(Viz Media FCBD 2015)

Story & Art by Hirohiko Araki

Translator: Evan Galloway

 Summary: Long ago in the Victorian Era, there was a man born named Joseph Joestar of the famous Joestar estate. Many tragic things befell this child, and yet he grew up with a heart of gold to help others and find love. When an old enemy named Dio returns to plague Joe’s life, he’s thrust into a world of poses, power and the supernatural.

 Review: Each year Shonen Jump offer up previews for their different manga series to get fans interested. Adding JoJo to the line-up is both a ballsy move, and one I respect. JoJo is a really silly and fun tale, it’s not too deep and doesn’t take itself too seriously. I’ve actually read the story in full that this year is previewing. And while I enjoyed it a lot, unfortunately as a preview goes I don’t really feel like this is going to do a lot for SJ for those of the uninitiated.

 Is it a fun chapter? Sure, but it’s also very confusing because we’re thrown into the middle of one of the big final fights of the Phantom Blood arc, with several characters and several concepts being discussed within these few pages. Do I know what they’re discussing? I sure do, but to those who know nothing about this series or are even new to manga, they’re most definitely not going to be walking away understanding what just happened.

 That being said, maybe the fighting will get them interested. This is a Shonen series after all, there’s plenty of fighting. Although, given this is an 80’s manga coming over the states after all these years, I must admit the art is incredibly dated and honestly not that good. Hirohiko knows how to tell a good story, his art doesn’t really back it up that much. I do hope this preview brings in readers, but I can’t promise that.

 Final Score: 2 Ripple Poses out of 5

 

 

Yu-Gi-Oh! Preview (FCBD 2015)

 Story and Art by Kazuki Takahashi

Translator: Not Given

 Summary: In this world, the world of Duel Monsters, the card game is one of the most important sports to exist – if not the most important. Yugi, who is a young boy just learning the game, is thrust into a deeper legacy and experience where the cards start coming to life. And the stakes of the game are raised far beyond what anyone before would have ever expected.

 Review: Like JoJo’s this throws you into the middle of a duel between the legendary Yugi and Kaiba, but unlike JoJo is gives you some pretense before going in. Like explaining the original, basic rules of the game, and setting up the scenario a bit. You don’t go in totally blind, and to be honest the duel ends up being far more fun to watch.

One thing this manga does have going for it though is legacy, the anime is famous all around the world so most anyone is going to know what this is going into it. If you don’t, again, the pretense does help. However, there are a few things that take place in this preview that unless you already know the story you’re gonna be totally lost.

 The style of duel monsters in this comes from a simpler time, when playing the game wasn’t that complex. You play a card, and the most powerful card wins. So knowing how the game has progressed since this is pretty surreal and takes me back to my childhood. The art, like JoJo’s isn’t all that great when stacked up to today’s standards, but it definitely looks better when comparing to JoJo’s.

 I also say check it out if you’re wondering just how different the manga is from the anime, but here’s a hint: it’s a lot darker.

 Final Score: 3 Blue-Eyes White Dragons out of 5

Derrick is a born and raised otaku with a love for comics, anime, manga and movies. The full list is pretty long, but that’s just the basics. Stories set in space are his bread and butter.

You can find more of his writing at IndieComix.net

@KazekunForever