Green Blood

This work was like an amzing adaptation from a classic western movie to Japanese manga. Kakizaki Masasumi made such a wonderful piece of art. The story was great, easy to understand without warped plots or difficult ideas that blow your mind. It was simple, a bad guy experienced in battle and murder has an insatiable blood thirst. He wants desperately to kill his father and avenge his mother, without his brother finding out that he's a gangster. What makes it a fantastic tale is the thrilling suspense that fills it. You never know what will happen. You expect something to happen or someone to dieand then, in a realistc way another incredible thing occurs. During this outstanding manga you'll accompany the Burns brothers in their path towards revenge, a dream and their happiness. Besides the author uses some pages to tell us some historical facts as a context. These are well located in some chapters and they contain interesting info. In regards to the draw art I only have one thing to say: Simply wonderful. Amazing battle scenes well done. It's easy to understand what happens in each panel. The scenery is awesome, delightful saloons, wonderful desert landscape, well painted animals, especially horses. All the images were drawn with plenty of details and the author used the shades in a spectacular way. The characters have an overwhelming figure. None of them looked like being drawn fast, otherwise with too much care, including those in the backgrounds. There are only three main characters the Burns siblings, Brad and Luke and the bastard gang leader Edward King, their father. There are also some supporting characters well made. Regarding to the main characters they are well built, each of them has his background and development throughout the manga. However, the supporting characters have a little explanation, but it is must said that it's enough, otherwise I believe it will be too much. Although these secondary characters have no background they were infused with a realistic behaviour and neat goals or intentions. I really enjoyed this story. It had one of the best draw arts I've ever seen, cool characters that fitted with this historical western work. The time I spent with this manga pretty worth it. I'm hoping to read another fantastic work of this author.

Well, I really enjoyed this manga, but we have to look at it technically as well Characters: 8 lovely but a bit clichéd characters are a brother who pretends to be in front of a younger brother but is a criminal and at the same time a younger brother who is a very good boy. We have seen this character many times. Art: 9 It's great in many ways, and I don't even have to praise it Story: 7The story of the manga is interesting, but it is something that we have seen many times overall: 8 good manga You enjoy reading it, but do not expect great

When it comes to historical settings in media (I won’t include in historical fantasy), I tend to divide them into three categories: 1.) Meticulous representation of societies and cultures and/or high historical nuance, the work almost blurs the line between historical fiction and a documentary. Mori Kaoru’s lifework comes to my mind. 2.) Setting as framework, the era’s context is quite relevant to the plot. 3.) Setting as eyecandy, it “devolves” to atmosphere going for rule of cool. Many wuxia movies and War of the Arrows come into my mind. More on my point related to this categorization will be expressed on section [3.].First, let’s start with details onits characters, story and artwork. [1. Opening with characters and story…] The year is 1870 C.E, five years after the end of the American Civil War. Irish gangs dominated this infamous neighborhood, where harsh poverty, police corruption and rampant gang violence were simply put, daily reality. [a. First describing the characters…] Brad and Luke Burns are the mains. Their mother was killed when both were children and they were taken in by the founder of one of those gangs. Brad is the older sibling and earns a living as a hitman for that gang, and his goals boil down to safeguarding his brother and getting revenge on their mother’s murderer. Luke is almost like a fish out of water within the Five Points, being an idealistic and innocent breadwinner in contrast with the jaded and bloodthirsty Brad, who puts on the façade of a lazy bum in order to preserve his brother’s innocence. Their chemistry is wholesome if somewhat cliché and both receive decent development. The rest of the cast is functional, yet static. They serve straightforward roles, are not quite fleshed out and most villains are caricatures. Some were entertaining though whereas others contributed to siblings’ characterization. Be warned however: readers may be bothered by stereotypical presentations of western tropes; be it the Native American warriors, the railroad baron or the psychopathic gangsters. [b. And second the story…] (+) Green Blood is a rare sample among manga as a noir western, yet not original in the greater scope of storytelling, and definitely not an eye opener. However, to say that it lacks any merit would be unfair. Highly cliché yes, but for a large part exciting if very violent, and its action-thriller twists are quite unpredictable. Also, the mangaka has done fair amount of research and included context fitting the era depicted. The chapters don’t have too many pages, and the story isn’t too complicated, which makes for an easily digestible read if one can stomach its visceral violence. (-) In the long run however, its story is rather unmemorable and leaves little lasting impact, this coming from a person who used to include it among their favorites. 5 volumes and 49 chapters were insufficient; parts showed lost potential and the ending felt anticlimactic. The story is largely carried by the siblings’ chemistry and the atmosphere. In general, I believe the mangaka is more of a “virtuoso” rather than a creative writer (and drawing excessive influence from mainstream American media). [2. And concluding with the artwork…] Largely a visual experience, its atmosphere is one of its strongest cards and is aided by its powerful artwork. Phenomenal care is put behind detailed backgrounds, whether depicting internal or external space, slums or rural areas. At other parts (such as in action scenes) backgrounds may be kept more minimal, but the mangaka displays craftiness in techniques such as shading and his trademark engraved linework. Key details such as animals, characters and their clothing and weapons were also meticulously illustrated. Character designs have mostly realistic proportions, but stepping into other people’s shoes, I feel some may find the more caricatural ones as a hit-or-miss element for they might diminish the dark feel of the story and setting. [3. Would I recommend Green Blood as historical fiction?] Let’s retrace my categorization. If one were to expect something akin to the 1st category, they would be disappointed. Detailed visuals and a unique setting do not suffice, for many historical elements are either framework or superficially relevant. A similar accusation can be made for many fantasy and sci-fi works, as mentioned in my Nausicaä review. Green Blood somewhat blurs the line between the 2nd and 3rd category, but ultimately falls into the 3rd, and as such I would rather recommend it to readers wanting to be initiated into the era and real-life location and/or craving aesthetic and visceral action. Hope you enjoyed my review! For other manga with the US as a setting, I recommend browsing for Rumspringa no Joukei and Benkei in New York.

When I first stumbled into this manga and read the first chapter, I thought I'm off into an ultraviolent Tarantino-esque journey through the Wild West. Revolvers, ponchos, saloons, street shootouts, railroad barons, Native Americans, tumbleweeds, you name any general Revisionist Western trope.In the surface, I got what I expected. However, I feel like this manga is too short for the kind of scope the author wanted to convey. I truly enjoy the noir-ish aesthetic of this manga. Illustrations are fully drawn, the shading and linework is a real treasure, and action movements felt fluid and clear. The ultraviolence felt fitting for this kind of setting. Now, themain problem of this manga is in its short volume count. I mean, we only have 5 volumes and 49 chapters. Characters felt less fleshed and emotional moments fell flat, leaving the story to be unmemorable. I wouldn't blame the author on this problem. There may be publisher or editor problems, or simply the author lost interest in this series. These are totally acceptable reasons to me. If you enjoy Westerns, and you want a violent and dark romp through the American Midwest, this'll be a fun little Saturday morning "eye candy" for you. I rated this a 7 (Good) out of the benefit of the doubt.