Review: WARRIORS OF TAO

 October is a time when we consume not just spooky stuff, but also gory, exploitative schlock as well.  This is not just true for movies, but for manga as well.

WARRIORS OF TAO (Toma), by Shinya Kuwahara.  First published in 2001 and first published in North America in 2004.

PLOT:

For Toma, it was just another day of school (and detention) until he encounters a beautiful naked girl named Itsuki.  She's on the run from something called Tao, but before she can explain further she's taken captive by the cruel and calculating Karma and the two of them are transported to the world of Tao.  It turns out that the three of them were meant to be part of a force to defend humanity, but Karma sees Toma as only a liability and would prefer him to be removed from the team permanently.

Alone in a strange new world with equally strange new powers, Toma must become a true Warrior of Tao if he wants to survive and save Itsuki.

STORY:

Reading Warriors of Tao is like reading an original story written by an edgy teenage boy raised on a diet of shonen anime and trashy OVAs.  It's full of fighting, manly yelling, burning spirit, grossness, and boobs, just an incoherent mess of juvenile wish fulfillment and half-baked ideas masquerading as science fiction.

Toma's personality veers constantly between 'doofy pervy dumbass' and 'gritty manly-man punching things into oblivion,' something that is equally true for the story at large.  One minute he's hanging out with his bros while a teacher tries to stave off his adolescent rage with the promise of sex.  The next he's slicing and punching his way through bodies as they burst into tumorous masses as he monologues to himself how weird everything is and how much he loves Itsuki because he saw her naked that one time.

As for Itsuki herself, she's little more than an object to ogle and fetch despite being a fellow warrior.  We are told that previously she was a limber dancer, so you'd think that her power would be her agility.  Instead her power is her power is 'innocence,' which is expressed by her refusal to fight at every turn.  Despite her cowardice, Karma somehow sees her as a valuable asset, but maybe he too is just distracted by her constant lack of clothing.

The villains are ostensibly the alien creatures that are turning ordinary people into tumor monsters, but the true villain here is Karma whose ego can only be matched by his sheer pettiness.  Tasked with leading a team of superhumans, he immediately goes on a massive power trip and decides that Toma is too dumb and too powerful to keep around.  He even goes so far as to sic the other (largely nameless) team members upon Toma, which backfires in the most predictable, shonen manga way possible.  

The cast may be shallow and bone-headed, but surely this story can coast on spectacle and outrageous atmosphere like most schlocky sci-fi, right?  Wrong.  On top of everything else, Warriors of Tao is incredibly disjointed.  Kuwahara keeps interrupting all the gruesome, gritty action with stupid comedy bits and weird dream sequences, which derails what little momentum this story can generate.  It's an amateur move, but what else can you expect from such an amateur story?

ART:

I was surprised to learn that this series started in 2001 as its artstyle feels like it could be at least another decade older.  Kuwahara is determined to sell the reader on how tough and dark his art is meant to be, to the point of ludicrousness.  It's often literally dark, full of dank halos of screentones and shadowy, looming industrial landscapes.  The only bright spots (literally) are the fights, which are full of energy bursts and sound effects.  It's too bad that he never lets anyone shut up long enough to enjoy it!  He also revels in the excesses of body horror and violence, be it the veiny, pustular tumor creatures or the vaguely insectoid modifications that marks Toma's transformation into a warrior.  The only thing he loves more is drawing T&A, and he's positively brazen about it.

Itsuki's primary purpose in this work is to be the vehicle for Kuwahara's love of fanservice.  This is obvious right from her very first scene, where she's shown off over a two-page spread fully nude with her legs spread-eagled (albeit with a censored crotch).  Anytime she's on the page, the focus is not on her distress but instead on her bouncing boobs and bulging taint.  She's not the only woman who is objectified, as there's a terrible running gag with Toma's gym teacher.  She's the one throwing herself at Toma to stop him from fighting, but all everyone can focus on (be it Toma, her colleagues, or even random cops on the street) is how ridiculously big her boobs are.  

The worst instance is during Itsuki's sadly inevitable rape scene.  It's not just that Kuwahara clearly relishes drawing every panel of these alien creatures ripping off her clothes and assaulting her.  It's that he goes out of his way to twist her body in impossible ways just to show off her crotch in the middle of all this violence.  At this point, the reader is meant to be savoring Itsuki's suffering as much as her body and it was the last straw for me.

RATING:

Warriors of Tao might technically be seinen, but make no mistake: this is shallow, exploitative, ugly, teenage power fantasies, and like all such things it should be hidden where no one else can see it so it can eventually be forgotten.

This series was published by Tokyopop.  This series is complete in Japan with 4 volumes available.  All 4 volumes were published and are currently out of print.