Blank Slate 1
Posted: October 5, 2008 Filed under: Blank Slate 7 Comments »As you may have noticed, I have a weird obsession with connecting all the works by particular artists that have been published in English. I wanted to read this one only because it sounded interesting, but I was kind of shocked to learn that it was by the same mangaka as Otomen, one of next year’s series I’m looking forward to the most. I was further shocked to find out she had another series in English, Soul Rescue, published by Tokyopop. Soul Rescue doesn’t sound particularly gripping, but I may wind up picking it up if I find myself liking this or Otomen a lot.
I was kind of surprised, I thought this was an action-y series about an amnesiac main character. It is, but you have to reject any sort of preconceived notions you may have about that. This series isn’t about a sobbing, haunted main character surrounded by friends trying to help him regain his memory. This is… about as far as you can get from that. It’s an action series along the lines of what I imagine Kazuya Minekura’s series to be like, though I’ve never read anything by her. Hard-boiled action and pretty boys.
I kind of like it, because it manages to thwart my expectations every time I try to see ahead. The volume starts off by introducing the main character, Zen, and coupling him with a bounty hunter character who decides to not kill Zen and join up with him instead. Except by the end of the chapter, the bounty hunter is killed by Zen’s own hand. I was really shocked by this, because not only is it unexpectedly violent (though not too over-the-top or gory), but because I really was expecting the two of them to partner up for the duration of the series. Then I figured that the chapter was introducing us to Zen before he lost his memory. It’s not. Zen’s lost his memory, and the only thing in his head when he regained consciousness was an impulse to destroy. Thus the present character, who has no qualms about doing whatever crime he feels like, be it bank robbery, murder, kidnapping, etc. He does everything he wants to on a whim, but it all has to satisfy his craving for violence and destruction. I wound up enjoying it quite a bit both for the absolutely heartless main character (a rarity in shoujo manga) and the way the series just wasn’t doing anything according to the rules. I can’t stress enough that I was totally blown away by the fact this was absolutely nothing like I had imagined it.
Things can get a bit heavy-handed as Zen explains his thirst for violence and imparts it on others, which in context makes it sound like a mantra since, you know, he lives for violence or whatever. Not that much time is spent on this, but I still had to roll my eyes whenever the main character mentioned it.
The first two stories are one-shots, but the last two chapters are connected by what could eventually be a plot, and the main character really has joined up with someone at this point. He may even have a purpose by the end of the volume.
This was really much different than what I was expecting, and I don’t normally read shoujo action titles like this. But the way this volume ran contrary to absolutely everything I was expecting, I’m actually really curious to see what happens in the second (and final) volume. It makes me think of the “Millennium Snow” and “Backstage Prince” stories I read not too long ago, those were two-volume shorts by authors with longer series running, and I wound up being pretty pleased with both of those in the end. This one reads nothing like either of those two, but I think it works much the same way.
This was a review copy provided by Viz.
Sounds cool … you’re right about Minekura’s stuff; boys don’t get much prettier than the cast of Saiyuki. You should try her stuff, though the first volume of Saiyuki is slow beyond slow and the art leaves a little to be desired, it vastly improves. Lotsa fanservice involved too ;-)
Wild Adapter is cool too, though the way Minekura just never really spells out the relationship between the two main guys annoys me … it’s one of those something’s-definitely-there-but-never-mentioned-outright things. It’s a bit massively violent too, which could possibly bother you …
I really love your reviews – and I really just have to admire the way you’ve stuck with Bleach … I gave up after about 14, mainly out of crushing boredom …
Hah, I keep hoping it will go back to being as good as it was in the first six or so volumes. I hated the Soul Society stuff, and so far I haven’t liked the next story arc either, but I like the idea of fighting hollows, so I keep hoping for something good.
I really should read Saiyuki. How are the sequels, by the way? It’s always sort of intrigued me that the series has been expanded on like that, and I always thought I’d try reading the original when one of the other two series finished so that I could move on to another completed story if I liked it.
[...] array of titles in this week’s Midweek Manga Reviews at About Heroes. Connie looks at vol. 1 of Blank Slate, vol. 25 of GetBackers, vol. 1 of Afro Samurai, and vol. 2 of Your and My Secret. Sesho checks out [...]
Re: Soul Society. Rukia has a lot to answer for, they spent like 10 volumes on her in confinement … or maybe it just seemed that way to me >.<
I guess you mean Saiyuki Reload? I haven’t watched the anime (apparently it blows, so no loss there). Reload’s pretty good too, though I’m beginning to wonder if they’re ever actually gonna reach India, their original goal. They just keep getting distracted … there’s a really annoying arc about a guy called Bishop Hazel who’s basically a bastardized, simultaneously nicer and more sadistic version of Sanzo. Yeah, waiting until the sequel finishes is a good idea, it’s killing me waiting for Reload 9 to appear …
Eh, it’s a shame to hear Reload meanders a bit, especially since the schedule for it is so slow. Have you read Saiyuki Gaiden too, by chance? I think that one’s a prequel, and it sounds only vaguely related, but I’ve been waiting for one or the other of those two to finish before I started the original. Unfortunately, I think Gaiden runs even more slowly than Reload.
I’m not even sure Gaiden is published, only scanned, and the scans are a rare find *scowl* though from what I’ve seen of them Gaiden is pretty good. I love the idea of their all being friends or whatever in past lives, which is the premise. I don’t think that’s finished either … sensing a theme here …
Supposedly Minekura has had a lot of health problems, which is why Reload releases are so slow. You should read Saiyuki, though … I’m going to follow Reload til the end, I think … you know how it is when you’ve read a series from the beginning.
Huh, you’re right, I could’ve sworn there was a Tokyopop version for Gaiden. That’s really weird.
But you’ve convinced me, I think I’m going to pick up the first couple volumes of Saiyuki next time I see them on sale.