Akira by Katsuhiro Otomo

Synopsis: On December 6th, 1992 the world changed forever, when a new type of bomb exploded over urban Japan initiating World War III. 30 years after the war, in a very unstable Japan, paranormal things start to happen and the military is attacked from two sides, by an anti-government terrorist group and the Japanese politicians. And in the middle of this is Kaneda and Tetsuo battle, two life-long friends and rivals, whose lives are about to be changed… For ever.

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I was never a fan of the movie, but a friend of mine talked to me about the manga and convinced me to give it a try. I’ll be honest, the movie was lame, the action wasn’t that good neither was the story, but everyone claimed that the movie Akira had great visuals, and the manga is the reason of it.

But, what if the movie had more character development, more interaction, more plot, more background, more of anything that the movie lacked? You would have the manga. With characters that don’t go to never come back you are compelled to like or dislike them, but more importantly, you get to know them. Their fears, passions, pasts and futures. I read to know fictional people, but when these people don’t open up to me I just can’t empathize with them. And in Akira, in every page, you take a dive and experience with the characters the happenings of this greater than life story.

The plot is where I had some trouble. Trough out the entire 6 volumes of this manga, you always know what is going on, except for some moments where characters touch any deep philosophical fibers that they have. Thing that happens more frequently in the last two volumes, which turns the plot a bit to dense and confusing, not because of the topic, but because of the way it is handled. You will find yourself rereading some pages just to get a good grasp of what is being said.

Even when it felt like it was dragged a bit too long (specially because each volume is 400 or so pages long), Akira is a great action series with a message, that although it may be confusing it will remain true for ever. Characters that evolve with time while disasters occur are an excellent complement to the plot. These two are reason enough to get you to your nearest bookstore to buy the manga.

Aishiteruze Baby by Yoko Maki

Synopsis: Kippei is the popular, pretty and idiot guy at school. His only skill is getting girls and he certainly does get them, specially when his 5 year old cousin Yuzuyu is abandoned by her mother and left the responsibility of raising her to Kippei’s family, who in turn designate Kippei as the person responsible for Yuzuyu. Will Kippei cope with his new responsibilities and his lifestyle? And more importantly, will Yuzuyu see her mother again?

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Have you ever had a feeling that you should not be reading what you are reading? Well, I just did, specially reading the first 4 books in the series that are quite dumb and intend to tame the reader with cute images and silly situations, maybe it works out for some people but I guess my heart must be made of ice, cause reading trough them didn’t stir up anything inside it. Luckily this changes by the last three volumes when things start to get more complicated and serious.

But it is not enough to compensate for everything, including the lame and scarce character development, as well as the slow path the plot takes. All of this masked with the pretty pictures and character design that is characteristic and to be excepted not only for the genre but for the type of story. It is almost impossible not to like Yuzuyu, since she extremely cute and sweet, with out argument she is the best character in the series. Showing more development, background and actual growth through the volumes, besides the fact that she is exactly what she is supposed to; naive, cute and cheerful with ups and downs. Just like any other kid her age. The rest of the cast goes either unnoticed or with a huge annoying label across their foreheads. Mainly for their attitude and absence of special traits in their personalities.

If you really, really, really want to read Aishiteruze Baby, I suggest you grab the last 3 volumes and then the first one. I didn’t like the first one that much but it does help to explain what happens in the last 3 volumes. And if you liked the series more than I did, get the rest of it. But if you don’t you can always spend your saved bucks on other stuff. Aishiteruze Baby is not bad, but it is not good either, and since there are far too many better shoujo mangas out there don’t waste much time or money on it.

A White Summer by Mitsuru Adachi

Synopsis: Ichimura Tetsu and Kakiuchi Gorou have been friends forever, a friendship that was solidified by baseball. Tetsu-kun was the pitcher while Gorou-kun was the catcher of the Nazawa High School team. As life made its turns Tetsu and Gorou took different paths, Gorou as a police officer and Tetsu went to Tokyo to continue his studies. A few years later Gorou is chased by the mob, but every time the mob attacked Gorou the attacker was found dead the next morning. Gorou is suddenly in the middle of a war, his superiors think he is responsible and so do the mob, but he isn’t, so who is behind this murders?

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This very short story by Mitsuru Adachi is a mystery by it self. Offering a great deal of information at a time, the reader is left wondering what is important to know and what isn’t. The weird pacing adds a plus to the confusion factor which is not good at all when you are already confused.

Now, A White Summer isn’t entirely bad at least once you get used to the pacing and confusion, you can start seeing the characters. But even when you can see the characters there is nothing to be felt since it is all so confusing, the characters start being an extra to the story and it is here where the absolute problem can be found, the story. It’s such a simple story twisted back and forth and back again that you are lost. I don’t know how can someone twist such a simple story to the point of confusion.

To save the day we have the art. Excellent. With almost perfect character designs and backgrounds there was no page I couldn’t find a thrill to watch. Even when the story was confusing, the sweet ending was the perfect complement to the manga.

I have yet to read more mangas by Adachi and I probably will. Yet this one is something not spectacular nor is it good or average, it is just mediocre. The only ones that I can recommend this manga to are the people that want to have all the manga that exist in the world or those that are fans of Adachi.