Yes, this has been out for awhile, it’s not a new title, but bear with me, it’s new to me. I needed something to read while waiting for the car to get fixed. And I think this is the perfect way to read this manga; something to pass the time and not much else.
I can hear the protests from the Yumi Tamura crowd, “But she did Basara!” Yes she did, but I think Yumi does better on her longer epics. These three short stories don’t do her justice, nor are they really satisfying by themselves. It’s as if she was trying to cram too much into a tiny container, Yumi needs more space to run her vibrant imagination.
The first story, “Psychic Squad Wild Com” tells the story of Ozeki, an isolated loner who carries a dark, destructive power. She ends up being discovered by the Wild Com group, a secret organization whose members also possess powerful gifts. However, the last thing she wants to do is be with more people like herself, as the last time she used her powers, the result was a deadly event. Someone mentioned this sounds like X-Men, and it does to a certain degree, but what irked me slightly on the story was not the setup, but the antagonistic and generic exchange between Ozeki who does fire and the Wild Com member who controls water. Harsh Man Brings Girl Out From Shell. There seems to be nothing more to it.
The next story, “The Beasts of June” was the weakest point of the book. At some point I almost stopped reading the book, not out of disgust but disinterest. It had promise, hired thug and prostitute, dark story, but again, it fell apart like a disintegrating cloth, with threads everywhere of plots and events. There was so much there, but left more questions than answers.
“The Eye of the Needle” was the last story of the book that made reading through the first two worthwhile. All around “I’m too sexy for my shirt” model Shiki dumps his pretty girlfriend Uiko once his star starts to climb in the modeling world. Needless to say, Uiko doesn’t take it so well, and becomes just a tad bit obsessive. However, Shiki’s crassness and heartlessness has struck more than Uiko as victim, and he learns at the very end why being a jerk is never in your favor. This one seemed to have enough space as a story to exist, not being lopped off in areas of development to leave it lopsided. Unlike the other two scenarios where there are elaborate scenarios with too little explained, Shiki and Uiko’s story is contained enough for Ms Tamura to pull off her skill. And she does so very well, especially with the creepy ending.
This all may sound like a bash, but it’s not meant to be, really. If you are a fan of Yumi Tamura and can’t get enough of her work, then by all means go pick this up. However, if you are looking for something new to read and like to get into the story, this isn’t a good choice. I can see two uses for this title, either to kill some time or as a story starter for a creative writing class, as there are enough snippets and stray lines to spin off stories into other directions. Unfortunately, other than that, it’s a book with few redeeming values as a standalone title.
