Build King – Manga Review

Posted on March 22, 2023 by ashleymanningwriter

After reading the first few chapters of Build King I was hooked. It instantly feels like a classic Shonen manga, and is similar to Dragon Ball, One Piece, or Naruto. If someone told me that it was from twenty plus years ago I would have believed them, but it was actually serialised between November 2020 and April 2021. Somehow this went completely under my radar as it was coming out, and it seems like I’m not the only one as the series was sadly cancelled after twenty chapters. Thankfully Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro was able to give the series an ending with five additional chapters in the third collected volume.

The story follows brothers, Tonkachi and Renga, who live on Hammer Island and dream of becoming builders to make the world a better place. Tonkachi is incredibly strong, and aims to build peace, while Renga is very good at construction. They make a good partnership and set off from the island to achieve their dream, meeting other people and facing struggles on the way.

It’s a typical Shonen manga, and even though it’s about two builders, they still end up in plenty of live or death situations and have to fight a whole bunch of bad guys along the way. There’s all the tropes you’d expect from the genre. The first two arcs are really great, and a lot of fun to read. The pair find a way to help their home island from house eaters, and travel across the sea in a sentient house. Before reading this manga I didn’t think it was possible to care about a sentient house, but this series manages it.

As the story gets closer towards the ending it does start to get very rushed and muddled. There’s a lot of talking about vigor and special abilities and none of it really matters as the story doesn’t get that far. It’s a shame that the series didn’t get more time to explore and expand on these ideas.

Still, it is a lot of fun to read and if you’re a fan of Shonen manga then this is pretty decent. It’s still satisfying, even though the story is far from over. I enjoyed it while it lasted and will hope that maybe in the future the story will live on.

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Invasion – Final Part – Short Story

Posted on March 21, 2023 by ashleymanningwriter

Panic raced through Lukas’s body as he saw the new Tony walk towards him, as the decomposing Tony was laying on the sofa inches away. He backed up and started to make a mental route in his mind to the front door so he could leave as quickly as possible.

“Are you okay Lukas?” Tony said, still walking towards him without any trace of emotion on his face.

Lukas couldn’t speak. He didn’t want to speak. He just wanted to leave. Tony was getting closer, but Lukas was sure he could get to the front door.

“You do not need to leave, my friend. I am here for you. What is wrong?”

Lukas had made his way to the hallway, half-twisting his body to reach out his hand to the latch on the front door. Tony made his way to the doorway.

“There is no need to be scared. You are one of us. We are one.”

The front door opened and he threw it against the wall and left as quickly as he could, going into a full sprint as soon as he was outside. Lukas raced down the street and once he reached the corner he turned to see that the new Tony wasn’t following. He was standing in the doorway to the house, watching. His face completely neutral. They stared at each other for a few moments, as Lukas caught his breath.

The doors to every other house on the street opened in unison and people came forward and stood in the doorway, looking towards Lukas with the same empty expression as Tony. Lukas backed off, turned, and started to run again. He ran as fast as he could and every street that he ran down people opened their doors and stared at him. At first it was every single house, but then a door here and there would stay closed.

At least there’s still some people still alive, Lukas thought as he ran down the street. He made a quick decision in his head to go and see Melony, maybe the thing that had answered the door earlier was one of those things and Melony was still alive inside the house. Maybe if he got there quick enough, he could save her. He’d all but forgotten about Gloopy in his bag. It only entered his mind when he thought about throwing his bag to the side of the road and leaving it, but those little eyes popped into his head and he just couldn’t. He was still hoping that Gloopy was one of the good ones, whatever was going on couldn’t have anything to do with it.

Lukas turned onto Melony’s street at a quick walk. He’d stopped running a few streets back, his body ready to give up on moving at all. He approached the house, and his heart sank as Melony came to the front door with that empty expression on her face.

“Why are you here Lukas? There is nothing for you here. You should go home and rest.”

“I’m here to see if Melony is alright.”

“I am okay Lukas.”

Lukas rushed passed the fake Melony, pushing her to one side as he did. She didn’t make a sound, just stumbled slightly and let Lukas go by.

“Where is she?”

“I am here, Lukas.”

He went from room to room looking for her, silently wishing she was still alive. It felt like time was moving too quickly as he searched the house. He would go into a room, look around and leave and go to the next one, but he almost immediately forgot the room before. The world was spinning around him. The downstairs was clear, so Lukas headed upstairs taking two steps at a time. The fake Melony followed him, walking casually behind him.

He found her on her bed. She was a husk of her former self, and dead. Just like Tony, her skin was grey and clung to her bones. The only colour on her was the purple bruise on her arm. Lukas felt like dropping to the floor and crying. He just wanted to give up on everything. The fake Melony walked past and stood next to the body on the bed. She looked at Lukas, made eye contact and then plunged her fingers into the bruise on Melony’s arm. The thing’s finger pierced the skin and then tensed. Melony’s already decaying body started to decompose further. It was like a deflating balloon.

“This is all you are to us, Lukas. Food.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“We must eat. That is all. This is not personal. This is not a vendetta. You are food and we want to survive.”

Lukas stumbled out of the room, practically falling down the stairs. He managed to keep himself upright by holding onto the railing as he went down.  As he reached the bottom he turned and saw her standing at the top, watching him.

“Why?” he croaked, tears and snot filling his face.

“Our kind travelled here on an asteroid that burnt up in your atmosphere but we survived as a bacteria that caused illness in you. The one you call Gloopy is one of us. She will take your nutrients and your form and then join us. It is inevitable and she has known it since the first day you met. Our planet was dying and just like your kind we want to survive. If Earth was dying and you had the power to leave, wouldn’t you? Don’t take it personally. We are the superior beings. That is life. There is nothing more meaningful than that.”

Lukas made his way out of the house, back onto the cold and quiet street where nothing had changed from the last time, he’d walked down it.

“Your time is almost up, Lukas. There is no stopping the inevitable,” the fake Melony said from the doorway.

Lukas stumbled onwards, not sure what more there was to do. Almost instinctively he was walking home, but for what? Tony was dead, Melony was dead, and soon enough everyone would be dead. Who could he warn? Who could he save? Were the police already dead?

He turned a corner and found his way to the little park where he and Melony had spent so many afternoons together. It was still cold, still quiet and peaceful. He changed direction and headed towards the bench they used to sit at, thinking it was a good a place as any to organise his thoughts. As he sat down, he realised that Gloopy was still in the bag wriggling about. He opened it and let his friend out to sit next to him. He couldn’t believe that Gloopy was one of them.

Gloopy was very still and the pair sat still watching the sun as it started to set. He could feel an itch on his foot, but he ignored it. The wind continued to move around them, stopping for no one, and he felt it chill his face. He didn’t care. Gloopy sat still as well, which surprised Lukas as normally it was very inquisitive and moved around a lot.

The itching grew so he pulled his leg over the other and started to scratch beneath his shoe. He couldn’t quite reach it, so ended up taking his shoe off and pulling down his sock. There it was, the thing that he’d been dreading, a small purple bruise that glowed with life. Gloopy moved from where it sat and headed towards the bruise. Lukas pushed it away, standing up and jumping away from the little monster. His heart was beating so fast that he was sure it would fail. Gloopy stayed on the bench, looking at him. Most of Lukas wanted to leave, but he just couldn’t. He looked into Gloopy’s eyes and just couldn’t leave. He fought his instincts and started to back away. Gloopy continued to look at him with those eyes, filled with wonder and innocence. Gloopy didn’t understand what he was doing was hurting him, Lukas had to believe that. He couldn’t walk away. Instead, he sat down next to his little friend.

The End

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Spirit Photographer Saburo Kono – Manga Review

Posted on March 20, 2023 by ashleymanningwriter

Spirit Photographer Saburo Kono is a one-shot manga, written by Kaiu Shirai and drawn by Posuka Demizu, the creators of The Promised Neverland. The story follows, Sota Koganei, who instead of going to school, spends his days playing games at home. Things start to change when Saburo Kono moves in next door, the next in a long line of people who only stay a few days and end up being chased away by a spirit dwelling in the apartment.

Saburo Kono introduces himself as a normal photographer, but he’s anything but. He’s a spirit photographer who travels around looking for spirits trapped in our world and takes pictures of them to capture and then release their souls. The spirit in the apartment next door to Sota is his current target and he moves in with no furniture or belongings (beyond his cameras) in hopes to find the spirit.

There’s a lot of unexpected moments throughout the story, which zips along at a quick pace. It’s less than fifty pages long and doesn’t waste a single panel on any of those pages. When Sota first meets Saburo you’re not sure what his motivation is. He lies a lot, and tricks Sota into helping him find the spirit, but he has good reason to act the way he does. It starts out as a mystery story with a hint of horror and as the story progresses the horror takes over, before the story shifts to something completely different towards the end.

It’s a really neat little story, packed into less than fifty pages. The story is completely self-contained and has a satisfying ending, but at the same time there’s room there is Shirai and Demizu ever want to develop the world in the story. Saburo Kono is an interesting character and it would be good to see him again. If you’re a fan of horror manga, then this is definitely worth checking out if you have a few spare minutes.

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Trick or Treat (1986) – Film Review

Posted on March 19, 2023 by ashleymanningwriter

Director: Charles Martin Smith

Writers: Joel Soisson, Michael S. Murphey, Rhet Topham

Starring: Marc Price, Tony Fields, Gene Simmons, and Ozzy Osbourne

Rating: ★★

Trick or Treat is a supernatural horror film from director Charles Martin Smith. Released in 1986, it plays on the fears that rock music has hidden satanic messages that are revealed when played backwards. Marc Price stars as Eddie Weinbauer, a high school student who is obsessed with Sammi Curr (Tony Fields), a heavy metal musician who previously went to the same school that Eddie is attending.

The film starts with Eddie writing a letter to Sammi, and he sounds like an unhinged fanatic as he does.  Shortly afterwards it’s revealed on the news that Sammi Curr had been denied playing a homecoming concert at the school and has also died in a hotel fire. This shatters Eddie’s world, and he has a small breakdown, tearing down posters in his room. He then gets a vinyl from a local DJ, that contains a final unreleased Sammi Curr song. Only when Eddie plays it, he finds there’s a message just for him hidden within the song.

As a premise it’s pretty interesting. Eddie is bullied by pretty much everyone at school and turns to music as an escape. As his hero, that he treats like a God, dies he hears the secret message that helps him seek revenge on his classmates. For a brief moment it seems like the film is going to play with the idea that he’s imagining it, but it very quickly becomes obvious that the message is real and Sammi Curr somehow survived death through the song. In another universe there is a much better film about a unhinged schoolkid, but after the set up this becomes a very cookie cutter horror film. 

The biggest draw to watching Trick or Treat is that Gene Simmons and Ozzy Osbourne make appearances. Simmons was originally offered the role of Sammi Curr, but turned it down and ends up being the radio DJ that gives Eddie the unreleased song. Even better is Osbourne, who appears as a reverend on TV who denounces heavy metal music, which is just brilliant. He also appears in a brief post-credits scene doing the same thing.

As the film goes on it does start to drag quite a bit. It’s a typical 80s high school horror film, even with a big scene set at a school dance. It would have been a lot more interesting if Eddie ended up being the villain, which is what the opening of the film felt like it was setting up. Instead Eddie becomes the hero and goes through the motions until he saves the day. It feels a lot longer than ninety-three minutes.

Once Sammi manifests he attacks a few different people through TV screens, dragging them into the real world or swiping them away as they recoil in pain. It looks cool, but it does leave you wondering if anyone else noticed that while watching. Then later he obliterates people and barely anyone notices at first, so the people in the world of the film are just dumb.

The film is a blend of comedy and horror but doesn’t really excel at either. There are some good moments, the best being Osbourne’s cameo, but they’re not worth watching the whole film for.

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Pluto – Volume Three – Manga Review

Posted on March 18, 2023 by ashleymanningwriter

The third volume of Pluto doesn’t really focus on Inspector Gesicht like the previous volumes, instead it builds the world around him further and sets up more pieces for the rest of the story. Gesicht still appears throughout the volume, but he’s mentioned more than he’s actually there. It’s still an essential piece of the story that really develops the themes and other characters.

Atom’s sister, Uran, who appears at the end of volume two features heavily. She has the ability to sense the emotions of robots, humans, and animals from miles away and discovers a robot who is distressed and nearly dying hiding in a park. Slowly she nurses him back to health, discovering that he’s painting on the walls. There’s a great moment where Uran gives him more colours to paint with and for one panel the manga is in colour to show his painting of flowers. It’s a brief moment of beauty in the dark and often grimy story.

At the same time Adolf Haas plays a big role in this volume. Three years ago, Haas’s brother was killed and his body was kept for three years by the police. Once Haas has recovered the body, he starts to suspect that a robot, Inspector Gesicht to be precise, is the one who killed him. Haas is also part of a anti-robot rights group that fears the prominence of robots. It’s compared in the manga to the Ku Klux Klan, and that’s exactly what it is. Discrimination is one of the major themes of the volume and a really dark part of the story is revealed in this volume, as the group wants to use Haas’s brother’s death to push their ideology. The reason that Haas’s brother dies is also not revealed, just that he did something horrible when he alive, as everyone wants to make it clear that they don’t condone his actions. It’s very gripping and you just want to know more about what’s happening.

Pluto is a really special manga that has been consistently good from the first page. Naoki Urasawa adapts the classic Astro Boy story into a much grittier story that deals with some heavy themes. It’s very gripping and I’m looking forward to reading more of the story.

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