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Reviewed by Shannon Fay I have a little brother, and it’s always nice when I find a manga that we can both enjoy. Unfortunately, ‘Undertown’ doesn’t fit the bill. It’s too childish for an adult, and too convoluted for a child. Sama is a young boy who still carries around a teddy bear. When Sama’s father suffers from a heart attack a creepy stranger tells Sama about the Sugar Stone, a stone that cure anyone of anything. To get it, Sama has to travel to a fantasy land named Undertown, where humanoid-animals and giant bugs are at war with each other. To make things even weirder, Sama’s teddy bear, Eddie, has changed from an inanimate bundle of fluff to a living creature. From the description it sounds like a fun kids’ tale, but the book is rated 13+. I can see why; the insect bad guys can be pretty creepy and there are a few bloody fights. But the rest of the book is pretty much a kid’s story. There’s a young protagonist, a wise-cracking teddy bear, and the rest of the characters are mostly talking animals or bugs. All of these things would go together great in a series for young children, but not so much for anyone over the age of 11. I wish the authors had either decided to tone down the more violent parts of the book and make it a straight-up kids tale, or forgo the childish plot and story elements to make a manga for teens. As it is now, ‘Undertown’ fails to really work for either age group. Jim Pascoe and Jake Myler manage to create a vivid fantasy world populated by many interesting creatures. Unfortunately, we don’t get to linger long in any one place. The authors manage to pack a lot of locations into Sama’s journey, but I didn’t really get a chance to see these places before being whisked off to the next setting. You also meet a lot of characters who show up barely long enough to help the hero out before disappearing again. I don’t mind the minor characters not really being fleshed out, but even the members of Sama’s party don’t get the development they need. When it turns out that one of Sama’s friends has betrayed him, the betrayal didn’t really make an impact on me because I didn’t feel like I knew who this character was or why he’d sell out his friends. ‘Undertown’ is bursting with ideas, and it shows in the art. The settings and character designs are all very detailed. I liked the designs for the good guys (especially Sama) but the insect bad guys all look alike (though they are creepy). This volume is loaded with extras, including color pages and character designs. It’s always cool to see behind the scenes of series, and it’s interesting to see how much (or how little) the characters have changed since their conception. There’s lots of loose threads left hanging at the end of this volume which may or may not be answered in volume two. While I like the world, I don’t think I’m intrigued enough to stick around. Comment on this review of Undertown v.1 on the Manga Life Forums. |
7 May 2008
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