The Deluded Boy: Manga Reviews

Bloody Monday Volume 3
Story: Ryou Ryumon
Art : Kouji Megumi
Translator: Mari Morimoto
Publisher: Kodansha Comics, $10.99, Rated 13+

At the end of volume 2, Fujimaru had hidden himself in Maya's apartment to look for evidence that she was involved in the "Bloody Monday" conspiracy. He's able to find her laptop, but it will take 10 minutes to steal the data off it. Problem is, Maya is on her way back, and the data is not going to be downloaded before she gets back. What's a genius hacker to do? Stop the transfer and possibly miss his only shot to see if Maya is involved, or figure out a way to explain why he is in her apartment? Fujimaru decides to take the risk and stay. What ensues is a cat and mouse intellectual game between Fuji and Maya that takes us into Death Note territory. It's a pretty exciting way to open the third volume.

In the meantime, Ryunosuke, Fuji's dad, has been framed for another murder, this time, the police detective that was helping Fuji. The killing was done by one of the cop's own men, so who knows how many terrorists have infiltrated positions of power. It's generally assumed that there is even a spy in Third-I. Fuji's friends on the school newspaper are also in danger. Hide's stepmom is revealed pretty early on in this third volume as an enemy agent involved in the plot.

The element I like the most in this series is that you don't know who to trust. Can you trust this cop, can you trust your friends, even your family? For a while there I thought that maybe Kujou Otoya might be "K", the leader of the bad guys. I still don't trust him. He just gives this odd vibe with the way he looks in some panels AND the fact that he seems pretty up on Russian. There's something there but I just can't put my finger on it. Even if he's not a spy, I think he's involved. I'm also suspecting that the head of Third-I is also a terrorist agent. Again, just a vibe I get. And I love that! That this book gives me a vibe. It makes me guess, conjecture, and want to find out the truth of it all.

Ryou Ryumon was obviously influenced by Death Note in the writing of Bloody Monday. Along with the constant mindgames, he even names the leaders of the virus plan "J" and "K". J is the second in command and reminds me a lot of L from Death Note. I think that in Death Note, even though Light and L were trying to stop each other, in a weird way they were having fun. Exhilirated because they were having use their brains to the utmost limits. I think they saw each other as equals. Almost like a pyschotic school rival dichotomy. In volume 3 of Bloody Monday, J even says that Fujimaru, somewhere deep down, is enjoying all this. You can tell in future volumes that these two guys are going to try to outwit each other in some high stakes mental poker much like L and Light in Death Note. Excited to see where this series goes.

My Grade: A-

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Podcast Episode 242: Sailor Moon Volume 1

Manga podcast review of Sailor Moon Volume 1 by Naoko Takeuchi. Translated and adapted by William Flanagan. Published by Kodansha Comics, $10.99, Rated 13+

My Grade: A

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Manga Review: Fullmetal Alchemist Volume 18

Manga review of Fullmetal Alchemist volume 18 by Hiromu Arakawa. Translation by Akira Watanabe. Adapted by Jake Forbes. Originally published in Japan by Square Enix. Published in US by Viz, $9.99, Rated T for Teen.

At Fort Briggs in the far North, ruled over by the ice queen Major General Armstrong, things are heating up. The Homunculi have been using Winry's life as blackmail to keep Ed and Al from telling everyone about their evil plan to use the entire country of Amestris to make a transmutation circle. The Elric brothers have done everything they could to keep her out of danger. So imagine their shock when Winry shows up at the fort last volume! Kimblee, the Homunculi ally, tells the brothers that they must aid in his search for Scar....or else. Ed and Al decide to along with his order, hoping to find some way out of the situation along the way. Of course finding Scar, who is travelling with the dimunitive May Chang, is exactly what Ed and Al want to do anyway. Meanwhile, back at Central, Hawkeye, now serving as a the President's aide, finds out the horrible truth about his son, Selim, even as Mustang tries to marshal support against the Homunculi controlled government.

I've said it before and will continue to say it until the day I die (which hopefully won't be in 2012), but Fullmetal Alchemist is simply the best manga series out there. I love it. The art is great, the characters are incredible, and the story, except for a few strains on believability, is masterful. It just seems a bit shortsighted for the Homunculi to let Ed and Al and others that know about the truth of situation to go running around doing their own thing. I know they want the major players alive for their "sacrifice", but it would make better sense to imprison them all the right time. Even a child knows that Fullmetal is going to be trying to constantly find a way to defeat their plans. I guess what I'm saying is that the "bad guys" in this series are kinda dumb. Or maybe they're just that confident. Maybe they are so sure their plan is going to work that they think there is no way Ed, Al, Mustang, and the others can stop them. If I was a Homunculus I would have made darn sure to get rid of at least those three. They're too dangerous. One of the best scenes in this volume is Winry finally getting to confront Scar about killing her parents. I'm not going to spoil what happens but she has to come to a decision. Is she going to take her revenge or find some other way of dealing with his crime? Brilliant work. An all-time great series.

My Grade: A