This year saw the announcement of a lot of new titles from established creators. Unfortunately, that included Hiroya Oku.
GIGANT (Giganto), by Hiroya Oku. First published in 2017 and first published in North America in 2020.
PLOT:
Rei Yokoyamada wants to stop obsessing over movies and start making his own, but in his search for an actress he stumbles acrosss Chiho "Papico" Johansson, his favorite porn actress. The two bond, giving Chiho a positive outlet away from her shitty, abusive boyfriend and the ungrateful step-family she's supporting. Then things get strange when Chiho gets a strange device stuck upon her wrist that allows her to change size at will. At the same time, a strange website with even stranger polls goes viral when whatever option wins happens, whether it's a popular actor streaking or poop raining from the sky.
STORY:
I had hope back when I reviewed Inuyashiki that Oka might be getting over his edgelord tendencies and finding a sense of focus in his writing. Well, Gigant has proven me to be a fool because if anything, this series is more unfocused than ever.
There was one thought coming to me over and over as I read this volume: why is Rei the protagonist? His problems are minor at best, and his interest in film is as superficial as his interest in Chiho. Yet he's the one that's rewarded by having a beautiful older woman treat him like a friend. He's the one we follow for half the book despite the fact that he has all the personality of burnt toast. He's also got bad taste in manga, considering he takes a very self-indulgent moment to recommend both Inuyashiki and Gantz.
The more obvious fit for the role would be Chiho. She's the one with loads of trouble, even if Oka is unable or unwilling to let the reader get into her mind and find out how she feels about everything. Between that and the alien device that changes her size, Oka is clearly going for a modern take on Attack of the 50 Foot Woman. That's an idea with a lot of potential, so why is she serving as a sidekick to the kind of surface-level film geek I used to see on the Rotten Tomatoes forums?
The sci-fi elements are probably the most successful part of the series thus far. The surrealism and mystery behind the device on Chiho's wrist and the neighborhood weirdo who gave it to her are compelling story hooks. Yet that seemingly gets pushed to the side in the last chapter or two in this volume for some king's game-style nonsense with a cursed website. I'm sure the two will turn out to be connected somehow, but at the moment it's just another needless distraction in a story that's already full of too many of them.
ART:
Oya leans a lot on rotoscoping in this series. Pretty much every background is like this, and sometimes it gets kind of awkward when he draws heads onto the bodies of real people from those photographs. Still, it lends this series a sort of verisimilitude. I would praise the detail he puts into the character designs if I hadn't notice that Rei and Chiho basically have the same face and that they spend most of the book making an expression I can only call 'dull surprise.' He puts the same level of detail into Chiho's transformations, but I suspect that's less about craft and more about Oka's preferences in fetishes.
RATING:
Gigant feels like a step back for its creator. It's unfocused, weirdly horny, and yet surprisingly dull all at the same time. Unless you share Oka's fondness for giantesses, big boobs, and confusion, I can't recommend this in the slightest.
This series is published by Seven Seas. This series is ongoing in Japan with 6 volumes available. 3 volumes have been published and are currently in print.
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Fuck off
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