Genre Thriller
Age Rating 16 and above
Price $24.95

Comics god Osamu Tezuka’s darkest work, MW is a chilling picaresque of evil. Steering clear of the supernatural as well as the cuddly designs and slapstick humor that enliven many of Tezuka’s better-known works, MW explores a stark modern reality where neither divine nor secular justice seems to prevail. This willfully “anti-Tezuka” achievement from the master’s own pen nevertheless pulsates with his unique genius...

MW is an extremely thick tome by the people at Vertical who have, for the past few years, have been translating and publishing many of Osamu Tezuka's less famous works. $24.95 might be expensive and while MW isn't a DVD package full of extras, it is nonetheless quite thick at nearly 600 pages and sports a hardbound cover. Tezuka's art style remains distinct but in this particular title, he lays off the slapstick humor (although some slapstick expressions are still evident but they are rare) and delivers a serious, shocking story. I am, in many ways, a manga purist and dislike the fact that this graphic novel was printed in the left-to-right manner but neither the artwork nor the text suffers from it.

As far as storytelling goes, the book is divided into 26 chapters and the first chapter easily sets the tone for the book as it shows us a gruesome and violent scene, introduces to us the seemingly amoral but cunning protagonist and his conflicted accomplice, and ends with the seduction and romance of our two male protagonist. MW tackles a lot of themes, everything from Machiavellian ethics, biological warfare, corruption, politics, conspiracies, and homo-eroticism. In fact, it tackles too much to the point that one warning I have is not to attempt to read the entire thing in one sitting.

The strength of Tezuka in this particular title is that he develops his various characters, especially the two main characters Yuki and Garai. Another commendable aspect of Tezuka is his art technique as he can be quite detailed when necessary and subtle enough as to not explicitly reveal any of the sexual innuendos. Moreover, the way he draws his characters (iconic vs realistic) work for this story as there are various situations wherein Yuki cross-dresses and masquerades as other characters (usually that of the opposite gender) which might have been less effective had the artist adopted a more detailed style.

Overall, MW is a compelling and mature piece that set the standard for its generation and its influence can be seen in the works of other modern adult seinen titles such as Naoki Urusawa's Monster. A great read if you're interested in something with depth and cerebral but those looking for two-dimensional heroism and action might want to skip this.

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