Adult/High School–This is the second collected volume of the popular online comic. Piro, an anime otaku (obsessed fan), and Largo, a reality-challenged gamer, are stuck in Japan until they earn money for plane tickets home. Piro has a job at a game store, while Largo masquerades as an English teacher at a public high school. Piro, like many hapless anime heroes, is timid and shy around girls, yet inexplicably attracts them. Also in the anime cliché vein, there are misunderstandings that result in Piro looking like a pervert even though he really isn't. The book also spoofs anime/manga/games for humorous effect. Sometimes the backgrounds are, well, not there. However, the characters are very well done. The pacing is good, and while each page can stand alone, together they build on one another to create a story both humorous and touching. The art is pencil, but dark enough for a sharp contrast.–Susan Salpini, Fairfax County Public Schools, VA
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Following the success of his serialized Web comic and the first volume of the print manga, Gallagher continues the story of two computer game- and manga-obsessed American boys stranded in Tokyo. (Newcomers can visit www.megatokyo.com to see what they've missed.) Piro (the sensitive one who likes to sketch and read girls' manga) and Largo (the beer-guzzling brute who enjoys hacker-speak and violent sword and sorcery computer games) have found jobs and accommodations. They've also acquired a lifelike robot with the appearance and emotions of a blonde, nubile, teenage girl. Piro's conscience, illustrated as a comely but competent female, provides guidance and occasional fashion tips. Meanwhile, Largo, a gaming addict who can't distinguish between reality and virtual reality, takes a job teaching English in order to keep tabs on a schoolgirl whom he's decided is an evil zombie queen. Ostensibly, the boys are trying to earn enough cash to buy plane tickets home, but they seem more interested in exploring the brave new world of Japanese gaming culture and the cute, friendly locals. Although Gallagher doesn't ink his drawings, few artists can wield a pencil with such authority. His work, though squarely in the manga tradition, is uncommonly deft, subtle and funny. With a sophisticated script, a panoply of references to gaming and manga culture and Gallagher's stellar artwork, this series' formula makes it utterly irresistible. The book also includes a section of handsome drawings and gag strips from the Web comic as well as a prose short story following the exploits of Piro and Largo as characters in a sword and sorcery game world.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.