped format, so it reads left to right.
Recommended for mature readers who enjoyed Lone Wolf and Cub or are otherwise fans of samurai action....more
Soun Tendou, a widowed martial arts instructor in the Nerima suburb of Tokyo, has three daughters: gentle Kasumi, cunning Nabiki and fiery Akane. TheySoun Tendou, a widowed martial arts instructor in the Nerima suburb of Tokyo, has three daughters: gentle Kasumi, cunning Nabiki and fiery Akane. They are surprised to learn one day that their father made an agreement with his old friend Genma Saotome to marry one of them to Genma’s son Ranma. Akane is unimpressed with the old-fashioned idea of an arranged marriage, especially as it turns out Mr. Tendou has never actually seen Ranma and knows nothing about him.
Imagine their surprise when a panda shows up at their door with a young girl in tow, who claims her name is Ranma Saotome! Akane immediately takes to her fellow martial artist, who is endearingly shy. However, when Akane walks in on Ranma in the bathtub, it turns out he’s male after all! Also, the panda is actually Genma Saotome. A couple of months ago, the two of them fell into cursed pools in a training exercise gone horribly wrong. As a result, they change forms when splashed with cold water, returning to normal when exposed to hot water.
Soun decides that the engagement is still on, so Kasumi and Nabiki immediately dump the arrangement on Akane. Citing Akane’s difficulties with boys, Nabiki points out that Ranma is a girl some of the time. Akane objects, and Ranma makes a rude remark that gets him hit with a table.
The engagement stands, and the quarrelsome couple must learn to deal with each other while coping with other transformees, wacky martial artists, a love dodecahedron and the continuing fallout of Genma and Soun’s terrible life choices.
This romantic martial arts comedy manga ran in Shonen Sunday from 1987-1996, and spawned an anime series, several movies and OAVs, and relatively recently a live-action TV film. It (particularly the anime) was a gateway series for many American fans in the early 1990s.
Much of the comedy in the series comes from the fact that Ranma is a very macho young man, who is exaggeratedly masculine and often trapped in a short, busty girl’s body. Raised in relative isolation by his none-too-socially-ept father, Ranma has heroic instincts but is rude and uncultured, often setting off Akane with unthinking insults. Over the course of the series, Ranma learns how to use his female form to his advantage, but never fully reconciles himself to it or the social role it’s supposed to play.
Akane also struggles with social roles. She’s very attractive (though you will need to take the story’s word for it) which has caused her problems with boys and other perverts, and exacerbated her hair-trigger temper. She’s amazingly bad at most traditional feminine domestic skills, and her best strong point, her martial arts ability, is routinely overshadowed by Ranma and his opponents. Since both the main characters are stubborn and cantankerous, even as they slowly fall in love they can’t admit it.
It should be noted here that most of the people in this series are jerks to one degree or another. Much of the nonsense that drives Ranma and Akane apart even as they draw closer together could have been avoided if someone hadn’t decided to be a jerk at the wrong moment. Even normally adorable Kasumi has her off moments.
Overall, the series is a lot of fun, with enjoyable art, funny jokes and silly characters. And once in a while some tense action. Like many long-runners, it sags some in the middle (the “introduce new wacky character” gimmick only works so many times) and the ending doesn’t really resolve anything. But hey, it’s a comedy.
Given the premise, there’s quite a lot of nudity in the series; if your child is too young to be shown that girls have nipples, they’re too young to be reading this. (One of the running jokes is that Ranma has no body modesty.)
More problematic is that “girls hitting boys that make them angry, even by accident, is hilarious” is driven into the ground in this series. Akane is the worst offender, being the female lead, but most of the other girls are just as awful proportionate to their screen time. Even by the 1990s, social attitudes were shifting, and by now it can make for some uncomfortable reading. Also, some of the things Genma does to Ranma as “martial arts training” would get him arrested for child abuse, and the perverted old master Happosai is treated as an annoyance rather than a sexual offender.
The series does not so much deconstruct Japanese gender roles so much as poke them repeatedly with a sharp stick.
The anime is also good (and has a lot of nice music) but relies heavily on filler (episodes that are anime-only and often have continuity issues) and ends when Ranma’s long-lost mother shows up (about 2/3rds of the way through.) Later season have poorer animation quality as production was moved to cheaper studios.
Viz originally brought Ranma 1/2 over using the flipped-artwork process to make it read left-to-right; between that and their then deliberately slow release of volumes, it took forever to come out in the U.S. (so the anime was a bigger influence on the fanfiction.) It’s now being reprinted in the otaku-friendly right-to-left format, with each volume containing two of the Japanese volumes.
In Volume 1-2, the one to hand, the main characters are introduced. Ranma is assigned to the same school as Akane, and we meet Dr. Tofuu (a practitioner of traditional Japanese medicine and Akane’s first crush) and Tatewaki Kunou, the belligerent and amorous upperclassman who’s done the most to cause Akane’s attitude towards boys. Kunou starts a feud with male Ranma while falling in love with female Ranma (this does not stop him hitting on Akane, and Kunou never fully grasps that the two Ranmas are the same person.)
Just as it looks like Ranma and Akane’s relationship might be warming up, Ranma’s martial arts rival Ryouga appears. Although he’s very strong, Ryouga has a terrible sense of direction, and is cursed to turn into a cute little piglet. Ryouga blames Ranma for that last thing (for the wrong reasons) and is bent on revenge. He also falls in love with Akane. In this first story arc, Ryouga is a clear “heel” but eventually has the most positive character development of anyone in the series.
Ranma and Ryouga have reached something of a stalemate when a new challenger appears, Kodachi Kunou (sister of Tatewaki), who is a mistress of Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics and plays very dirty. After she cripples the Fuurinkan High gymnastics team, Akane is called in to save their honor. Too bad she doesn’t know anything about rhythmic gymnastics! A teacher appears, but Kodachi is determined to end the match before it begins….
Highly recommended to fans of Inu-Yasha and those with an interest in poking fun at gender roles....more
It is the 1930s, and Hank Chu lives in the Chinatown neighborhood of San Incendio. He wants a simple, quiet life, working with his father in the familIt is the 1930s, and Hank Chu lives in the Chinatown neighborhood of San Incendio. He wants a simple, quiet life, working with his father in the family grocery store. Hank’s mother, on the other hand, has bigger plans. She’s learned about this new phenomenon called “superheroes” and sees no reason why a Chinese-American kid couldn’t be one. Specifically Hank.
The Shadow Hero
Despite Hank’s reluctance, his mother drags him into a quest to become a costumed superhero, the Golden Man of Bravery. It doesn’t work out that well. But in the wake of tragedy, Hank discovers that he has an amazing legacy after all, and a new purpose in life. It’s possible that the Green Turtle may be able to do some good after all.
This book came about because Gene Luen Yang, creator of Boxers & Saints, learned about an obscure Golden Age comic book character named the Green Turtle. An artist named Chu Hing created him as a feature for Blazing Comics. The short-lived series had a number of peculiarities to it. Although the Green Turtle operated in China against the Japanese invaders, and had Chinese elements to his costume, it was implied he wasn’t from China. His face was never fully seen, either turned away from the reader, or covered by something. And the Green Turtle kept promising to reveal how he became a costumed hero, but was always interrupted.
This created suspicion among comics scholars that Chu Hing intended for the Green Turtle to be of Chinese ancestry, but was not allowed to make this overt by his company’s editorial policy. Sadly, Chu Hing died in obscurity long before anyone thought to ask.
So, in a feat worthy of Roy Thomas, Gene Luen Yang decided to take the fragments of information available, and weave them into a tale of America’s first Chinese-American superhero.
A great deal of humor and sadness is woven into the action. A major theme of the story is that appearances can be deceptive. Hank’s father is not a coward, Red Center is not a helpless maiden, Ten Grand is not a vaudeville version of Fu Manchu, and a naked face can be the best mask of all. Hank’s mother moves the early part of the story with her tendency to judge by appearances, and her yearning for more than the disappointments her life has offered.
Hank himself must learn how to be a hero; powers and martial arts training help, and so does motivation, but in the end he must choose wisely and justly to be a true hero.
Racism, both overt and unintentional, is a recurring problem in the setting. Even Green Turtle’s police contact, Detective Lawful, is not as free of prejudice as he’d like to be. There’s also some crude sexual references, so parents may want to screen the book before allowing readers below junior high or so to read it Certainly they will want to talk to their children about inappropriate language and behavior modeled by some of the characters.
That said, this is a worthy addition to the ranks of still rare Asian-American superheroic fiction. I highly recommend it to comics fans looking for something a little different....more
Disclaimer: I received this boxed set as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it.
Little Bao is a farm boy who loves the Chinese opeDisclaimer: I received this boxed set as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it.
Little Bao is a farm boy who loves the Chinese operas performed at the spring festivals every year. But one year a foreign devil, a missionary, appears and disrupts the festival, destroying the image of the Earth god that protects the village. Disaster follows soon thereafter, both for the village and for Bao’s family.
Bao comes to hate the Christian missionaries and their foreign backers, as well as the “secondary devils”, Chinese who have converted to the Christian faith. The government is in the pocket of the foreigners, but eventually Bao becomes part of a liberation movement, the Society of the Righteous and Harmonious Fist.
Four-Girl is an unwanted child, a fourth daughter who is so unwelcomed by her own family that they don’t even give her an actual name. Called a “devil”, she resolves to become the best devil she can be–and this leads her to Christianity. In that community, she finds things she never had before: cookies, compassion, acceptance, and the ability to choose her own name (Vibiana) and purpose in life.
It’s too bad that the Boxers are going around killing all the Christians.
This pair of graphic novels by Gene Luen Yang, creator of American Born Chinese, are set during the Boxer Rebellion (primarily 1899-1901) and are reflections of each other. Both Bao and Vibiana find themselves unable to accept their circumstances, and rebel in different ways. These counterpart viewpoints cross over during their stories, showing that events have more than one interpretation, and the cruel ironies of incomplete information.
Bao and Vibiana also both have spiritual experiences, Bao channels Ch’in Shih-huang, the first Emperor of China, who turns out to be a very demanding ghost. Vibiana has visions of Joan of Arc, who encourages the young woman to seek her own path, but whose final fate foreshadows the ending of both stories.
As these books are fictional versions for the young adult audience, historical events have been simplified somewhat. to fit into the narrative. No side ends up the “good guys” however. The Harmonious Fist has high principles, but not everyone in their group keeps all of them, and even Bao finds himself committing atrocities. Father Bey, an antagonist in Boxers, is a more sympathetic character in Saints, but his judgmental nature and bluntness cause more than one bad outcome.
Trigger Warning: Bao’s brothers bully him initially, though they come to respect him later. Four-Girl goes through years of emotional abuse, ending in a cold-blooded act of physical abuse that drives Vibiana away from her family forever.
These graphic novels cover a period of history that most Westerners are likely unfamiliar with beyond a brief mention in World History or the Yellow Peril literature of the early Twentieth Century. They are best read back-to-back, and now come in a boxed set for that purpose. Parents should consider reading these with their young adults to discuss some of the more difficult subject matter, and checking out the Further Reading in the back which lists more scholarly looks at the history.
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