By Tatsurou Nakanishi
ADV Manga, 176 pp.
Rating: 13+

ADV had a pretty spotty publishing record, and Dream Gold: Knights in the Dark City is one of the titles it dropped the ball on. It’d be one thing if author Tatsurou Nakanishi only completed a single volume of his cyber-punk/fantasy series, but a total of five installments were released in Japan, and it’s a shame ADV never went to the trouble of translating them.

I found the story to be so-so at best, but the main characters are likeable, and the artwork thoroughly interesting. Faces look simple and sketchy, and Tatsurou frames action from a lot of different angles. Meanwhile, his layouts can be downright strange at times, with panels running across two pages or inexplicably turned on their sides. I also give Tatsurou credit for instilling details where they have the most effect: for example, when a fleet of airships is crawling across the night sky, we can tell different types apart by their silhouettes.

The series kicks off in the year 2050, where for some inexplicable reason, there’s treasure to be found in the titular metropolis. As a result, 250 fortune hunters, dubbed the Knights, are authorized to run wild in search of “Dream Gold.” Protagonists Kurorat and Katana want to join up, but in order to do so, they must find the 250th key, which also happens to be the “One True Key.”

Why is it called the “One True Key?” That mystery quickly falls by the wayside. Instead, after Kurorat becomes a Knight, he and Katana find themselves contending with other treasure hunters who always seem spoiling for a fight. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear the universe envisioned by Tatsurou was patterned after a video game: characters earn points and level-up by accomplishing certain tasks and, after a certain point, face-offs between avatars bearing large, elaborate weapons serve as the de facto plot.

At least the action is consistently over-the-top and ridiculous. Each chapter of volume one is chock-full of explosions, buildings getting their facades shredded, and payloads that look potent enough to flatten Dark City. At one point, in order to bail Kurorat out of a pitched battle, Katana breaks out what looks like an anti-aircraft cannon on steroids. Luckily, said metropolis appears to be about 75% abandoned warehouses, so the destruction consumes property, but rarely civilians.

In addition, the Knights themselves seem to be least likely to end up part of any body count. At least the relationship between Kurorat and Katana—who are easily likeable, based on their underdog status—supplies Dream Gold with necessary humanity, even if the doomed aspect of it seems calculated to some extent. When together, these two are downright charming at times: she’s pushy and abusive in a playful kind of way, while he’s a dorky, non-traditional kind of hero. Katana wants Kurorat to be more assertive, but clearly cares about his well-being. “Hmm. Why don’t you participate in a fight for a change? Just kidding. Don’t die,” she tells him at one point.

Now of course, there are other things I don’t like about the series. For example, Kurorat and Katana have a magic-meets-technology device that acts as a convenient deus ex machina; if they can hi-jack a flying airship with it, do they really need to be out and about, dodging killer robots? Overall, there is room for improvement, but between the unconventional art style and central protagonists, I wouldn’t have minded reading more volumes. But since ADV has stopped publishing, who knows whether that will ever happen?

Volume one of Dream Gold: Knights in the Dark City is available now.