Quick Reviews

A week or so ago, I decided to give manga a try. Manga is the term for a style of comic developed in Japan. Manga embraces many different genres (not just super-heroes) and are very popular among people of all ages in Japan. Manga is far more popular in Japan than comics are in the U.S. (the X-Men and Spider-Man movie franchises notwithstanding). Over the last few years, in the hopes of capturing some of that manga-magic for the American audience, several publishers have translated a myriad of titles, representing a vast cross-section of genres, from Japanese into English and put them on shelves in mainstream bookstores (like Borders) as well as specialty comic book stores. As I understand it, these are doing very well. And since I always follow the crowd (and I search for something different to read), I bopped over to my local comic store and bought a couple of titles: Iron Wok Jan and Planetes.

What did I think? I am glad you asked.

Iron Wok Jan - is the story of two teen-age chefs in training. One is a young woman who is convinced that cooking is all about heart (the emotion, not necessarily the organ). The other is a young man who maintains that cooking is all about competition. Naturally, their grandfathers were fierce rivals for affections of Tokyo's culinary elite and that rivalry is passed down to their descendants. Despite some gratuitous wok-fu, there is little physical conflict. The story focuses on these two characters and their struggles to achieve mastery of their profession and the admiration of their peers. I take that back: the story focuses on the young man and his struggles. With the more dynamic personality and the tougher obstacles (and, I suspect, some Japanese sexism), the young man is the more interesting of the pair and gets the most "screen time". Despite this, the comic is a fun and interesting read. If one is not careful, one mght actually learn a little bit about chinese cuisine and the science of food. There are some pretty dark turns by the end of the first volume but the comic is a nice change of pace from the relentless action of most comics.

Planetes - is the story of a trio of astronauts in the near future. Their job is to keep Earth's orbit clean of debris left by fellow astronauts, defunct satellites and other detritus. There aren't any rampaging robots or evil empires here. Just three people trying to make a living. There is a lot of human drama in this comic, as personal conflicts are addressed and dealt with (or not). This is hard science fiction, and the characters ahve to deal with radiation sickness and the physiological effects of living in zero gravity for long periods of time. A sub-plot involving terrorists picks up steam by the end of this volume (culminating in a fantastic action scene) but for the most part the plots deal with individual problems and foibles that happen to take place in space. Of the two manga I picked up, this one was my favorite.

And be sure to check out my friend Chris' new blog: But Is It Fun? It is devoted entirely to games and game design.

That is all for now. Next time: Uncle Patrick's top ten albums of all time!