Tag: Kekkaishi

Ongoing Investigations: Case #177

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As I was going to Kinokuniya to pick up my ultra vital max priority #1 ultraviolet volume of Fate/Zero for Gen Urobuchi to sign at Otakon. While I was there I decided to also look at their English manga section as well. I was really hoping they had a copy of Rohan at the Louvre but that sadly was not there. (In fact I have yet to see that at any New York comic shop.) But since I wanted to pick up at least something to read on the subway since I was traveling around a lot that day so I picked up a copy of Drifters. I figured I would see what Kouta Hirano has been up to since Hellsing. I would have also picked up Blood Blockade Battlefront but I don’t have that sort of disposable income.

The story is set in a dark fantasy world with elves and dragons. Two god like entities pluck famous humans from Earth as they are dying and use them to fight their battle to control this high fantasy realm. The theoretically nicer god summons Drifters to save the world and the seemingly evil god summons Ends to destroy it. The Ends all have some magical gimmick that deals with their historical background where as the Drifters just tend to be insanely skilled. The story starts with Shimazu Toyohisa apparently dying during the Battle of Sekigahara and then appearing in this strange fantasy world to fight alongside his fellow Drifters.

It is the distinctly the Kouta Hirano we all know and love. Lots of action and blood but not much gore. Very stylish fighting with an emphasis on sword play but some guns thrown in for good measure. Bad guys vs. not nearly as bad guys (although the Drifters are a bit more on the side of the angels than Alucard.) His art style is generally unchanged with a heavy use of inks and shading as well as a love of crazy eyes.

Shimazu Toyohisa is a reckless swordsman who seems to be a nice guy at heart but never hesitant to indulge in his bloodthirsty nature. We also have rare instance of an almost kindly Oda Nobunaga. I mean that in the sense that he is actually a Drifter and not the demon leading the enemy. For Oda Nobunaga that is practically making him saintly compared to 95% of his usual portrayals in anime. The main party is rounded out by Nasu no Yoichi who I swore was gender swapped for his historical basis. But apparently he is just an amazingly feminine dude. There are some other drifters as well but finding out who pops up is half the fun of the manga.

The Ends are led by the mysterious Black King. He is a cloaked figure whose identity is clearly being kept as a big surprise. He commands historical figures like Anastasia with the ability to summon icy winds and Joan of Arc who can burn others while she burns herself. They all seem a bit more crazy than the Drifters who are hardly on the sane side of the spectrum as it stands. There are also the native fantasy inhabitants like the elves and some other strange organizations who seem independent of the Drifters or the Ends.

Drifters is a fun little action series. A nice mix of fantasy fun with some very liberal interpretation of historical figures. It will be a fun romp much like Hellsing. This seems like the sort of series that would sell like gangbusters in the US if it got an anime adaptation. It has the storyline of a shonen series that American audiences are most comfortable with but with the grit and bloodshed that really hooks them as well. But until that anime comes along the manga is fluffy but easily recommended choice.

Finally got my copy of Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Promise Part 2! I was really impressed with the first volume, it slows down a little with this installment but is able to hit an upswing as it goes on.

In Part 2, we learn more about what Toph has been up to at her training school and meet her new students. They haven’t really come into their metalbending abilities yet so that becomes the primary focus for a good deal of this volume. Sokka tries to help out this ragtag bunch so it is a mostly comedic arc. I’m curious how Toph’s students will play into the plot further, if at all.

Meanwhile, Aang is goofing off at his fanclub on the a detour from going to see the Earth kingdom king. So again this section has a lot of comedy elements. This part feels very Aang like to get wrapped up with these girls, though we’ve sort of seen this before. Still, they surprised me in the end with an important contribution.

As for Zuko, we see him only a little as he tries to connect and understand his father. It doesn’t go so well as can be expected and sadly we don’t hear another word about his mother. More interesting was probably the small relationship pieces that occur in this volume which have me very curious about some things we’ve been assuming in The Legend of Korra.

Even though Part 2 doesn’t feel as tense as the first, this is the middle section of a trilogy, you still get some insights. Plus, it ends with some real wheels turning.

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Ongoing Investigations: Case #169

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In a most unexpected turn of events the Master Keaton manga returns to the pages of Big Comic Original in the form of Master Keaton Remaster. I guess at least some of the rights issues around the original manga have been cleared up because I know for awhile the original manga series was quite expensive due to it being out of print. But now Taichi Hiraga-Keaton is back! He is still an amusing mixture of a loveable loser and an amazingly competent superman all in one package.  The series starts not long after the end of the original manga. Keaton is notably more entrenched in his academic career after his recent archeological discovery. But just when he thought he was out of the insurance game for good it draws him back in for what he is told will be one last job.

Of course this being Master Keaton we know that will not be the case. Soon he is investigating ruins, redeeming the honor of a man in a coma, and fighting slaver traders. All for one insurance case. It has all the mature elements that you expect from this manga. The story has a well researched history, a steamy underworld, and characters that show their complexity even if we only know them for a chapter or two. There is rape and sex slave traffic but there is nothing graphic or salacious. It just happens to be a story with the disgusting parts of the sex trade as a piece of it. All the bite of an adult story with none of the guilt.

One of the most interesting parts of any Master Keaton story is the fact that Taichi usually comes is for the climax of a story. He is presented with a case, does a good deal of research to find out what is going on, arrives at the critical moment during the ongoing story to help someone out, and then leaves before the falling action is over. This could be amazingly frustrating if done poorly but Naoki Urasawa does this in a way that merely makes you feel like the stories are and organic part of the world. Taichi does his part, and then leaves, and that is all we see. But we get enough of the story from Taichi’s perspective that it always feels satisfying.

I’m am really glad to see the manga running again. Master Keaton is some of the best bite sized seinen you can find. Hopefully they will work in his daughter soon as she is always a refreshing character. Maybe this renaissance of the series will help get both parts licensed for English. That would be masterful.


I watched the first two episodes of Motorcity, a new Disney DX animated series. It showed a lot of promise and sported some cool animation.

The story revolves around a futuristic Detroit with two levels to the city; the old, underground, and free area known as Motocity; and the modern, controlled, upper Deluxe.

Mike leads a group of car fanatic rebels known as the Burners who are trying to bring down the leader of Deluxe. Mike is pretty interesting as he isn’t a kid, but a 17-year-old who was once being groomed by Deluxe’s leader. Now having defected, he is putting all his skills and some sweet modded cars to use.

Also of interest is Jules a resident of Deluxe who is actually helping them secretly. And she just happens to be the daughter of Deluxe’s dictator. But even the rest of the Burners and Mike don’t know that about her.

Both episodes revolved around some sort of threat being sent down to Motorcity. There was lots of cool machinery and robots and whathaveyou to keep things interesting.

These were great episodes and I can’t wait to continue. Definitely something I’m going to attempt to keep up with. The episodes are streaming on Disney DX’s website so far.

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Ongoing Investigations: Case #166

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From well-known documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock (you’ll probably know him best as the guy who did Super Size Me), comes a look into the biggest geek convention in the U.S., San Diego Comic-Con. A Fan’s Hope follows a few different people through the convention which wasn’t abundantly clear in the trailer I saw but now after seeing it, the title makes much more sense. There is a lot more of a personal journey to this documentary than a real focus on the con as a whole and its development and history. While that wasn’t exactly what I was hoping for, the film isn’t a disappointment but more an incomplete tale.

Unlike some other films, Morgan is only behind the camera for this one, which is a shame since he would have been the perfect person to give us tidbits of information and bring context to scenes. The people we do follow are generally interesting if not experts on the con. Two artists trying to go pro, a comic book dealer who hasn’t had a good year for profits, a costume sculptor wanting to show off her skills, a toy collector on the hunt, and a couple where the guy is going to pop the question make up our merry band.

Equal attention wasn’t given to everyone, sometimes this was good (the couple), sometimes this was bad (the artist from the military), but most of all it felt like they should have cut back on the group as a whole or make the film longer. Though the public proposal I could have done without altogether, it makes me so uncomfortable! And I had gotten a little worried about the guy since his girlfriend seemed attached to his hip. Interspersed between these stories are celebrities saying a line or two or telling a story about the convention and these were a lot of fun. Kevin Smith does an especially good job while telling a story about what would happen if his now self could travel back and visit his 11-year-old self.

This film is a celebration of fandom, it is not an expose, but it really needed to be a bit of both.

I did not realize that this was a Morgan Spurlock documentary until after I saw it. Or I should more precisely say that I did not realize Morgan Spurlock was also the same director as Super Size Me until after I watched the movie. As a long-term nerd I can’t say that I learned anything particularly shocking about Comic-Con as a whole. It is distinctly more of a celebration of Comic-Con and a look at how it affects certain people rather than an in-depth expose of the grand mechanisms behind the convention.

If you’re looking for parts on Twilight fanatics vs. Comic nerds or the sickly side of the cosplay community you won’t find it here. They do touch on the fact that the convention had become much more of a general media con than a solely comic focused event though the eyes of one of the oldest remaining comic sellers but even that is mostly played as a positive. The real meat of the documentary was the experiences of the people who attended the con. You had the collector, the cosplay girl, and the dealer among others. Their stories were all interesting. The Mass Effect cosplay group was undoubtedly skilled. That animatronic Krogan outfit was a marvel. You cannot see that outfit and not be impressed. (You can but your mostly just a jerk who likes to pat themselves on the back for how “worldly” they are).

But the most interesting stories were the two men trying to get professional jobs in the comics industry while attending Comic-Con. It was a good look at someone who makes it and someone who was clearly not ready. I wish they had focused a little more on the artist who got a job through the event. As a married man in the military I felt he really contrasted the image of the lonely super spaz you associate with comic fandom. He was clearly seriously into comics with the skills to back up that love but I felt he was a fascinating example of the diversity of the community. The gentleman who was rejected was also compelling. As someone who has never taken rejection well his story hit very close to home even if he dealt with his setbacks with a good amount of grace.

The real question this documentary answers is why do people go to Comic-Con. It is a wonderful examination of what makes people come back year after year and why the convention has become the phenomenon it has. I am coincidentally listening to the Freakonomics audio book. Since Spurlock worked on the film based on that book I might give that a look soon as well.

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