|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||
|
|
Reviewed by Penny Kenny Before we begin let’s take a moment and give silent thanks to Vertical, Inc. for making Keiko Takemiya’s works available to readers who are looking for something slightly different from Naruto and Fruits Basket. Andromeda Stories is old style manga from the get go. It starts with nothing less than the birth of the universe, the hatching of the Cosmic Egg. After a Star Wars: A New Hope type scrawl that firmly sets the story in the Andromeda Galaxy on the planet Astria a long, long time ago, readers are introduced to Jisma and his mother. They seem to live alone in the desert badlands, an area populated only with sand dragons. But before we can find out anything more, the story leaps back five years to the wedding of Princess Lilia of Ayodoya and Prince Ithaca of Cosmoralia. It seems like the beginning of Happily Ever After. Even the heavens join in the celebration with the appearance of a new star. But the omens quickly take a turn for the worse, and the birth of the heir Jisma is seen by some as the beginning of the end. Author Ryu Mitsuse plays with the same classic tropes used by George Lucas in the original Star Wars and Leiji Matsumoto in Galaxy Express. It’s a fairy tale mixed with alien invasion and machine intelligences. And yet it doesn’t feel derivative or old; mainly because it’s a different take on familiar material. There’s a feeling that Mitsuse is drawing on Hindu myth here and straining it through his own imagination. After the epic opening in space, he brings us to an alien desert and we lash on to Jisma as the hero of the piece. Yes, it’s similar to Star Wars, and yet it’s not. Jisma’s gone within a page and we’re left wondering what’s going to happen next. It’s a breathtaking roller coaster of a beginning that firmly holds the attention. And it never ends. Right up until the last page of this volume, Mitsuse is continually adding new elements – a mysterious swordswoman; a meditation by a powerful healer on how the universe and machinery are basically incompatible; malevolent mechanical spiders and mentally advanced children. It’s a puzzle as to how they all fit together. A puzzle readers won’t be able to resist. Despite the epic nature of the story, there are also plenty of human moments. Prince Milan’s conflicted feelings about his sister marrying his best friend are understandable, amusing, and slightly creepy. Newlywed Lilia and Ithaca’s affection for one another is enchanting; while the drunken gladiator Balga provides both the requisite action and humor. There’s a great sight gag of Balga throwing down a Rubik’s Cube and complaining he’s not cut out for brain work. Most who pick up Andromeda Stories will do so because of Keiko Takemiya’s reputation. They won’t be disappointed. Takemiya is one of Japan’s revered 49ers for a reason. She knows how to tell a story with her art, bringing out the subtlest of emotions and dramatic moments. From the opening pages when the winged goddess is brooding over the Cosmic Egg with sword-bearing angels in attendance, you know you’re looking at something special. This is confirmed by the beautiful double page spread of Jisma in the badlands with the sand dragons. It’s alien, beautiful, and intriguing. And you’re only on page fourteen. The art is definitely what’s now considered as “Old style.” While the characters aren’t quite as round as Tezuka’s, they’re definitely cartoon-y, which allows them express a broad range of emotions. Takemiya isn’t afraid to throw in a slapstick moment to contrast with the drama. The finished and unfinished are mixed in her panels. While the background characters are two steps above a stick figure, the armor the focus character is wearing or the cup he’s holding can be highly detailed. It’s a technique that forces the reader to contribute to the sense of reality and become part of the story. Unlike many of the shojo artists newer fans are familiar with, Takemiya uses very little open white space in her panels. When there is open space, it tends to be black. A black that overwhelms and presses down on the small white figures that are overwhelmed by their circumstances. It gives a claustrophobic feel to the proceedings, even when the panel is dealing with a cosmic event. But Takemiya doesn’t just do pretty still pictures. Her panels and characters have an elegant sense of flowing motion. In one particular scene between Balga and the alien swordswoman, Takemiya uses multiple poses of the character to give the feeling of movement. It effectively conveys both the drama of the moment and its high energy. Andromeda Stories isn’t going to appeal to most of the 16 and under crowd the manga market seems geared toward lately. It doesn’t have yaoi. It’s not ‘pretty,’ though it does achieve beauty. There’s no media tie-in available at the moment. And it was written before most of them were born. However, anyone who loves a well-told SF story should check it out. Think you could have written a better review of Andromeda Stories v1? Write us and we'll probably let you give it a shot! --EiC PC |
17 March 2010
|
||||
 |
| home | reviews | news | features | about us | advertise | privacy policy | contact us |
