Manga Review: Billy Bat

Title: Billy Bat
Author: Naoki Urasawa
Release: Biweekly
Status: Ongoing
Genre: Mystery, Seinen
Art: A
Originality: A
Story: A
Characters: A
Humor: B
Action: S

Impression: This is about… well it’s really hard to tell where exactly the author is going with this. The first chapter is a chapter from the comic within the manga and staring from the second chapter until the thirteenth chapter, it focuses on Kevin Yamagata, the author of that comic who goes to post WW2 era Japan to seek out the original mangaka of the character his publisher thinks he stole from. Unfortunately for him, thinks aren’t as simple as they look as the origins of his character seems to stem from some ancient conspiracy. Things don’t any get simpler once his character, the titular Billy Bat, starts blending into his perceived reality. That’s where it ends and we go into an intermission about the thirteenth disciple Judas and the two bats he hallucinates and talks to. After that the latest chapter focuses on a cab driver years after the Billy Bat franchise took off like Mickey Mouse did in our reality and his Billy Bat merchandise seems to talk to him like the two bats did with Judas. Naoki Urasawa is all about making mystery manga and his newest publication may not be as compelling as his previous works have been but that doesn’t stop me from waiting eagerly for the next chapter. That first chapter may put you off like it did me. I myself only started with the end of that chapter but it’s possible there are hints of the plotline in there. I’d suggest waiting till next year to pick this up to read unless you don’t mind waiting for a very perplexing mystery to unravel slowly week by week.