Guest Post

It has been said that every basic story possible has already been told. Derivation in Japanese manga in this day and age is nearly unavoidable and ends up being encouraged to attract readers who may not know art, but who know what they like. Eventually, though, mangakas must separate themselves from the pack somehow. With stories that have been told many times over – whether inspired by Genji, Journey to the West, or video games – the distinguishing attributes of the media are in the “how” and “why.”

An old plot can shine like new if it is presented in an interesting perspective or given significantly more depth than the reader had thought possible. The creation of an enjoyable world that the reader longs to explore certainly doesn’t hurt either. Even if the plot breaks down, good characters can carry a manga on their shoulders rather effectively. Quirkiness, character progression and the all-important empathy factor can all breathe fresh life into an otherwise mundane story. Successful manga tend to do one or the other fairly well. When the manga cannot, you get something like Fairy Tail. Continue reading “Jew Unit’s Kosher Kuts: Fairy Tail”

Guest Post

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure is the manga equivalent of Rodney Dangerfield: it just doesn’t get any respect. It was released in Japan after hits like Fist of the Northstar and Dragonball had captured the attention of Japanese fans several years earlier. Despite its reputation as the second-longest ongoing manga series for Shonen Jump in Japan, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure just doesn’t seem to garner much attention from American audiences. It was only recently released in the United States and skipped much of the initial storyline. Furthermore, the title is not as easily made kid-friendly as other popular martial arts manga (Believe it!). I finally pursued the series when I heard that several parts of it were skipped in its passage to America. So, is this series derivative of its Shonen Jump predecessors, or does it carry its own distinctive traits?

Unlike most manga titles, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure manages to summarize itself perfectly. Weird characters and brutal battles are the hallmark of this series and, if you don’t have the stomach for one or the other, this book might turn you off quickly. Continue reading “Kosher Kuts: Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure”

Survival horror is a genre that seems to be rather underrepresented in manga. Moviegoers and gamers have had their fill over the past few years with moderate success. The trick has been to balance a semblance of a story with enough thrills and chills to make it enthralling. Yuji Iwahara’s King of Thorns brings this unappreciated story type into the light. Is it a B-grade horror flick or a blockbuster page-turner?

The story begins in the present as a virus called Medusa has begun to spread among the human populace. As the name suggests, the virus causes the infected people to slowly become paralyzed and brittle, like old stone statues. A number of people who have been infected are put into cryogenic stasis until a cure can be found. When the group awakens, the laboratory they resided in is in ruins and covered in vines. They quickly discover that the world is down one human race and up one prehistoric dinosaur race. The survivors take it upon themselves to figure out what happened to the world while they were asleep and find a cure for the virus that is slowly taking over their bodies.