Geobreeders Vol.#01

By: Mike Dungan
Review Date: Sunday, May 23, 2004
Release Date: Saturday, May 01, 2004



Creative Talent
Writer/Artist:Akihiro Ito
Translated by:Laura Jackson and Yoko Kobayashi
Adapted by:

What They Say
The basis for the hit Geobreeders anime! This is the story of the Kagura Security Company: six lunatics who occassionally act as detectives... whent hey aren't blowing stuff up! Their arch enecies, The Phantom Cats, are building power to take over the world. Is Kagura strong enough - or SMART enough - to stop them?


The Review
The Review: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Yoichi Taba is a very typical salaryman, going to work for his new employer, Kagura Security. Finding the offices empty, he fears his new company has gone bankrupt, only to have a tiny redheaded woman crash through the plate glass window. It's his boss and the President of Kagura, Yuka Kikushima. Yuka is as insane as she is cute, and is in the middle of a life or death battle with a Phantom Cat. They are malevelant creatures able to change form between human and feline. They are also able to travel through phone and computer lines. Kagura Security is a private company that's in the business of ridding the world of these dangerous enemies of mankind. Kikushima throws a crossbow at Taba and tells him to head down to the lobby. When he sees the phantom cat, shoot it. Killing them isn't easy, though, especially when they're in human form. Special talismans are needed to "seal" the phantom cat up on a computer disc. The drawback is that four seals are necessary, and they must be set up in a square around the victim. With Taba's help, Kimushima is able to seal up the cat, even while Taba is screaming that he quits.

In the second chapter, we're introduced to Maki Umezaki. She's a gorgeous blonde who carries a handgun. She dresses in a white linen suit, white fedora, and a bolo tie around her neck. She's a tough-talking dame who loves old movies with famous Japanese tough-guy actors. She also insists on being called "Red Shooting Star." She and Taba take on a phantom cat on a train, with Taba showing a surprising amount of resourcefulness trying to form a square of seals around the phantom cat inside the rectangular train car.

The third chapter features Takami Sakuragi, the cute little glasses-wearing blue-haired computer expert of Kagura. When not hacking into computer systems, she's tossing butterfly knives and grenades at the enemy. She's also fond of rollerblading which gives her the speed necessary to keep up with the cats. Her downfall is her tendency to give up on reality and start gibbering whenever things get a little too desperate. She and Taba are chasing a cat at an amusement park, which leads to the destruction of a large Ferris Wheel, as well as much of the rest of the park. The end of the chapter also introduces two more important characters. Irie, the mysterious yet smarmy young man who works for the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and a young girl who is also a phantom cat.


Next we meet Eiko Rando, the statuesque lavender-haired beauty who is Kagura's accountant. She's also an expert at hand-to-hand combat, always carrying a pair of brassknuckles with her. She's been sent to the sewers to fight another phantom cat. She hooks up with the luckless Taba and the two of them work to lure the cat into a place where they can seal it up. The rest of Kagura are supporting them, but Maki is stopped by a cop when she pulls her gun. The cat is successfully sealed, and Maki escapes from the cop. The end of the chapter has a meeting between Taba, the young female cat we saw at the end of the previous chapter, and the Black Cat. He is an imposing older man in a black overcoat and fedora with a request of Taba. He wants him to stay with Kagura. The phantoms that Kagura have been fighting are a different faction from his. The Black Cat has a plan he is implementing, and it's important to him that Kagura be a witness to it.

Finally, Yu Himehagi makes her entrance. She's the awesomely endowed green-haired driver for Kagura. There are only three things she cares about. Driving, sleeping, and smoking. And not necessarily in that order. She's driving Taba and Kikushima somewhere when they're spotted by the phantom cats. The battle on the highway is another Kagura destruction-fest, and highlights Himehagi's brilliant driving. To complicate matter further, the Hounds, a paramilitary group under the Ministy of Welfare, are also after these cats. Also, Kagura doesn't have Umezaki at their disposal. She's been forced to go underground after the events of the previous chapter. The Hounds get this particular cat, but Taba's leg gets broken in the process.

With Taba stuck at home with a broken leg, Sakuragi comes by to cook and clean for him. Outside his apartment, the young female phantom cat that works for the Black Cat is standing in the rain, just watching. Sakuragi brings her in, but Taba is suspicious of her. Meahwhile, the Black Cat and female cat take over a nuclear powerplant. Irie is monitoring their movements, but he's also monitoring the goings on inside Taba's apartment, which he's somehow bugged. When Sakuragi leaves, Taba's left alone with the young phantom cat. The chapter ends with Irie showing up at Taba's apartment.

Comments
Akihiro Ito is a great fan of famed Hong Kong action movie director John Woo, and it's evident in not only the homages included in the story, but also in the pacing and intensity of the action. This is one of the best, more exciting action mangas ever published in the US. The cute girls and constant humor are what will draw a reader in, but the grand scale of the destruction and the plots within plots are what will keep the reader coming back for more.

Ito's art is solid and dynamic, with action sequences that flow smoothly. His women are attractively drawn, with distictiveness that extends beyond simply having different hair and clothes. The women all find Taba attractive and constantly bicker over who gets him, but whenever a dangerous situation arises, he's always the first one they volunteer to do the job. The translation by Laura Jackson and Yoko Kobayashi is excellent, and includes cultural notes in the gutters between panels, especially useful with all the old tv and movie trivia Umezaki is contstantly reeling off.

Geobreeders was originally published as a monthly comic book by CPM, and then collected into a graphic novel that retained the flipped left-to-right art and full sound effects retouched into English. Unfortunately, the book was let down by poor art reproduction, which was simply terrible. Blurry images, poorly reproduced screentones, and muddy blacks conspired to bring this title down. When CPM announced they were going to republish Geobreeders in the now industry standard B6 format, fans were hopeful on several levels. It was hoped that the poor art reproduction of the first three graphic novels would be improved, and the editing of nudity in the second and third books would be undone. It was also hoped that CPM would continue publishing the book beyond volume 5, which is were they placed it on hiatus, despite still being published in Japan, with nine volumes out at the time of this review. Unfortunately, this new release does nothing to correct the terrible art reproduction. It's published exactly as it was before, except smaller and less expensive. The cover of this volume uses the same artwork as the previous volume 1, except with pale purple borders top and bottom where all the text is placed. The back cover is a big improvement over the earlier volume 1, which was all text. This time they use a very nice image of Takami in her inline skates and trademark short skirt sitting on the ground, with Eiko next to her on all fours with her hand formed into the shape of a gun and pointing at the viewer. Inside, there are extra pages with character descriptions and some of the original comic book covers reproduced, but only in black and white.

Geobreeders is an exciting action manga with plenty of cute girls, big explosions and comedy that is actually funny. Unfortunately, CPM's decision to publish the book as is, poor art reproduction and all, is a terrible disappointment. Fans hoped CPM would take this opportunity to start fresh, unflip the art and clean up the art reproduction. CPM declined to embrace this opportunity. As much as I love this title, I can only recommend this release if the poor art reproduction doesn't concern you.