Hige vs. Otaku

I have no idea whether Viz’s imprint SIGIKKI has been successful. The steady increase of titles suggests something positive, and the return from that worrying hiatus is a relief, but a braying part of me is anxious that it may fade into obscurity, forever destined to be a faint nostalgia pang of what could’ve been.

Thus, to ignite old fires, guide new eyes and generally make a bit of a fuss of what is wholly a seinen manga fan’s wet dream I have constructed this guide for your perusal. A brief overview of each available series peppered with flimsy analysis and crude opinion, all based on what’s currently available at the SIGIKKI site.

And because I’m covering all the (main) series available on the site, and that’s going to make this entry pretty monumental, here’s a handy contents list to cherry pick the book of your choice. There’s also a wee ‘back to the top’ link at the end of each entry that will bring you back here for further browsing.

Aferschool Charisma | Bob and his Funky Crew | Bokurano: Ours | Children of the Sea | Dorohedoro | House of Five Leaves | I’ll Give it My All . . . Tomorrow | Kingyo Used Books | Saturn Apartments

AFTERSCHOOL CHARISMA [Official Page]
Lord, with a premise like this how could it be bad? The trials and tribulations of an elite school full of clones of past historical figures (and Shiro Kamiya, the son of the school’s geneticist) get serious when Clone JFK gets the proverbial cap busted in his ass on the same day of the original’s assassination. While running for office again. Obviously.

Afterschool Charisma is completely ridiculous. There is no reasonable way to argue against this statement. The question is, is Afterschool Charisma so ridiculous as to be completely amazing? Well . . . it’s difficult to say. The fact that every male clone is a horrendously bishonen/bishojo approximation of its original, equipped with flowing locks and pouty vacant stares, is a masterstroke of unintentional comedy. As is everything about the book, really. The characters here bear absolutely no resemblance to their originals in manner or appearance and the clone conceit is a very flimsy attempt to differentiate the manga from every other supernatural school-based drama. It has moments when it potentially could be something more, particularly when the clones try and assert identities different from their forbearers, or when chibi Hilter shows up, but thus far it’s just a platform for your standard school-kid histrionics and schlocky plot twists.

So, your enjoyment will rely solely on how seriously you take it. The best approach is not at all, even when it attempts to be suspenseful or sinister. The eccentric consideration of nature vs. nurture is sort of interesting, but one volume in and it’s yet to develop beyond pretty, campy fluff. Also: ten quid says Shiro is a clone of his father. BAM.

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BOB AND HIS FUNKY CREW [Official Page]
There’s only one ‘chapter’ (four separate parts, each four pages long) of this manga currently available and it feels like quite an enquired taste. It follows Bob, a hypochondriac baseball player who’s indispensable to his team but seemingly can’t do anything of actual worth. He’s accompanied by three other underdog players who have talent but are betrayed by their various amusing neuroses. Their wallowing complacency is quickly disrupted, however, by a surprise transfer to a backwater team in the arse-end of nowhere and hilarity, we assume, ensues. We assume because that’s exactly where chapter one ends.

Bob and his Funky Team has a lot of potential to appeal to baseball fans who also like a bit of slice-of-life in their manga. It has a very brief condensed storytelling method (with very busy panels) and is heavy on baseball terminology. This makes it a very niche title in a collection of very niche titles. It’s not my cup of tea, but there’s probably something there for baseball fans and I am curious to see where it’s going with the idea.

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BOKURANO: OURS [Official Page]
Bokurano: Ours is kids-pilot-mecha manga with a twist. The twist being that after each defeat of the prerequisite giant monster, the child pilot has to forfeit their life to save the world. An opportunity to dig deep within the human psyche and explore the implications of responsibility and sacrifice, I hear you ask? You’re god damn right it is. The ever-glorious Mohiro Kitoh does not hold back and focuses on each of the fifteen kids as their time in the control seat approaches, drawing incredibly deep characterisation from their past and present experiences. The way each child responds to their role, whether it be with stoic duty, hysterical fear or complete despair, is justified with flashbacks to past traumas, difficult family relationships, the whole spectrum of experience.

But then, I probably don’t need to explain Bokurano: Ours to anyone that reads this site. Most of you, depressingly, have likely seen the anime and enjoyed it. I’m here to tell you that if you haven’t yet, read the manga. For the love of god please read the manga. Bokurano’s anime, in my humble opinion, was a maudlin, spineless approximation of Kitoh’s fantastic original and you owe it to one of the finest seinen mangakas out there to experience his story as originally intended (professionally translated, no less). The anime was indeed a lovely moment of sugarcoating, and I admit I’m being overly dickish about a show that, independent from its source, is quite good, but the true excellence of Bokurano is in its bite and the brutal examination of human nature. This is one of the major series from SIGIKKI; an opportunity to show love for Mohiro Kitoh and get more of his stuff licensed.

Note: The first SIGIKKI volume of Bokurano: Ours is out in shops now, but the chapters have yet to be taken down. Hotfooting is advised.

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CHILDREN OF THE SEA [Official Page]
Ruka is the daughter of a marine biologist and has memories of seeing ghosts in the aquarium where her father works. Flash-forward a number of years and the adolescent Ruka is an impulsive somewhat isolated teen that finds herself back at the aquarium and in the company of two very peculiar boys. An ethereal beautiful adventure into the deep unknown ensues as the world’s sea life inexplicably centres into the waters of Tokyo.

Children of the Sea is one of my favourite new titles from last year and I’ve gushed about it previously on the site. Daisuke Igarashi is another seinen heavyweight and it’s exciting to finally see his work licensed and officially translated. The major problem we have here is that Children of the Sea is currently one of the few series to actually hold true to the release method laid out by SIGIKKI – meaning once a hardcopy of the volume is available, all its chapters are taken off the site. So reading it online is now is a bit tricky.

But this doesn’t change the fact that you should get your hands on the first two print editions that are now available. Viz have done a bang-up job with the presentation and Igarashi’s artwork is never better than on paper held up two inches from your face. It’s also one of the few opportunities to put your money where your mouth is with SIGIKKI and financially support the venture. I shan’t lecture you about it – Viz are a major manga publisher and not exactly short on money-spinners (hiya, Naruto) – but if you want imprints like this to survive then some bucks need to be laid down in the appropriate fashion. It’s just a happy bonus that Children of the Sea is also fantastic.

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DOROHEDORO [Official Page]
The surprise find of the collection. Dorohedoro combines strong European aesthetic influences with batshit insane . . . everything else. It follows a transmuted lizard man called Caiman and his lady friend Nikaido as they traverse the dystopian nightmare that is The Hole, searching for the sorcerer responsible for Caiman’s monstrous visage (avec obligatory amnesia). The method? Some serious face chowing. Caiman finds a sorcerer, puts their head in his mouth and waits for ‘the man inside’ to say something. Anything other than ‘You’re not the one’ and horrible violence ensues. The sorcerers, elsewhere in another dimension of their own, aren’t too pleased about this and particularly that Caiden is impervious to their magic. En, their leader, enlists the help of his best clean up crew and grimy blood-splattered japery commences.

Dorohedoro is currently on a once-a-mouth release schedule, which is infuriating because only with the sixth chapter has an overarching plot developed and a mightily entertaining one at that. The sorcerers use the inhabitants of The Hole for their magical experiments, completely defenceless against the disfiguring powers they wield, and Caiman is the only one who can resist them. It doesn’t hurt (well…) that he and Nikaido also happen to be very talented at killing people, mostly in two favours: brutal and gory (both of which are fantastically rendered by Q Hayashida). It feels a little bit procedural sometimes, and has a levity that neuters the darker elements, but the artwork combined with the off-centre story ideas are very enjoyable. Not unlike my gran with a plate of chicken chow mein in front of her Dorohedoro is a strong recommendation for those willing to step outside their comfort zone and try something a touch more . . . ethnic.

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HOUSE OF FIVE LEAVES [Official Page]
Natsume Ono is going to become a very big deal this year. Having had the fortune to read her graphic novel not simple before House of Five Leaves meant I could see why first hand. And while House of Five Leaves doesn’t quite yet match the brilliance of not simple, judged, as it should be, as an ongoing story it has a lot going for it.

Masanosuke is a ronin desperately unemployed and desperately ill-suited to the samurai way of life. He’s lanky, gawkish and constantly intimidated. The opening chapters find him wandering aimlessly looking for yojimbo work to maintain his samurai status. He comes across a rather charismatic chap by the name of Yaichi who hires Masa for what appears to be a simple bodyguard job only to discover Yaichi is rather more sinister than he initially appears. He is in fact the leader of a criminal group called Five Leaves who specialise in thievery and kidnapping, all of which are tinged with a Robin Hood-esque sense of philanthropy. They rob and kidnap from those deemed deserving to make broader social statements about the corruption of the ruling class and the ill treatment of those beneath them. Masa is rapidly caught up in their disreputable actions and finds himself torn between a haughty samurai morality and a strange sense of belonging.

The altruistic thief concept isn’t particularly new, but the real weight of House of Five Leaves comes from the contrasting personalities of Masa and Yaichi and how each look to benefit from the other. Yaichi, a xxxHolic Yoko-like enigma, has intentions that are near impossible to read. He’s sees the use of Masa’s self-hating personality, its ability to inspire a sort of pitying trust, and how that can be useful for criminal undertakings but never gives away what his broader plans are. Masa wrestles with his moral misgivings over Five Leave’s activities while being drawn to both Yaichi’s confidence and the sense of belonging he feels within the group. The manga is subtle and poised in how it deals with this seesawing conflict/admiration and compelling in how it digs deep without giving too much away. Masa is very much a Shinji-type with his crippling self-awareness and seeming inability to find the inner-strength he needs, and Yaichi is fascinating in his inscrutability and easy charisma. Both are interesting characters and while the wider concept feels inherently predictable Ono’s delivery has a danger that makes House of Five Leaves feel different and really rather compelling.

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I’LL GIVE IT MY ALL . . . TOMORROW [Official Page]
There’s a fantastic scene in I’ll Give it My All . . . Tomorrow where protagonist man-child Shizuo hallucinates an epic battle with God, embodying the self-doubt over his new career choice and his life in general. It’s one of many bizarre and hilarious moments that build an otherwise depressing picture of a man who feels completely lost. Shizuo just hasn’t quite grown up. The manga’s core thrust that he quits his day job to become a professional mangaka is just one example of his childish grasp on reality. He views his teenage daughter as the mild-mannered ideal only have it crushed by finding her working in a sex hotel. He finally builds up the motivation to create a true manga opus only to have to all his ideas diplomatically rejected by a disingenuous publisher whose encouragement smacks of cruel mockery. His father, who he lives with, is the only one willing to call him out on his immaturity but does nothing to help him. He’s emasculated, irresponsible and inspires no respect from those around him.

But I’ll Give it My All . . . Tomorrow is hilarious if you’re willing to vibe on its wavelength. It has a very dry sense of humour, never giving explicit cues when something is meant to be funny, relying more posthumous realisation than on the nose comedy. On paper the setup is quite bleak, and the execution doesn’t exactly demonstrate otherwise, but Shizuo’s complete lack of self-awareness and his strangely sweet childishness means it never gets bogged down in the reality of things. In many ways you could see the book as a feel good journey where a man overcomes his personal failings to achieve his dreams and direct his life to a better place, but it’s not without lots of cynicism and this bite is what makes it so appealing.

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KINGYO USED BOOKS [Official Page]
The first chapter of Kingyo Used Books explains how I’m probably going to feel in ten years time. It’s about nostalgic associations, how a particular interest from childhood can come back in later life and remind us of feelings and experiences we’d otherwise forgotten. The hobby itself might merely seem to be an instigator of remembrance, but after a moment of reflection we realise that the diversion itself plays a major part in the warmth we recall. Kingyo Used Books is about reminding us to acknowledge this fact.

Anyone that’s taken the time to read this post will instantly take to Kingyo. It’s sort of a manga meta narrative about people whose lives are benefited by reading comics (it even has a wee historical synopsis of famous works at the end of each story). Each chapter tells a new story with different characters but they all orbit around Natsuki and her used manga shop. Some stories are peppered with regret – manga symbolising a time they want to forget or ignore – others are about joyful rediscoveries and reunions. All of them seem to celebrate accepting the past and its importance in shaping who we are in the present.

I’m keeping this short because a broader narrative hasn’t quite developed yet but I will say that, if you’ll allow an anime comparison, Time of Eve fans will definitely find Kingyo Used Books is worth a look. Certainly, if you enjoy manga then Kingyo Used Books is worth a look. So, that’s basically all of you. Get me?

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SATURN APPARTMENTS [Official Page]
The setup of Saturn Apartments feels a little at odds with what the actual content explores. The whole of Earth has been declared a conservation site and as a result humanity has had to emigrate to a massive orbiting ring around the planet. The ring itself it made up of three distinct levels that directly correspond to the social class of the people living there (upper, middle and lower) and the book’s story follows a young man from the lower levels who’s recently graduated and become a window cleaner just like his father. But Mitsu’s job doesn’t involve catching people dancing naked to Beyonce, or sending the many dogs of the world in a frenzied fit of barking. His job is to clean the glass exterior of ring itself; a trade that his recently deceased father would attest the danger of doing, having fell from his harness to Earth and, seemingly, to his death.

Contrary to the potentially high sci-fi concept that Saturn Apartments suggests, the book is probably the most grounded in theme and execution than any other series available on the SIGIKKI site. It takes the popular themes of Japanese fiction – how our roles in society shape our personal identity, honouring the family, deeply felt personal responsibility – and does displace them somewhat with an idiosyncratic setup but certainly doesn’t take them lightly. Mitsu joins his father’s old company and finds he casts a deep shadow, which proves to be a benefit and a hindrance. Some members of the crew help him out of fond remembrance; others resent his special treatment and hate him for it. All this is accentuated by a strong sense of obligation that weighs heavy on Mitsu’s shoulders. He has to live up to his father’s name while wrestling with the mystery of his death.

It’s a beautifully told story, done with a strong, confident aesthetic and a very broad scope. With the later chapters of volume one we already see how Hisae Iwaoka juggles the overarching narrative with more contained stories about the crew themselves and the customers they work for. These diversions from Mitsu’s story also flesh out the very unique world they live in with a subtle grace that never feels convoluted or compromises the elegance of the storytelling.

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Thus ends the current iteration of this guide. I’m going to update it periodically to try and keep it as accurate as possible. Mainly, though, it’s a starting point that I hope has proved useful those new to SIGIKKI and the imprint’s range of titles. One little post-script I will include here is that you have to read Natsume Ono’s not simple. There’s a single chapter preview on the site that hints at its brilliance but the whole graphic novel (that’s right, you heard me) is astonishing. Get it bought.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 at 7:55 pm and is filed under Manga. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.