Gunparade March Vol. #03

By Jarred Pine     June 22, 2005
Release Date: February 22, 2005



Creative Talent
Writer/Artist:Hiroyuki Sanadura
Translated by:Javier Lopez
Adapted by:

What They Say
Victory means survival, and for the mecha-drivers of Unit 5121, victory is everything. Shibamura influences Hayami’s skills to the point that he’s promoted to being a formal leader within the Unit. Things get sticky when the Coexistence Group—those who live alongside the Phantom Beasts—kill some student soldiers. Meanwhile, Kariya’s attitude towards Kato festers to demonic proportions! Will Hayami and Shibamura have trained enough to take on this formidable opponent? The battle ensues as victory looms on the distant horizon in Gunparade March, Volume 3.

The Review
Packaging:
The cover is almost the exact same as the Japanese cover, complete with JP logo, with the exception of the creator names in the bottom right. The cover has a matte finish and the colors look really sharp on it. Inside there is a volume header, and at the back is some guest commentary from the staff as well as Sanadura. The print job looks great, with sharp looking tones and no fading.

Art:
While the character artwork still feels a bit bland, as well as the Phantom Beasts, I did notice that the background artwork is really solid in this volume. I finally started to feel and understand the setting of this story. The backgrounds feature clean line work and some really strong tone work.

Text/SFX:
SFX are translated and subbed next to the original text. I’ve never been a fan of this method, as I believe it creates panel clutter, but here they are not very intrusive and I hardly noticed quite a few of them. The dialogue translations still feel a bit flat and stiff to me, with the dramatic moments feeling a bit cold. Of course, I have no idea if the original text was this way also. In the back of the book are translator notes, which is something I wish we’d see more of in translated manga.

Contents (Watch out spoilers ahead):
Gunparade March has so far been a ride that has lacked a lot of focus and definition in developing its story early on, which I think leaves some bad residue here in this volume. The one thing that I felt was lacking was some real exploration of these characters on the front lines of war and the relationships they formed, specifically Hayami and Mai. It does get back on track in this volume, but never reaches that potential that it could have achieved.

There is an attempt to build some character drama in this final volume for the climax. Hayami befriends Natsuki, the young boy in the wheelchair, and they start to build a bond between each other, but it feels a bit forced. A couple other of the character developments in this volume end up coming off really cheap, only to be erased at the end by it’s reset button finale.

Another problem is that the story tries to build up all these secret pasts and motivations, but it never really gets off the ground and feels like it is too little too late. Natsuki has a secret, Hayami has a secret, Mai has a secret, there is all this background maneuvering seemingly going on but it never really develops into anything. At times the revelations of these secrets is downright laughable, specifically the twist with Natsuki at the end, which did not work at all. But again, after this climax, the story sort of reverts to zero, and all is well again. I’ve never really fully enjoyed these types of endings, and in this case not even the journey there made the ending go down smoothly.

Comments
In the end, I’m not sure what Gunparade March was trying to accomplish. If it was an action manga with mech and aliens, then it was pretty average and not very exciting. If it was a commentary on war, and the kids who live during these times, it failed miserably. If it was a romance, nothing ever developed. The ending is also horribly clichéd and annoying, totally erasing all the conflict the story had going for it. Overall, this manga just really lacks any focus and definition, and tries to make up for it by throwing in the kitchen sink at the end, but it’s all too little too late.