Oct 4, 2008
Manga Review of Arm of Kannon Volume 2 by Masakazu Yamaguchi. Translated by Takae Brewer. Adapted by Jordan Capell. Originally published in Japan by Gentosha. Published in US by Tokyopop, $9.99, Rated Mature 18+.
Mao and Maya have escaped from the clutches of the Garama
Industries facility and are hiding in the nearby forest.
Unfortunately for them, Garama has been doing all kinds of weird
genetic experiments on animals and humans for years and some of
these mutated lifeforms are crawling around the surrounding woods.
The siblings have a lot of people looking for them. First, there is
the swordsman from Isurugi Temple, who tried unsuccessfully to
prevent the Arm of Kannon from taking over Mao in Volume 1. It is
not known whether he can exorcise the evil from Mao or whether it
is now his intent to kill the host body. Garama has called on a
group known as Manma, who are imbued with supernatural powers no
normal human can hope to defeat...oh, and did I mention that the
members of Manma are almost evil incarnate? How evil, you ask?
Well, in one scene, they force a husband to watch his wife being
raped and then killed. What makes it even worse is that it's his
decapitated head watching it all, somehow kept alive with black
magic. Another group interested in catching up to Mao, who appear
to be on the side of good, is C.I.R.O., or the Cabinet Information
Research Office. They work for the government and have been taking
an increasing interest in Garama activities. They have special
powers as well, but based more on sci-fi than magic. Of course,
with all these various factions vying to catch Mao, conflict is
sure to ensue, and does.
The thing I like about Arm of Kannon is its logical realism that
follows comic book cartoon violence and good versus evil to its
appropriate end. What I mean is that the "bad guys" do really bad,
really evil things and don't just seem like glamorized versions of
Dr. Evil. No matter what the Joker does in a Batman comic, it is
still sanitized for a young audience. Even the worst comic book
villain hardly ever comes close to real monsters like Adolf Hitler
or even the fictionalized evils of a writer like Stephen King. But
the fact that Yamaguchi is writing for a mature audience allows him
to portray some very vile acts and imagery that make you feel
horror, an emotion that most writers, artists, and filmmakers, have
lost touch with. And the crazy thing is that he does this in the
midst of a shonen like battle atmosphere. The art has a creepy
1980s style to it combined with the slightly enlongated designs of
CLAMP with a dark and strongly erotic tone. Yes, this title is
about sex and action and violence, both graphic and more subtle. So
if any one of those things frightens you, stay away. This is
definitely not a series you want lying around on shelves that kids
can reach.
My Grade: A+
Listen to my podcast review of Volume 1: