What is the most dangerous and brutal animal to ever exist – ancient predators or modern Japanese middle school students?
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Yoshinobu Yamada
Translation/Adaptation: Mari Morimoto
What They Say
Akira and his classmates are on a plane heading back home after a field trip abroad. Suddenly, the plane crashes on a mysterious island. Akira is somehow still alive despite the crash, but soon discovers that he’s not exactly safe and sound when enormous, supposedly extinct beasts begin chasing him. Akira slowly finds other classmates who also survived the crash. Some work together and some work against each other in an effort to survive on the strange island.
Technical:
In Japan there are a couple of manga companies whose properties almost everyone who has looked at a manga section for any length of time would recognize. Some of the companies can be on the smaller side and some, like Kodansha, are powerhouse packed with the kinds of series that have been making it to the US for years in either manga or anime adapted form. Kodansha made no small ripples in the manga pool when they announced that they would be taking a new plunge for them and dive into the US waters head first which created some hopes as well as ripples of fear among many manga fans.
When one of their initial releases, Ghost in the Shell, edited out a salacious spread the fearful side grew more than a little traction. Luckily it seems that Kodansha learned from this experience as it doesn’t appear that any of the materials here have been altered. Additionally, after their long working relationship with Del-Rey, Kodansha has decided not to try to tamper with a good thing as the format for the title with designs and layout is one that if it weren’t for their logo would look like a Del-Rey release. This provides a sense of familiarity with the imprint as well as carrying over the hard effort Del-Rey made in establishing their brand.
To this end the volume includes a translator’s note page at the beginning explaining honorifics as the Del-Rey imprints did and even expands on it beyond what was previously written slightly. Those familiar with Del-Rey’s editorial style will discover continuity as well as sound effects are left in their original Japanese presentation with English translations being available under them though there are a very few places, like some Japanese newspaper headlines, where substitutions were made as it looked to unfeasible in the space provided to put a translation next to the Japanese text without seriously disrupting the flow. The volume also features the familiar translator notes present at the end of the book along with some teaser pages from the Japanese release of volume 2.
As to the art much can be said though “wow” sums it up succinctly while admittedly also being shallow in description. I have never heard of Yoshinobu Yamada previous to this release and haven’t been able to find a bio of him at the usual places I look which leads me to think there is a chance this is his debut work, but it sure doesn’t look like a lot of debuts I’ve seen. While the attractive character designs of the main two characters on the cover really catch the eye it was the depth and richness of the background that really gave me a thrill upon first seeing the cover. Most artists can do really good shots of their characters but it is the details of scenes that breathe life into the created environment they exist in, and there is life aplenty to be found within. With a style that can cover ground from fanservice images of some of the girls to stunning action scenes that carry their weight and are clear in their presentation while also including an impressive level of detail found in the background as well as foreground images Yoshinobu Yamada looks to be an artist who will be around for quite some time.
While the volume doesn’t contain a color page of any kind it doesn’t skip any steps in bringing Yamada’s work to the audience in the meat of the book. To help bring more impact to his images he makes frequent use of shading work as well as deep blacks and Kodansha presents these images in a very strong manner that helps add so much weight to the images on page. They also use a bit of a less white paper than some other companies which really works as it keeps the bleed through from the opposite page way down allowing for liberal use of ink on one side and blank spaces on the other with minimal disturbance to the overall effect.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Sengoku Akira is a mostly ordinary 14 year old boy who is in his third year of middle school. And by mostly ordinary it means he is a bit on the short side for his age and doesn’t really stand out academically or athletically as he has been a bench rider on the volleyball club all three years he has been there. What sets him apart from his classmates in many ways is that he is kind of a class clown type, always pulling pranks and getting into (rather benign) trouble for it. Where he isn’t ordinary is in the area of his friends.
Akira’s best friend Artei Kohei is the volleyball club ace and possesses an appearance that makes him very popular with the girls in the school. His childhood friend Akagami Rion on the other hand is practically the school idol with her gorgeous looks which are augmented by both her book smarts and athleticism as she is the ace of the gymnastics team. With friends like these it is easy for Akira to dwell in his inferiority complex as he doesn’t feel there is anything special about him, though as the bard once wrote “some men are born to greatness, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them” and he may get a chance to prove he is more than even he believes possible whether he likes it or not.
Extraordinary events often appear from rather ordinary situations and this tale begins in much the same way. Akira’s class is returning from their class trip in Guam and the members are still in the high spirits such a trip creates. Akira has continued to live up to his antics on the isle even until the last minute where he has caused a delay in getting to the plane so it can depart on time. When the plane is finally able to depart the students start to mingle around sharing stories or in some cases captured video of the retreat and generally having a good time for the most part. Both Akira and the class’s other problem child Yarai Koichi share a similar thought though that they wish their world would change a short way into the flight.
As they are about to discover why for generations humans have written stories about being careful what one wishes for as suddenly their world is rocked, in this case literally. The plane suddenly shakes tremendously and any hope of writing it off as turbulence vanish as the planes instruments go completely wild and the sky goes from afternoon to a starless black instantly. Things are even worse for Akira as he rushes toward Rion and he sees an odd transparent and giant beak seems to materialize out of thin air between them distorting his view of her. The time given to him to cope is only momentary as he has only seconds to process events before darkness sets in.
Akira finds himself coming to on the grass of a jungle with no sign of any other of the aircrafts passengers around him or wreckage of the craft itself either. As he attempts to deal with his strange change of location he is surprisingly calm, even when presented with some odd creatures he has never seen before. Akira shows his flexibility of personality as he makes the best of this odd situation by using the creatures to find a river as he is parched due to the environment. When he follows a sound that he thinks might be fellow survivor his new reality crashes in on him as he confronts a giant bird larger than himself that he can’t begin to rationalize away, nor does he get the chance to before it suddenly attacks. While his attack was brief he finds that classmate and computer whiz Mariya Shiro is lying nearby seemingly hurt and that Ohmori Kanako, an inexperienced flight attendant, is under major assault from one of the creatures. With more than a little bravado and perhaps some level of insanity Akira decides to tempt fate again as he is unwilling to stand by with Kanako in such a situation without at least trying to do something despite Shiro trying to tell him to just run.
A new and bizarre reality is going to come crashing in on him however as Shiro’s computer holds a file that contains the answer to what the animals present around them are-answers which are unbelievable except for the fact they are staring them right in the eyes and are undeniable. This knowledge causes the need to find the plane and other survivors to be turned up a notch while Akira must cope with the panic around him and keep his head when his two companions are at the edge of what they can deal with rationally. But even if they find the plane will they discover sanctuary or is it possible that even bigger threats loom in the vibrant jungle-threats not limited to those born of this strange world but that arrive from the plane itself?
While Kodansha certainly has experience in the manga field that no US company can match its area of expertise is half a world away in terms of geography but perhaps even further in terms of the type of market and peculiarities that come with it that they are now competing in. To help make a splash they have brought in some of their stronger titles that US fans know from both titles they had licensed to other companies as well as the almost legendary Sailor Moon which has been out of print in the US for a good number of years. Kodansha could have rested on these laurels and watched how things played out but they chose to bring a few newer titles in as well. While Cage of Eden certainly hasn’t reached Sailor Moon status in terms of name recognition it launches itself in a powerful way to make a statement that it deserves the chance to be seen by a foreign audience as well and can stand proudly in the company it will be keeping.
For starters it will be impossible to skip the Lord of the Flies comparisons simply by nature of the title’s set up of a group of castaway children but the characters here look like they have a very good chance to expand on such themes in ways that will set them apart. There is also the additional mystery of this dangerous and impossible jungle they now find themselves in that hangs menacingly over them thanks in no small part to the creator’s artistic skills and storytelling methods. While it is impossible to say from a single initial volume how a story will hold up over time what is clear is that if the creator can sustain the levels he establishes here it will be a visual treat as it plays out and it contains the potential to be a treat on the story telling level as well.
In Summary
With its lush visuals of the environment and attractive character designs Cage of Eden brings a lot to the table in terms of style but it doesn’t use that as an excuse abandon substance either. While some of the broader strokes of the set up have been explored in the past in other works, the characters used here sure look to hold a good deal of promise of getting some terrific mileage and a glimmer of possibility of some originality as well. If you are looking for a title that can mix action with some fanservice and humor, Cage of Eden may hold the key to your search.
Content Grade: B+
Art Grade: A
Packaging Grade: A-
Text/Translation Grade: A-
Age Rating: 16+
Released By: Kodansha Comics
Release Date: August 23rd, 2011
MSRP: $10.99
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