Manga Review: Evangelion RE-TAKE

Title: Evangelion RE-TAKE
Author: Studio Kimigabuchi
Release: Doujin
Status: Finished
Genre: Seinen, Sci-Fi, Doujinshi
Art: B
Originality: A
Story: S+
Characters: S
Humor: B
Action: S

Impression: This is what has come to be known as the BEST Evangelion doujinshi of all time for its amazing storyline and characterization that matches and builds on the original flavor of the original series. The mind-screw is not quite up to snuff of the original series but that is more than made up for(In spades I might add) with its masterful storytelling, captivating characterisation and spectacularly powerful scenes. In five short but incredible volumes, the story surpasses the original epic in the best ways and ends it in such a way that it provides a perfect way to explain all the different adaptations of the story, both canon and fanmade. It is a highly satisfying read that makes you wish they continued it even further but alas the perfection that is its ending is not easily topped. There is a soundtrack for it and an extra epilogue volume but the focus of that volume is different in a way, not quite as satisfying but it does add a nicely done layer to complement its prequels. In short, this is absolutely and undeniably a must read for every Evangelion fan out there.

Manga Review: Neon Genesis Evangelion

Title: Neon Genesis Evangelion
Author: Sadamoto Yoshiyuki
Release: Monthly
Status: Ongoing
Genre: Seinen, Sci-Fi, Mecha
Art: B
Originality: A
Story: A
Characters: S
Humor: B
Action: B

Impression: This is the manga adaptation of the infamous Evangelion anime series which follows the original story almost to the letter. When I first tried reading it, I was turned off by the manga’s painfully slow pacing since it took the entire first volume to show just enough plot to fill up one anime episode which is a no-no for any monthly publication. It did finally pick up speed around when Asuka showed up and they did that dance thing. In comparison to the few videos I’ve seen on youtube and the End of Evangelion movies I can safely say that the characters are much more likeable in this version of the story since they don’t spend as much time pouring the angst on us. It also seems to be missing whatever scenes that made Asuka and Rei so worship-worthy to the fanbase cause I honestly can’t see very much appeal here. If I didn’t know that Asuka was a famed Tsundere I wouldn’t be able to pick up whether or not she actually had romantic feelings for Shinji. On the other hand, Rei’s relationship with Shinji was fleshed out quite brilliantly and her character development proved to be fascinating though I still don’t what’s so appealing about her. Personally I felt the real strength of the cast lies with the side characters rather than the main trio as they managed to show off just as much depth with less screen time. In summary, this story really does deserve all the praise it gets for all of its fascinating characters and developments and it seems the author is pulling a twist ending on the fans as it seems to be going for a different direction from the previous two endings GAINAX pulled on us.

Manga Review: Fullmetal Panic Sigma

Title: Full Metal Panic Sigma
Author: Gatou Shouji, Ueda Hiroshi, Shikidouji
Release: Monthly
Status: Ongoing
Genre: Mecha, Sci-fi
Art: B
Originality: B
Story: A
Characters: A
Humor: B
Action: B

Impression: This is the manga adaptation of the third season of the Full Metal Panic which was adapted from the light novels written by Gatou Shouji. It follows the plot of the third season with a couple of minor differences and then continues to adapt from the novels following the ones that were animated so that gives fans a pretty good reason to read this. It’s proving to be a pretty good manga adaptation with a few scenes done better than KyoAni’s work. Humor is notably less effective here in the manga than in the anime but everything else is on par with the anime. Also, I don’t know if the original author intended the twins to be albino and into gothic Lolita fashion but I distinctly remember that they were just Chinese in anime.

Manga Review: Deus x Machina

Title: Deus x Machina
Author: Karasuma Wataru
Release: Monthly
Status: Ongoing
Genre: Shonen, Fantasy, Mecha
Art: B
Originality: C
Story: B
Characters: B
Humor: B
Action: A

Impression: This is about an intimidating young girl and her walking talking robot priest, who are part of an organization that works to destroy the robots called Clockworks that are remnants from a past war. I’ve read a few stories similar to this and despite how well the scenes are executed I can’t say it stands out among the rest in any way. If you like seeing twin-tailed lolis performing acts of violence in battles against robots then you might wanna check it out. However, if you’re like me and are looking for stories that are interesting and original then I won’t be recommending this manga to you.

Manga Review: Linebarells of Iron

Title: Linebarrels of Iron
Author: Shimizu Eiichi, Shimoguchi Tomohiro
Release: Monthly
Status: Ongoing
Genre: Mecha, Shonen
Art: A
Originality: B
Story: B
Characters: A
Humor: B
Action: A

Impression: This is about a loser kid who gets involved in a disaster involving an artificial satellite who becomes a student superior physically and academically later in life. It turns out that the satellite was actually a giant robot that he’s meant to pilot because of that crash and when trouble stirs up in his town, he joins a mysterious organization as the pilot of the robot to become an ally of justice. Let me just say this, I think the main character is an asshole of a loser and that the author gets points for making a character so unlikeable. The story has some good points to it but it’s basically the same generic plot where the main robot is the key to saving the world.

Manga Review: Jinki

Title: Jinki
Author: Tsunashima Shirou
Release: Monthly
Status: Finished
Genre: Mecha, Sci-Fi
Art: B
Originality: B
Story: C
Characters: B
Humor: B
Action: B

Impression: This is about a girl who loves everything about robots that gets dragged into a huge mecha research facility in south america where her mom works. She gets involved in their research where they’re building huge mecha to combat the ancient stray giant mecha in the area. It’s an okay read with a couple of interesting ideas but since the scanlators stopped translating it halfway it’s not really worth picking up though until someone else picks up again.

Manga Review: Bokurano

Title: Bokurano
Author: Mohiroh Kitoh
Release: Monthly
Status: Finished
Genre: Mecha, Psychological, Horror
Art: B
Originality: S
Story: S
Characters: S+
Humor: B
Action: A

Impression: This is the story of a group of kids at a summer camp who are tricked into riding a giant robot thinking that it was just a game by man called Kokopelli. The truth behind the sinister nature of this "game" is that these fights between huge metal behemoths is that they are a way to weed out parallel universes and should anyone of the children lose, they and their entire universe will cease to exist. On top of that, the robot is powered by the pilot's lifeforce and will kill whoever is the current pilot of each fight so the children effectively condemned themselves to death the moment the agreed to join in on Kokopelli's game. Yeah, it IS a very depressing manga so most people avoid Mohiroh Kitoh's works because of the downer factor. I on the other hand am not affected by such a thing since my interest in philosophy and humanities ripped that part of me right out. While the concept is about a huge giant robot, the actual focus of this story are the children and the various problems they face in today's society. It is absolutely fantastic in that respect as we get kids who are suicidal, being bullied, becoming pregnant and have family problems. It really makes me wonder if the author had a problematic childhood for him to create such troubled characters. It is a very fascinating look into the lives of children who face such problems and so it there are many moments where an event will shock and horrify you. The mindscrew part here are the many disgusting and horrible things that humans are capable of and the reasons behind them and the excessiveness of them in this manga. Incidentally, Mohiroh Kitoh and Naoki Urasawa are my favorite authors because they like to do dark and unique stories.