By GONZO and Minoru Murao
Tokyopop, 179 pp.
Rating: 16+

I am going to flat out say it: I did not enjoy Burst Angel. Ever since I saw that colorful box set featuring those busty teen girls wielding enormous guns, I knew it wasn’t for me. Not to say that the anime series is bad—I’ve heard that it’s a fairly decent series despite being such a gore fest. Tokyopop, however, (possibly in one of their scrambles to try and make some money) has decided that it would be a good idea to turn the series into a short manga collection. As a business move, this could be profitable in drawing established fans, saving a lot on advertising. But these kind of anime-to-manga conversions never really work out.

Burst Angel follows the story of pseudo lesbian couple, Jo and Meg. They are pair of specially skilled girls, calling themselves “Jacks of All Trades.” They will take on any job for money, especially stealing. A career as dangerous as this usually makes more enemies than you bargain for, and that’s exactly what happens to Jo and Meg. In addition to ruining their lifestyle, this ever-present and seemingly endless problem ruins the story. There are no cutesy chapters where Jo and Meg learn about themselves while helping others, only constant fighting.

This touches upon my two main problems in the story. Number one: the characters never grow. Jo’s character remains incredibly stoic and empty through the volume. She speaks softly, but it is either so direct or so meaningless you just wish she’d shut up. Meg brings all of the attitude and personality to the team. Yet without a good contrasting character, she is just an annoying teen who isn’t really helpful in any situation (she just gets kidnapped or runs away through the volume). Number two: the art is deplorable. The characters are very weakly drawn, leaving much to desire for details. It is also semi-sexualized art, taking many opportunities to show off the ladies’ figures—but even this is done poorly. The action scenes are too brief, starting and ending within three pages. The panels themselves are very awkwardly angled; though they depict Jo shooting, the reader never gets a decent view of the action. Minoru Murao just doesn’t know how to build up the intensity of an action scene.

Altogether, it seems like Burst Angel was put out ASAP, cutting the value of work. Sadly, this is what I have experienced with many anime-to-manga translations; they become loose adaptations or even prequels to the story, losing their original meaning as a series.

Burst Angel is a series that I couldn’t recommend to anyone. You could easily satisfy your need for gun-slinging girls with Gunslinger Girl (simple) or Gunsmith Cats. Whatever your choice may be, don’t bother with Burst Angel.

Volume one of Burst Angel is available now.