manga: Dogs: Prelude
Oct. 8th, 2009 11:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meganbmooreSet in what appears to be the near-future, this series focuses on several killers of different types who live in the city. Mihai is a former enforcer for one of the gangs who returns to the city when his former protégée kills the boss. Badou is a chain smoking information broker who gets maniacal and trigger happy when deprived of his cigarettes. Naoto is an amnesiac who was raised and trained to fight by the man she believes killed her parents. Lastly, Heine is an albino who is the victim of genetic experimentation and has a slave collar bolted to his neck.
Heine is sometimes Badou’s bodyguard, and Badou’s path tends to cross with Mihai’s, particularly at the bar where Mihai lives with his…I’m not sure she’s his girlfriend, or even “friend with benefits,” but it’s where he parks himself. Mostly, though, the characters act independently of each other. Right now, the mangaka seems to be focusing on throwing out ideas and characters and showing how dark and violent the world is, but doesn’t seem to really have a cohesive plot or direction. Some manga can work like that, but I don’t think this one really can. The designs are interesting, though I get distracted by Mihai’s resemblance to Fullmetal Alchemist’s Hohenheim, and I like the characters, but I hope future installments are less aimless and more cohesive.
Heine is sometimes Badou’s bodyguard, and Badou’s path tends to cross with Mihai’s, particularly at the bar where Mihai lives with his…I’m not sure she’s his girlfriend, or even “friend with benefits,” but it’s where he parks himself. Mostly, though, the characters act independently of each other. Right now, the mangaka seems to be focusing on throwing out ideas and characters and showing how dark and violent the world is, but doesn’t seem to really have a cohesive plot or direction. Some manga can work like that, but I don’t think this one really can. The designs are interesting, though I get distracted by Mihai’s resemblance to Fullmetal Alchemist’s Hohenheim, and I like the characters, but I hope future installments are less aimless and more cohesive.
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Date: 2009-10-08 09:51 pm (UTC)I still don't know that it's very good, but it's trashy science-fiction-manga-does-Tarantino and that's enough to get me reading it every month.
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Date: 2009-10-09 03:47 am (UTC)