However, it wasn’t until last year that I completely fell in love with the dude. I knew he was good based on Monster, but the double hit of Pluto and 20th Century Boys made me realize that Urasawa was a rare talent, creating complex, character driven manga that stacks among the best works of fiction in any field. Basically, dude’s a genius, and I realize I’m pretty late to the party on that, especially as the Manga loving world has been reading his books for years, and we’re only just getting translations now, thanks to Viz Media.

So, to that point, how does the latest volume of 20th Century Boys stack up to the rest? And from this point on, there be spoilers:

Well, I mean, it’s great. I’m totally biased at this point, as Urasawa has the unique ability to completely suck you further and deeper into his complex stories, while continually pulling the rug out from under his main concepts, whether it’s killing the main character in Pluto, or twisting just who the monster really is, in Monster. Here, as we saw at the end of the last volume, not only have our heroes completely failed to save the day on New Year’s Eve 2000 and prevent the cult-like Friends from releasing a deadly giant robot on the world, but the Friends have completely taken over.

Not only that, but we’ve jumped forward fourteen years semi-permanently, and are now following Kanna, the “hero” of the story’s niece, who had previously been a mostly silent baby. We only get intriguing glances backwards at what went wrong on New Year’s Eve, but it isn’t until the latter half of the book, when a familiar face returns, that we realize just how wrong things must have gone.

Urasawa clearly has a thing for all powerful cults, a theme that shows up in all of his work, but perhaps most strongly here. Fear of conformity, not standing out, and not making your mark is a theme throughout this book, and continues to be hit strongly with new characters, like two on the run drag queens, and a Manga artist imprisoned for accidentally drawing a story that was a little too close to the truth. It’s heavy stuff, richly explored, but at its base, 20th Century Boys is still a scifi adventure thriller, and there as well, it works swimmingly.

The volume ends on a high note, with the heroes poised to come back (hopefully) in a big way; though at this point, it’s unclear if they can ever win. I’d imagine that the outcome on this conflict will be Urasawa’s definitive statement on 20th Century life: does it belong to the individual? Or the faceless masses?

Here’s hoping this individual talent delivers a rollicking ending in the next few volumes.

Alex: Hey, check it out… The Twilight graphic novel.

Wife: Is that supposed to be Edward?

Alex: Ha! Nice one.

[Alex high-fives Wife.]

Wife: No, seriously, is that supposed to be Edward? I can’t tell.

…And that’s all you need to know about the Twilight Graphic Novel!

So it’s not that surprising that there’s a whole subset of manga completed devoted to food, including the excellent Iron Chef on ‘roids book Iron Wok Jan, to Korean wine manga sensation Kami no Shizuku, which is so popular that whichever wine mentioned in the book completely sells out immediately. However, both of these books, and many more, owe a substantial debt to the groundbreaking food manga Oishinbo.

Debuting in 1983, with over 102 collected volumes published, and more than 100 million copies sold, Oishinbo is a sensation. Following food writer Shir? Yamaoka as he attempts to put together the “Ultimate Menu” for his newspaper, each short story explores a different aspect of food, introduces various recipes, and follows the lives and loves of the staff of the Tozai News. Over twenty years later, Viz Media is publishing the massive manga as a series of “Best Of” books, arranged by subject, the seventh volume of which is Izakaya, or Pub Food. So how does this book stack up to other food manga, and as a first time reader, is it easy to jump right in to the overwhelming amount of material in the world of Oishinbo?

Well, yes and no. I should get out of the way that I’m a complete sucker for food writing in general. There was a period of about a year and half where I did nothing but read non-fiction, food related travel diaries, and loved every second of it. Plus, I’m a big fan of Iron Wok Jan, which balances its culinary subject matter with the absolutely, hilariously over the top evil of the main character, Jan. So I’m certainly primed already to enjoy a food manga going into Oishinbo. So what’s holding me back from loving it completely?

Part of the problem is the way the book is collected. I’m a “read everything in order” kind of guy, to my own detriment (I often need to wait until series are completely collected, rather than just jumping in the middle… A problem for things like, oh say, Action Comics). Forgetting the fact that this is the seventh volume Viz has collected, the ongoing soap opera involving the employees of the Tozai News jumps all over the place from story to story, to the point that I thought I had missed something. In one, two characters are unrequitedly in love. The next, they’re happily married. And in a third, they’ve given birth to twins. And at a certain point (say, two thirds of the way through the book), I’m guessing they had already finished the Ultimate Menu, as everyone stopped mentioning it. So while the soap opera is but a small part of the book itself (the main focus is the food), it does tear you out of the story.

Another, smaller problem is the art, which contrasts cartoony characters with rather realistic backdrops, and pristinely rendered food. This is far more on par with the slapstick of an Archie comic than say, an Urasawa, or even, yes, Iron Wok Jan.

And then there’s the repetitive nature of the stories, which, like most food manga, boil down to (no pub intended):

[Main Character presents dish to Other Characters. Other characters widen eyes with anger and surprise.]

Other Characters: Whaaaaat? You can’t mix [Ingredient A] with [Ingredient B] in Japanese cuisine!

Main Character: Just try it, and tell me what you think.

[They try it. Their eyes widen with pleasure.]

Other Characters: Mmmmm! I never knew you could mix [Ingredient A] with [Ingredient B] and it would taste so good! The [Ingredient A] really brings out the [fattiness/saltiness/sweetness/etc.] in [Ingredient B]. This is so good.

Repeat ad nauseum.

So, sure sounds like I don’t like it, right? Wrong! Like my suckerfied nature for food manga, I’m also a total sucker for other cultures, and Oishinbo hits that perfectly, as well. The Japanese pub culture (they’re called Izayakas, hence the title) is ever so slightly different from our own, and the differences are fascinating. There’s also good discussion of business practices (I know, I know: I say business practices, and everybody will run out and buy this book immediately, but please RESTRAIN YOURSELVES) that gives great insight into the culture, as well. And beyond all that, there’s the discussion of food.

A large chunk of manga functions as instruction booklets, and if you want a primer on Japanese food, you could do no worse than Oishinbo. As it is told in a light, almost Archie-esque manner, the lessons about sake, skewers, and how to pour a proper beer are easy to swallow (again, no pun intended) and fun to read, as well as intelligently told and informative.

While I have my problems with how this book is collected, and it’s not going to realign my perceptions about, well… Anything, Oishinbo goes down easy, and I can’t wait to consume another volume. And THOSE puns were intended, so take that.

Two years later, Dan Hipp is releasing the entirety of the first two volumes of the series online, for free, as well as the first half of the third volume. You can check it all out starting today at this link, and we checked in with Dan Hipp himself to talk about where the second half of volume three went, why he’s working in the manga style, and when to expect even more Amazing Joy Buzzards:

Comic Book Club: All right, GYAKUSHU! is back! That must feel good, huh? Or is it a little bittersweet?

Dan Hipp: Yeah, a little “all of the above,” but still great! Obviously the format was intended for print, but I’ve been having a lot of fun setting it up online knowing that everyone and their mom is going to have the chance to see it. Being my first official graphic novel as writer/artist, I’m extremely pleased with how it all came together and glad that anyone who’s been following the book will finally have the opportunity to see the next bloody chapter of revenge!

CBC: Taking a step back, talk to us a little about the history of the project. How’d it first end up at Tokypop?

DH: I approached Tokyopop on my own to see if they would be interested in working on a book with me. At the time I didn’t have a pitch, or an official writing credit to my name, so HIGH FIVES to them, they invited me to pitch something. The first thing I thought of was a horrific, bloody tale of revenge, which as originally intended, would be a giant action set piece. After they bought the pitch and I was tasked with actually writing the thing, it all pieced itself together, from beginning to end. I added and removed a few things along the way, but the overall meat of the story has been there from the beginning, which is why I’m excited that people will finally get to see how the end begins to unfold.

CBC: At what point in the creative process did you hear about the Great Tokyopop Restructuring of 2008?

DH: HISSS!! We don’t speak of that. But yeah, Volume 3, the final book, had already been plotted, thumbnailed and approved. I was working on the actual pages when the proverbial wall came down.

CBC: Obviously that affected your plans for Volume 3… Was your initial thought that the project was lost? Or did you keep working in the hopes the Tokyopop thing would work out?

DH: Tokyopop was honest with me about the immediate future of the book seeing print, but they never suggested I not finish the final volume, or that the book wouldn’t make it out into the world in one form or another. One of my favorite sayings, from everyone’s friend Spike on the Bebop, is “whatever happens, happens.” The situation was not a lot of fun, but there was nothing I could do to change it, so I finished the book. I’m grateful that cutting and running didn’t seem to be a thought for Tokyopop, as I’ve already seen the final volume in print (in Italian) while I was on an amazing trip to the fantastic Lucca Comics festival in Italy this last November for the book’s release.

CBC: What led you to decide to put it all online?

DH: When it was originally suggested that the book might first find a home online, I immediately checked with Tokyopop to see if I could post the first two online as well. The entire three-book series exists as one giant epic, so if anyone saw the third book online without reading the first two, they would just be confused. Ideally, anyone with the patience to read through a hundred pages or more online and liked what they saw, might take the time to order a hard copy (still available from Amazon and your finer book stores (TOTALLY PIMP’D!)).

CBC: How involved is Tokyopop in the posting of this?

DH: While I’m responsible for putting the whole blog together (my idea), Tokyopop has been there for approval at every stage. I will always appreciate the investment they made in the series, and giving me a chance to flex my writer/artist chops to begin with.

CBC: You’re putting all of Volumes 1 and 2 online, but only 75 pages of Volume 3. What’s the big idea, fella?

DH: Yeah, part of that is me being respectful of whatever plans that Tokyopop has for GYAKUSHU! (and there are plans); plus, I don’t have any desire to make a poopy where I eat, so to speak. They’ve been very respectful of my wish to get the book out to both people that haven’t had a chance to read it and to those who have been waiting for the conclusion. I respect that and am looking forward to whatever plans they do have for the book. Rest assured, in the coming months the final 125 pages, which incidentally are f@#$ing gnarly, will find their way out into the world, most likely on the GYAKUSHU! blog as well as wherever else.

CBC: Granted the project is only launching today, but is this something you think more creators will do in the future (putting stories free online)? Is it something you’ll do in the future?

DH: Honestly, I don’t know. I’m sure this will be looked down upon in given circles, but this is the viral marketing age, where stuff ends up online for free and crazy $#it happens, so who knows? I have definitely had some interesting ideas while putting this whole thing together, so the possibilities are exciting. That said, for this particular project, I’m mostly interested in getting people to notice a book they may have overlooked to begin with, while giving a sweet HIGH FIVE to anyone who’s been dying to see the next several chapters of the book.

CBC: Do you see another publisher stepping in and publishing Volume 3?

DH: If I’m being blunt, no. Tokyopop has made an investment in the GYAKUSHU! series, and while they’ve been co-operative about the publishing possibilities and my interest in posting the book online myself, this is still a book they have a vested interest in. I could get upset about that, but then I DID sign a contract, and I DID read it, so to try and argue the point would be ridiculous. Whatever happens, happens.

CBC: Give us a tease about the rest of Volume 3 (the unposted part)… What do we have to look forward to that is going to make us storm the burned ruins of Tokyopop and demand they publish the final volume already?

DH: The narrative of the series was designed to start as simply as possible and build to a tsunami of crazy, bloody, horrific revenge. It’s an idea I picked up from reading Otomo’s AKIRA too many times. Each new volume of AKIRA upped the ante to such a ridiculous degree that I would just read the book with my mouth open. GYAKUSHU! and the story of the Thief, was designed to set you up for something you expected, then flip it on its head. By the end of the Volume 3 preview (being the first seventy-five pages), all the pieces are set for hell to break loose, and in the last 125 pages, you’ll see how the whole series has been my warped allusion to “FRANKENSTEIN.” I can’t wait for everyone to see it!

CBC: What are the advantages, from an artistic perspective, of working in the Manga format versus the pamphlet format?

DH: I’m a big fan of the format, as it allows for a certain pace of story-telling. It’s been picked up enough in western comics, that I don’t really define the format as specifically manga, but yeah, it’s a lot of fun to draw an action sequence over 50 pages, versus trying to get it more compressed.

CBC: Do you think this is a format you’d work in again? Or is it American-style comics all the way, all the time?

DH: Whatever works best for the story I’m trying to tell, I guess. As long as the story works, I love every kind of format. The only format I’m not a big fan of is the manga/comic player that we see online. That was one of the big reasons I wanted to post GYAKUSHU! myself as well, so that I had a certain measure of control in the way it was seen online. Anyhoo, whatever works for the story is always the way to approach a project I think. That probably sounded elitist. HOORAY!!

CBC: On a more important, and final note: when are we going to get more Amazing Joy Buzzards already?

DH: I’ve been working on the next, most excellent, volume of THE AMAZING JOY BUZZARDS: MONSTER LOVE for some time now, squeezing pages in between projects. The hope is that 2010 will be the year of the monster (love). We’ll just have to hold our breaths and see…

Okay, now breathe again. So yeah, we’ll see.

- Superhero comics.

- Memoirs.

- Things that are mash-ups of other things (“Frankensteins vs. Centaurs!”)

And yes, I’m being willfully ignorant, but let’s face facts and realize that this is mostly true. Manga, on the other hand, is used for an insane amount of subjects, from, yes, superhero stories to, yes, memoirs, to even mash-ups (“Godzillas vs. Princesses!”). But a popular manga can also be about tennis. Or food. Or even a board game. Can you even imagine an ongoing series from Marvel that would sell millions of copies, and have hundreds of pages that are literally nothing other than board game strategy? I certainly can’t, and yet, Hikaru No Go is super popular, and extremely interesting to read.

That all brings us to talking about Masayuki Ishikawa’s completely unique Moyasimon: Tales of Argriculture, which is set at an agriculture college, and ostensibly stars a boy who has the power to see microbes with the naked eye. And if I wanted to give it an American spin, I’d say he uses that power to solve mysteries, but that’s barely even true. He occasionally figures things out by seeing what microbes are in the area, but for the most part, the book is concerned with teaching lessons about agriculture, cultivation, and more importantly (hence the microbes) fermentation. In fact, Ishikawa realizes he’s subverting the concept, and in cheeky sidebars of every chapter, apologizes for not getting to any of the plot points he’s set up in any sort of hasty matter.

Part of this, of course, has to do with the serial nature of manga publishing in Asia (it’s mostly distributed in chapter form, in magazines like Shonen Jump) vs. how it’s distributed here (in collected volumes), but it still works as an amusing thru-line in this delightfully charming book.

As the story goes on, and we get to know the main character, his friends, and various teachers, and it becomes less about the initial conceit, the more fun the book gets. In fact, it takes almost the entire volume to get less than a week into the school year, and they only barely show up to class. They’re all far too busy finding out how to make Saki (turns out there’s an entirely disgusting way to do it by spitting rice out of your mouth) to bother with things like actually going to school. It almost falls into the “young boy with amazing powers wants to be the best” genre of manga, except Tadayasu doesn’t seem interested in being the best at anything. With surprisingly relaxed results that lead to a meandering, but informative story structure. Ishikawa has no direction for the story, so it can really go wherever he wants it to. Normally I’d think that was a detriment, but here, it really works.

Plus, Ishikawa’s art is nice and clean, ignoring speed lines in favor of well planned out backgrounds, and distinct characters. And the microbes themselves are adorable.

If you’re looking for a story that’s off the beaten path even for manga (one plot point has a main character eating sea birds from the corpse of a rotting seal, and it is HILARIOUS), then Moyasimon might be the book for you.

For my first entry in this procrastinational series, my love goes to the outlanders—you know, books by foreign authors and artists teaching us about their native lands. And robots. Native robots. First up, Aya of Yop City (Marguerite Abouet, Clement Oubrerie). Aya I won’t say too much about, as I unwittingly picked up the second book in the series, so any attempts at summary won’t suffice. Roughly speaking, we have 19 year-old Aya, living in Ivory Coast in the 1970s, and she has shenanigans. Abouet and Oubrerie’s storytelling is smart, intimate, and poignant—and never for a panel loses its easy tone. The whole book is incredibly delightful, with beautiful girls and funny stories, and I am forcing it upon teens and old folk alike.

For anyone familiar with Urasawa’s other works (Monster, 20th Century Boys), it will come as no surprise that Pluto spins the happy-go-lucky Mighty Atom into a mature, suspenseful tale. But it’s not so much the dimension that Urasawa adds to Tezuka’s creation that I find most alluring, but how well the sci-fi setting suits Urasawa’s taut storytelling. In 20th Century Boys, Urasawa turns the realm of the ordinary a space of tension by making his heroes (and villains) emphatically ordinary. A similar transformation occurs in the Pluto—here, the futuristic is presented as the everyday, and the everyday once again is the site of the greatest drama. Urasawa’s writing is enhanced by his solemn lines and neat panels. The whole manga carries a really appropriate kind of sadness, muted and tender.

By Maki Minami
Published by Viz
Rating: 13+

I had a very vitriolic reaction to Special A. I feel more strongly about the title than Katherine did in her review of volume one.

Hikari’s life-long rival is Kei, who has driven the working-class Hikari to attend a school for the super-rich (sort of like Boys Before Flowers, but unfortunately lacking in class conflict). The school is ruled by an elite group of the top seven ranking students whom everyone admires (sort of like Kare Kano). The “Special A” as it is called, does not attend class, and spends their time drinking tea in a fabulous greenhouse on the school grounds (kind of like Ouran High School Host Club).

I have two major problems with this series:

Problem #1 Too many characters are introduced too quickly. All seven Special A students are introduced in an illustrated dramatis persona two page spread in the front of each book starting with volume three. Some of the details listed are hilariously irrelevant; Tadashi has “wanderlust” and Ryuu is the son of the owner of a sporting goods store, but as of volume four these details do not impact the story. With such a large cast, it’s hard to tell characters apart (some of the boys have nearly identical metrosexual hair), but instead of developing characters one at a time, Minami introduces additional characters; Kei has a random cousin who is in love with him (apparently a common problem in manga-Japan), Kei’s little brother is a pest, troublemakers Yahiro and Sakura become regulars, until finally in volume three we start getting some backstory for Tadashi (ranked 5th, the school director’s son). With so many major characters, I don’t see a need to introduce external conflict until we understand the relationship between all seven regulars.

Problem #2 I think we the readers are supposed to be laughing at Hikari’s “hilarious” efforts to defeat Kei at something, anything, but I sympathize so much with Hikari that I just can’t laugh at her. I desperately want Hikari to win. I’m fairly certain that the author presumes you the reader will concede that Kei is Hikari’s athletic and intellectual superior and Hikari is a fool to try and compete with a boy, but isn’t that misogynist?

It gets worse – as the price for losing one contest, Kei decrees that Hikari make him an onigiri (rice ball) to fulfill his desire to eat homemade food prepared with love, something he is too rich to have experienced firsthand in his life so far. Hikari’s training as a wrestling fanatic (see volume one) has left her with super-strength but no cooking ability. She tries her best to make onigiri for Kei, but she’s so strong that when washing the rice she grinds it into powder. Let me get this straight: Hikari is not very feminine because she can’t cook. Kei wants to eat an onigiri made by her because he loves her, but also so she can fulfill the role of his mother. GROSS!

Hikari is clueless about how Kei feels about her, no matter if Yahiro tells her Kei loves her and regardless of how many times Kei kisses her. Her cluelessness is supposed to be funny, but because Hikari is ranked second in her class I just can’t buy that she’s also some kind of an idiot. Maybe I’m taking this way too personally since I was salutatorian of my high school class. My friends in those days called me “smart but oblivious”.

I want S.A. to be better. I want it to tackle class issues and discuss talent versus hard work. I want the Special A characters besides Hikari to attend class or at least study. For example, I have a hard time buying that being the son of the president of a sporting goods store makes you a math genius by default. In volume six we learn more about Kei’s photographic memory, which gives him a severe advantage in life but also makes him isolated from his peers. I want to cheer for Hikari like I cheer for Rock Lee in Naruto – Rock Lee has no chakra, Hikari does not have a photographic memory.

In volume five the Akira (daughter of an airline president) flies Hikari to London to stop Kei from transferring schools. Heretofore, the rich S.A. members have used their wealth for extravagant vacations and school festivals, but not to service the plot. In the same chapter, Hikari uses her superior athletic ability to jump the fence of Kei’s family mansion and outrun the security guards. Meanwhile Ryu, who loves animals, tempts away the guard dogs. I suddenly wished every chapter of S.A. was more like Richie Rich, (or how I imagine Richie Rich to be without actually reading it).

I want the art to be better. Minami often draws outline-y stick figure-y things for non-important characters. Katherine praised the background detail and character designs, and mentioned that the characters are recognizable in chibi form, but I disagree. I had a hard time separating Yahiro from Kei in several volumes. Yahiro is particularly hard to identify in volume five, where he has stopped acting evil (his characteristic trait is suddenly dropped).

I recently revisited Ouran High School Host Club for Otaku USA, and as I re-read volume one I realized that in Ouran the jokes are actually funny and each page – each panel is crammed with antics and busy with screentone. S.A. introduces backgrounds and establishes setting better than something like Wild Ones, but then it relies on screentone to fill gaps. S.A.‘s jokes aren’t that funny either. Hikari wears a rabbit costume for large sections of volume five and it’s just not funny.

I actually hate S.A. and I’m not sure why I keep reading it. Is it because I said I would review volume four and went back and bought volumes two and three? Maybe it’s because I didn’t get it reviewed in time and two more volumes came out so I thought I would read them to be current. Or maybe there are other, darker reasons:

Possible Reasons why Erin Keeps Buying/Reading S.A.:

1. Hoping to sell it on ebay as a complete set as if it’s an “investment” (The series in Japan is up to volume 13 and may be ongoing.)
2. Secretly hoping it will get better
3. Interested in seeing the surprising new ways Minami can offend me with misogyny
4. Building up a case against it so I can deprogram any S.A. fans, should I ever meet one
5. Hoping Hikari will eventually beat Kei

In the depth of my bizarre S.A. madness I watched five episodes of the anime series, which is currently airing in Japan. The anime is uninspired and modestly budgetted. It’s easier to tell the characters apart and some of the jokes are funnier. It is doggedly loyal to the manga, which is at best mediocre.

Here’s a very brief summary of events for each volume of the manga from two on:

Vol. 2 – Student council problem, wrestling, Hikari makes lunch, two school festivals, Hikari plays some sports, is invited to Yahiro’s party

Vol. 3 – A big foot race, a trip to Hawaii over summer vacation, Kei has a date with Tadashi (Tadashi’s backstory)

Vol.4 – Kei gets sick and Hikari nurses him, the S.A. goes to a regular school, Akria’s backstory, Kei has an omiai with Sakura

Vol. 5 – On a BBQ trip Sakura likes Jun and unleashes his other self (Jun’s backstory), Hikai cross-dresses in an attempt to ruin Kei’s omiai, Hikari wears a rabbit costume for a tour of another school, the S.A. go to London to stop Kei from transferring, the S.A. act as a host club at a cultural festival

Vol. 6 – Ogata tries to seduce Hikari away from Kei so he’ll transfer schools, Hikari makes Kei and Ogata dinner, Kei and Hikari skip school to go on a date to an amusement park, Hikari realizes she loves Kei but overhears “Whoever falls [in love] first loses”, Hikari is ranked 13th after midterms, Hikari and Kei are put in charge of rival teams on for the sports festival

By volume four the rivalry has fallen to the wayside in favor of the love story. I can’t tell you how angry it makes me that Hikari drops to 13th in her class as soon as she figures out she loves Kei (and by “figures out” I mean, “Kei points it out to her”). In Kare Kano Yukino and Soichiro’s class rankings both drop when they start dating (Yukino’s drops more because she’s the girl I guess) but in S.A. Kei stays at number one.

S.A. feels like a direct rip off of Ouran and Kare Kano, but with the good parts painfully removed.

Volumes 1-6 of S.A. are available now.