Review: LYCANTHROPE LEO

It's October, which means time for more spooky manga.  I picked this one out hoping to get a neat werewolf story, which is something of a rarity in manga.  What I got was indeed a werewolf story...of a sort.

 LYCANTHROPE LEO (Reo), written by Kengo Kaji with art by Kenji Okamura.  First published in 1991 and first published in North America in 1999.

STORY:

Leo thought he was just another high school kid, doing his best to get through school, do well on the track team, and avoiding his strict father.  It's his father that reveals the truth: Leo is not human.  He is part of the "blood tribe," lycanthropes who can freely transform between human and beast form.  Further more, Leo's father is a member of a league of hunters dedicated to eliminating creatures like Leo.  This revelation triggers Leo's first transformation, who ends up killing his father in self-defense.

Now Leo is being pursued not just by the hunters but by other lycanthropes engaged in a centuries-long power struggle.  All the while, Leo must learn to control his powers and deal with the ramification of his actions.

Review: WILD 7

 Let's cap off this month with another 1960s gekika title, albeit one focusing on people fighting crime instead of committing them.

WILD 7 (Wairudo Sebun), by Mikiya Mochizuki.  First published in 1969 and first published in North America in 2002.

PLOT:

Sometimes, there are criminals that the police cannot handle.  They commit the most horrendous crimes, but they rely on loopholes, lawyers, and the basic decency of the cops to slip out of the grasp of the law.  In those cases, the only solution is to bring in Wild 7.  They are a gang of former criminals and societal outcasts, who are feared by the criminal underbelly and loathed by the everyday cops they outrank.  They have been deputized by the government to bring in the worst of the worst by any means possible - dead or alive.

Review: GON

 This series might be one of the most challenging old-school manga to review, but who am I to back down from a challenge?

GON, by Masashi Tanaka.  First published in 1991 and first published in North America in 2007.

             

PLOT:

Gon is a tiny little tyrannosaur with a big attitude.  He has somehow survived the Mesozoic, and now finds himself facing off against some of the biggest, toughest predators in the modern animal world.

Review: KAMIKAZE GIRLS

Let's talk about an old but beloved little one-volume wonder from the glory days of Shojo Beat.

KAMIKAZE GIRLS (Shimotsuma Monogatari), based on the light novel by Novala Takemoto with art by Yukio Kanesada.  First published in 2004 and first published in North America in 2006.

PLOT:

Momoko loves lolita fashion, but it's hard for her to cultivate her wardrobe and the aloof, elegant air she desires when she's been dragged from Osaka to the middle of nowhere by her deadbeat dad.  That's where she meets the biker girl Ichigo, who desperately wants to get her biker coat embroidered to honor her mentor but needs someone who knows their way around Tokyo.  This simple exchange blossoms into an unlikely friendship between two lonely girls from two radically different subcultures.

Review: LUPIN III

 It's time once more for Old-School Month here on the Manga Test Drive (even if it's a little later than usual), and we're starting with one of the most iconic manga to come out of the 1960s.

LUPIN III (Rupan Sansei), by Monkey Punch.  First published in 1967 and first published in North America in 2003.

PLOT:

Lupin the Third is a legendary thief, always able to sneak his way into the most secure locations.  With his right-hand man Jigen at his side, Lupin travels the world while stealing treasure and the hearts of beautiful women, all the while evading the ever-vigilant Inspector Zenigata.