By Ryu Fujisaki
VIZ, 196 pp.
Rating: Teen (13+)

Waqwaq is the one of the newest titles from VIZ’s Shonen Jump line, hailing from Ryu Fujisaki, creator of the ever-so-popular Hoshin Engi. In a futuristic and desolate world (presumably a long-forgotten Earth), robots roam freely and mercilessly slaughter the remaining human race. Humanity’s only hope for salvation from their autonomic adversaries lies with the seven Guardians of Waqwaq and a wish-granting, red-blooded god, known as the Kami. Each guardian is paired with a Gojin-Zou, a machine that fuses with its master to create an all-powerful being. Shio, the main character, and his father, Al, a guardian, roam from village to village, protecting those in danger. When Al dies from a fight with a mysterious gigantic cluster of machines, Shio is bestowed the power of a Guardian and finds a girl at his side, bleeding red.

From the perspective of a guy who reads a lot of shonen, I wouldn’t put this on anyone’s wish list. The story has its interesting points (I like the idea of fusing together man and machine, even though it is overdone) but overall, it is very shallow, which makes the world of Waqwaq very confusing. We are introduced to this mystical world but there is no setup. I don’t know how it got to be this way, why the machines are killing humans, who made the guardian and it really bothers me.

Another thing that bothers me is that fact that the story is so predictable. The main antagonist is a shadow figure who brings the Kami to our world, and lets the Guardians know that this wish-granting entity is there. Immediately, I knew what was going to happen: remaining Guardians find and attack Shio, Shio gets stronger because of it. There is no mystery or journey anymore once you figure that out. It is the same thing with the characters. We are thrown immediately into their world and expected to be on their side and like them, without any explanation of who they are or what they’re like. I don’t really think Shio is that strong of a lead shonen character; there is nothing quirky or fun about him.

Artistically, it is just as confusing. Granted, I think that Fujisaki’s character designs and style are wonderful (Shio has a really nice hairstyle which isn’t easy to pull off). The robots are also very interesting; they’ve got a very synthetic look about them and they’re very reminiscent of Digimon. The action and settings are really disorienting, though. There is too much going on in each of the panels where Shio is fighting, so much so that I wanted to take an eraser to the pages. Not only that but the battles are very fast-paced and really feel crammed into the book. There is a good length for a shonen battle and Waqwaq just doesn’t meet it.

All in all, I fear that Waqwaq is just going to be one of those shorter, light-hearted series where you kind of get invested in the characters and kind of learn something, but ultimately, when it’s over, it’s over. It’s four volumes long, which is that awkward length that allows a series some depth but not enough. If you like Ryu Fujisaki, you might be interested in reading it, just to understand where he is going as a writer and artist. If you aren’t, though, I would suggest skipping it and moving on to bigger and better things.

Volume one of Waqwaq will be available on August 4, 2009.