Bokko by Mori Hideki, Sakemi Kenichi & Kubota Sentaro

Synopsis: Kakuri is a member of the Clan Of Bokk. A clan dedicated to save as many lives as possible when times are rough. And the year 230 B.C. was one of those rough years, with unceasing wars that cover the entire 7 countries of the country of China. But the Clan Of Bokk has only one rule: Never ally with any country or kingdom for personal benefit. But with the sudden and increasing amount of wars the Clan Of Bokk is walking a path that goes against their teachings and Kakuri knows this, so he sets on a quest to cleanse his Clan and end war at all costs, even the cost of his own life.

____________________

Think of Bokko as a History class like you wished you had on High School; it has violence, torture, public execution and all those pretty things your teachers conveniently “forgot” to tell you about. It is here where Bokko has its strong points along with the action and strategy involved. Kakuri has but a few pages of background and the secondary characters are most of the time just there, with out you taking them into account even when they participate on important scenes and have important roles to play, because of the impression they leave, which is barely noticeable.

The art it self is great, character designs that feel real, although a few are a bit exaggerated but it won’t ruin the experience of reading through the pages in a rapid way. You can easily read one of the eleven volumes of Bokko in thirty or so minutes, due to the fast pace large scale action and dialog. But more importantly because of the art, since it is really plain there aren’t too many details to look at, which is a good thing, because if you need to spend a lot of time deducting what is happening instead of understanding what is happening, the fast pace of the action sequences would be lost.

With very interesting characters that need a lot of work but an interesting plot that grows and grows as you turn the page and you can’t stop turning the pages, you will devour it. Even with this main flaw, the manga doesn’t need a fully developed character to make its point about war and violence and the outcome of those two. If you enjoy action manga, be sure to check Bokko out, it will be well worth your time.

Blue Heaven by Tsutomo Takahashi

Synopsis: The Blue Heaven, a floating city filled with luxury, seduction, magic, dreams and state of the art security systems. While on route, the crew members spot a fishing boat that looks desolated, immediately a rescue team is dispatched to look for survivors. Two people were rescued, but what intrigued Sano is that the walls of the ship were covered in blood. As soon as the survivors are brought back to the Blue Heaven, passengers and crew members start to disappear. What is going on inside the Blue Heaven? And why did one of the rescued men disappear?

____________________

Right from the start I felt that I was in the presence of a familiar artist; Tsutomu Takahashi (Alive, Skyhigh), and in the presence of a dark and chaotic atmosphere. All thanks to his trademark use of light and camera, along with his exquisite and delightful dedication to detail. Blue Heaven offers a treat to the eyes that allow the reader to immerse himself in the manga to experience it to the full extent.

After the terrorist attacks on September 11th 2001, Tsutomu Takahashi decided to approach an actual topic; terrorism, mixed with those of Skyhigh (death) and Alive (fear). He deeply investigates and questions the reasons behind such inhumane acts that are performed by humans, but this questions are shadowed by the constant action scenes or long periods of unrelated dialogs.

The two main characters that approach the topic of terrorism have a complete background, but neither has a complete development. Why? Because the mangaka is concerned about topics that are difficult to answer or that are yet to be. And even when they aren’t fully developed they remain as wonderful characters, but wonderfully twisted and sick. As for the secondary characters, most of them have enough information to work through out the 3 volumes Blue Heaven lasts, yet don’t expect them to have the development the main characters lacked.

Overall, Blue Heaven is an ambitious manga, like the previous works I have read by the same mangaka, that presents the questions to us and leaves them in front of us waiting to be answered. With its gorgeous art and dedication to detail plus the action sequences, the main characters that leave an impression that works toward the real topic of the manga, there is no reason you shouldn’t buy this.

Blood Hound by Kaori Yuki

Synopsis: Rion has always been intrigued by vampires. And recently some girls have been missing and then found dead with all their blood drained. One day Rion’s best friend is no where to be found, a few days later Rion receives a business card signed by Shiho, Rion’s best friend. Armed with all her might she decides to face the leeches who kidnapped her friend, only to find out that they are probably the most charming, handsome, interesting cast of characters she will ever know and most importantly that they don’t know where Shiho is.

____________________

Another Kaori Yuki manga and again a short one. Yet unlike Cruel Fairytales this manga has a few more problems. While the story is not as original as it sounds, the way it develops and ends has Kaori Yuki signed all over, with an amazing twist ending it will surely be enjoyed by many fellow readers.

But unlike many other mangas by Kaori Yuki this one lacks a few things, specially the characters. While Rion is given one hell of a development and background, the rest of the characters lack development or background raging from none to not enough. And as for the villain the reason why her behavior is like that is unexplained, making her an accessory, an excuse, to the story rather than a key piece and this is a problem some of the other characters have in common, the lack of importance. It wouldn’t have matter much if a few characters where simply not there. But the main characters background and development don’t allow this flaw to ruin the experience.

As for the artwork it’s, as always, excellent. Large amounts of effort and time were spent in character design and detail, no aspect is forgotten and as always fits the mood to perfection, doesn’t matter if it’s a dark or a bright atmosphere, it will fit, this is one of the things I like more about Kaori Yuki’s manga, the way she finds to portray the perfect atmosphere.

Even when this manga is fun and fast to read it has its faults and catastrophic ones, surely not one of Kaori Yuki’s best works. The lack of character background and development really sunk this manga into magma.