By Shunshin Maeda
UDON Entertainment, 200 pp.
Rating: All Ages

Sometimes I am glad I am not a kid in this day and age. While some comics, like BakéGyamon, stand firm above the massive clutter of kids’ products, others struggle to stand upright. That’s where Ninja Baseball Kyuma comes in. The manga is a silly tale of a ninja boy named Kyuma, who has lived in the mountains for his whole life, who is suddenly found by Kaoru, captain of the Moonstar baseball team. Alongside the rest of the Moonstar team and Kyuma’s cute ninja dog, Inui, Kyuma and Kaoru learn some life lessons about winning, doing your best, and the power of teamwork. Though the book carried these messages pretty clearly, it ended up not being a grand slam.

Altogether, what I was most disappointed by was the artwork. Don’t be deceived by the fiery, intense colors of the cover; the rest of the book proves to be ice cold. Some of the panels come out really well, driving home the fact that Kyuma isn’t your ordinary baseball player. There is one panel that is particularly striking, where Kyuma lassos the competition in one fell swoop. This scene, as well as several others, impressively sets the mood for greater ninja action, but there really isn’t much outside of those few occasions. Most of the panels are cluttered and hard on the eyes.

Even for the shorter attention span of a child, I feel like this book has too much going on. Character design falls into the same trap. Several members of the team have distinctive styles, ranging from the shaggy-haired pitcher to the elven co-captain—it’s nice to see such a broad representation of characters—but I had a problem with Kyuma’s character design. For a character that is supposed to be this super-powerful, dare I say masculine character, is portrayed as very effeminate. He strikes several poses throughout the book that make me do a double take. Maybe it’s Shunshin Maeda’s attempt to break gender stereotypes, letting kids know that you don’t have to fall into the muscle-man image society has set out for you, but I doubt it.

As I mentioned in the introduction, the book does a wonderful job at teaching kids life lessons. For example, the Moonstars take on the undefeated Fighters and, of course, end up beating them. The Fighters’ enraged captain and pitcher Kido, after being beaten twice by the Moonstars, hucks a ball at one of the shortstops. Kyuma, in a magnificent ninja maneuver to save his comrades, rushes in front of the ball, ending up with an injured shoulder. Kido, surprised by Kyuma’s selflessness, admits his defeat, promising to come back a stronger rival. I enjoyed this simplistic, straightforward storytelling. It gives the book a fast but reasonable pace, allowing readers to get through it quickly.

Some aspects of the book are too simple, though, especially in terms of character and story development. Kyuma is an interesting character and gets his chance to shine throughout the book but we never really know about his past until the very end. The same goes for the rest of the team. We are provided with small blurbs with their name and small facts about them, but the book only skims the surface. I didn’t establish a connection with the characters because of it, which might be the most frightening element.

Overall, Ninja Baseball Kyuma has a bit of a way to go if it ever really wants to grab kids’ attention. There’s an interesting mix of action and humor but it’s not balanced in a way that makes sense. I would suggest leaning more toward the humor; Kyuma’s ignorance of the world around him is precious. So, if you want to get something you know kids can learn from or that you can teach from, pick up a copy of Ninja Baseball Kyuma.

Volume one of Ninja Baseball Kyuma will be available on May 13, 2009.