Ohikkoshi Vol. #01

By Jarred Pine     November 24, 2006
Release Date: October 18, 2006



Creative Talent
Writer/Artist:Hiroaki Samura
Translated by:Kumar Sivasubramanian
Adapted by:

What They Say
A set of stories from author Hiroaki Samura. The main offering, "Ohikkoshi," follows the turbulent paths of several twenty-something art students as they fall in love, fall in lust, play in rock bands, ride motorbikes, eat, sleep (together), and try to avoid making life decisions while drunk.

In "Luncheon of Tears Diary," Natsumi Funabashi, a virgin, is an aspiring manga creator on a quest for love and a fulfilling career. Along the way, she has to cope with overzealous men, gang warfare, a mahjong addiction, and a lascivious manga editor.

This collection is rounded off with Samura's "Kyoto Super Barhopping Journal: Bloodbath at Midorogaike," an autobiographical travel piece.

The Review
If you were one whose circle of friends in college included musicians, literature snobs, art students, or other quirky and absurd people, then like myself you will find Ohikkoshi instantly familiar.

Packaging:
God I love this cover. Its almost the exact same as the Japanese, complete with Japanese text, and the cover illustration looks terrific. Inside there are color images on the inside cover as well as a few B&W illustrations included at the back of the book and as chapter inserts. Also included is a two-page afterword from Samura himself talking about each chapter.

My one complaint on the otherwise stellar packaging is that the printing can be a bit dark and muddy. This is especially apparent with a two-page sequence that featured zoo animal trading cards (yeah, you just have to read it), which were completely in the dark.

Art:
So how does a manga-ka, who is well known for his unique style when applied to action artwork, fare with material that calls for little action? Quite well, I would say. Samura does a great job with character designs, his angular, etched style creating characters that have very expressive personalities. The backgrounds are rich as well. While there might not be a lot of action, his panel compositions still carry that cinematic feel.

Text/SFX:
SFX are translated with new, smaller SFX that are placed next to the originals. I love seeing Dark Horse translate SFX, but I do think this method runs the risk of covering up too much artwork. That said Dark Horse did do a nice job at placing them in the best area possible.

The English script is well-written, keeping a lot of cultural humor intact and including translator notes in the back of the book. My one complaint is that I found that I needed more notes, as there are a few jokes and references that either I did not understand or thought that other might not catch as well. (How many would get the Brazil or Initial D references?)

Contents (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
What this? Niche Manly Manga publisher Dark Horse is releasing a romantic comedy?! And whats this chapter entitled Vagabond Shoujo Manga-Ka about!?! Okay, okay, so the romantic comedy only makes up one of the three stories in Ohikkoshi, and the Shoujo chapter in question actually features life-betting games of mahjong, yakuza, and other manly aspects. Not to mention that manga-ka Hiroaki Samura is mostly well-known for his long-running violent samurai epic, Blade of the Immortal. All that being said, I definitely applaud Dark Horse for not only supporting one of their top artists and rewarding fans of Samuras, but also for releasing a manga that while still niche, is also something off the normal beaten path of dudes and swords.

Ohikkoshi is mainly a one-shot story surrounding a group of 20-something slackers on the verge of college graduation; questioning their positions in life, their feelings for each other, and getting piss drunk as much as possible. This story makes up about 70% of the entire volume, with the remaining pages just experimentation in Samuras quirky sense of humor thrown in as an extra. The real meat is the story Ohikkoshi, which should appeal to the older, more experienced crowd of readers who may share similar tales of angst, lust, jealousy, and self-loathing during their graduate years.

At its core, Ohikkoshi is a romantic comedy about a boy who likes a girl, who is engaged to another boy that is in another country, and who is friends with another girl that has unrequited love for the boy, but who is currently dating a friend of that same boy. Lets see, thats like a love-star or something, right? Anyway, as the story progresses events will test each of the bonds between each character; new bonds will form and some others might be broken forever. And the ticking clock towards the end of the lives as students makes things that much more stressful.

While that description may sound like a melodramatic boarding house drama, let me assure that Hiroaki Samura is not your typical creator, as is witnessed by his idiosyncratic and juxtaposed Blade of the Immortal. He does work in the more emotional drama moments where appropriate, which payoff quite well despite the short 175 page length, but it is the strange non-sequitur humor and quirky personalities that allow Samura to breathe life into these characters.

If you were one whose circle of friends in college included musicians, literature snobs, art students, or other liberal arts majors, then these characters will feel instantly familiar. In a way, it almost gave me a feeling of nostalgia as I was able to almost match each persona to someone from my university days. To me, that makes this story quite personable and makes for a nice engaging read.

The remaining two chapters feel more like extras, which is fine given that the main story is almost the same length as a single volume. The Vagabond Shoujo Manga-ka chapter is a hilarious take on the To understand a criminal, one must be a criminal statement and applying it to a budding shoujo manga-ka. If you are going to put your heroine through turmoil and hardships, then you must also experience the same. Samura takes our shoujo manga-ka and throws her into a spiraling life of yakuza, gambling, whoring, and murder! Now thats a hard-knock life that would be worthy of a shoujo manga!! The final chapter is a quick diary entry by Samura, which to be quite honest is quite forgettable.

Comments
There are two types of people who are going to read this book; those who have read Hiroaki Samuras Blade of the Immortal and those who have not. For those who have, Ohikkoshi offers fans a nice taste of what this unique manga-ka can do outside of the samurai swords and violence. Finally we have our hands on some other material after all these years! And having more Samura artwork to look at is always a good thing, and it is showcased well here.

For those who have not, Ohikkoshi offers a quaint and quirky romantic comedy unlike most you have read in English. While I would have loved to have seen this get a couple more volumes under its belt, the length of the main story is comparable to a single volume of manga; giving it just enough time to make it a worthwhile read.

Lastly, if you were like me and rolled with a strange group of college friends who drank like fish, got rowdy at rock shows, lusted after each other, and basically carried on as if today was their last, then Ohikkoshi is a title that will make you feel a bit nostalgic and definitely relatable.