Arm of Kannon 2
November 5, 2009
Masakazu Yamaguchi – Tokyopop – 2004 – 9 volumes
Oh, Arm of Kannon. The plot really, really doesn’t make much sense, but all I need to know is that three organizations seem to be clashing. The chemical company, the government, and Mao and whoever is keeping him. In addition to the chemical company (the ones that made Mao), there’s also the unit of badasses that they dispatched that seem to be tearing the government’s elite, Black Lagoon-like warriors to shreds. But their battle isn’t over, so maybe those government soldiers will win one for humanity.
The plot is most certainly not why I’m reading this. I’m reading this for the repulsive fight scenes, which are so far living up to my expectations. They aren’t quite as splatter-riffic as the first volume here, but we get more variety. The superhuman warriors tht the chemical company dispatches all have different methods of fighting, including psychological warfare, spider webs, and frying people on a subatomic level by assimilating them into their bodies, and those are all fun to watch. Androids are involved, as are people who weild “psychic swords” and can “see” weakness. Whatever. Mao himself plays almost no role, but the next volume promises he’ll jump into the melee.
Several specimins escaped when Mao broke out of the chemical company, and for whatever reason, they are monster-fying the flora and fauna in the forest the characters are searching. I’m hoping that escalates, but I don’t think the action will stay in the forest much longer.
I actually like the art in this series quite a bit. Despite being dated from 2002, it looks very early 90s shounen-ish, a lot like Bastard with better composition. The panel layouts are well-chosen, the character designs are suitably grotesque, and the art is extremely high-contrast, which adds to the nightmarish atmosphere.
It’s still not very good, but it is living up to my expectations and is thus far an entertaining read. I like it.
