Kodai

Marco, Andre, and Viviana attempt to sell their doujinshi at Comisu. Then the series' cast expands as Marco's old partner, Gregorio, shows up. He's supposed to take Marco out, but he admires Marco too much and puts even less effort into his mission than Viviana or Andre. Later in the volume, Marco interrupts some yakuza who keep scaring people off and ends up forcing them to show him their base of operations, which leads to Mei, aide to the Banba family's boss, also getting drawn into Marco's weird mobster otaku orbit.

I'm gradually warming to this series, although the art still makes me wince. Ko-dai's grasp of anatomy could be better.

Gregorio was new fodder to Viviana's fujoshi fantasies, and added to the overall humor by 1) being an old annoyance of Marco's (Gregorio thinks they're perfect partners, while Marco barely tolerates him) and 2) being extremely lucky. Like Andre, neither Gregorio nor Mei seem to be otaku themselves, although Gregorio is willing to use his luck to help Marco get rare otaku goods.

Everything in this series is over-the-top, from the heavy inking to the characters' intensity and reactions. For some reason it worked better for me in this volume than in the first one. That said, the volume ended on a much darker and more serious note than I'd have expected (a flashback to Marco's childhood), which leaves me confused as to where Ko-dai plans to go with this series.

Extras:

A page of translation notes, a bonus manga in which an otaku vampire invades a Hades Girl Eurydice event and encounters Marco, a few bonus funny comics, and the sketch version of the cover art.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)… (altro)

Marco was once known as "The Oracle of Florence," or "T.O." He was a hitman for the mafia who suddenly disappeared for no apparent reason. What really happened: one of his targets had a Hades Girl Eurydice anime figure that snagged his attention. He canceled all his jobs, went to Japan, and became an otaku.

The mafia didn't take well to this, but they also didn't know his true motives. They figured he was planning on turning on them at some point, so they sent Viviana to take him out. However, Viviana happens to be a secret fujoshi. When Viviana is perceived as dragging her feet over completing her mission to kill Marco, another hitman named Andre is sent. He, too, is sucked into the otaku vortex in his own way.

Despite the fact that I know actual gangsters/mafia/etc. are dangerous people, I seem to be drawn to titles that make them cute, cuddly, and/or funny. Between this, The Way of the Househusband, The Yakuza's Guide to Babysitting, and other works, I'm not lacking for things to read. I bought the first couple volumes of this series because of that aspect, and because I liked the cover art.

It's ironic that the artwork turns out to be one of the things I dislike most about this series. It works well enough at conveying a sense of movement, so the action scenes are decent, but people's faces have a tendency to look really odd - eyes, chins, and mouths all out of whack. On the plus side, based on a quick flip-through of volume 2, it seems like Ko-dai improves a bit.

In terms of jokes, so far the series doesn't add anything new. All of Marco's intensity and toughness is now turned towards living his best otaku life rather than killing people, so on the one hand there's the otaku who naively see him as entirely one of them ("T.O." means "Top Otaku," dontcha know?) and on the other there are people who take one look at him and think he's seconds away from killing them. Viviana is a typical fujoshi, right down to the part where she mentally pairs Marco off with any guy he's even a little friendly towards - could we have a fujoshi character who just ships fictional characters, please? And then there's Andre. I can't reveal what manga his part reminds me of without spoiling things, but I wouldn't say the jokes involving him were all that fresh or unusual either.

I wonder, is this series ever going to get into the fact that none of the characters really have jobs right now (I realize Viviana and Andre's statuses are debatable, but still), and they're all involved in hobbies that require money? I'm probably thinking too much, but I can't help it.

I'll see how well volume 2 works out, but this doesn't seem like a series I'll be keeping up with for long.

Extras:

One full-color illustration, the cover illustration sketch, a few four-panel comics, and 6 pages of translator's notes.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)… (altro)