MW

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While seemingly a commentary about the American military presence in Japan, Tezuka's MW is a rather silly thriller, although refreshing in its unromantic focus on the sociopathic Yuki Michio. The principle influence behind the infamous Johan from "Monster", Yuki is a troubled but seemingly emotionless killer and manipulator. He seems to have only one real human connection, to Father Garai, a Catholic priest who tries in vain to resist his forbidden relationship with our pro/antagonist. The frank depictions of homosexuality (and sex in general) are refreshing, providing character development without seeming over-the-top.

What I found wonderful about MW was its lack of preachy ... morality. Every character is as they are, and there are no tiresome monologues. Garai, the closest thing to a "hero" in the manga, lies to himself and seeks solace in a God that doesn't seem to care. Yuki seems charming and kind for pages at a time, before reminding you again of his true face. Is there a greater purpose behind the crimes he commits? Although not entirely surprising, the path he takes is interesting enough.

While an interesting character sketch, I cannot say much for the story itself. Machinations and dramatic events often seem forced and unrealistic, compared to the more carefully plotted mysteries of "Monster".

The art is obviously delicious, with the breathtaking hatching on cityscapes being my favourite. Although decades old, the style serves its purpose.

I would recommend this work chiefly to anyone interested in where Monster got its inspiration. I bought this manga for that reason, and enjoyed myself thoroughly.

I was certainly shocked upon reading MW. Reading Manga doesn't ussually disturb me, but MW did.

So whats it all about? MW tells the story of Father Garai a catholic preist, and Yuki a serial murderer. Their fate was intertwined the day they first met. Both are the survivors of the MW incident. The time when an entire Island was wiped out by a poisinous gas.

After the incident Yuki was driven insane and soon becomes a murderer. Father Garai tries to cleanse Yuki of his sins. In doing so he eventually has homosexual relationship with him. And thats only the first 30 pages of a 600 ... page book. There's lots of charachters, like the brillaint detective who is investigating Yuki (and has alot of similarities to Death Note's L) As well as the reporter trying to spread the word of the MW incident.

Of all the Tezuka manga I've read this is the most polished. The charachters are, maybe with the exception of Yuki, all realistic and there motivations well stated. The art work, while not as experimental as Ode to Kirihito, neither are the backgrounds as lush as Buddha, is still nice and more realistic than the average Tezuka manga.

The story itself hits on alot of important isues of the time. The MW incident in which nation X spilled a poisinous gas on the island, is an obvious meaphor for the American millitary bases stationed at Japan. Also the protests against MW was probably inspired by the student protests at the time. Despite this however, I still think the story is just as relevant today, even if you don't know exactly what was going on at the time.

Despite occaional cartoonish art, and the fact this is written by the same man who wrote Astro Boy, MW is certianly not for children. The violence and sex scenes can get pretty graphic. Along with ode to Kirihito this is probably the darkest and and one of the best works of Tezuka's work you can find in english.

Still, despite how much I enjoyed this Manga I can't wholehaertedly reccomend this. Alot of the subject matter is bound to offend people, but if your fan of Tezuka and want to read something which will keep you guessing, makes you care about the charachters while giving you a satisfying beggining middle and end, MW is the manga for you.

I really have to admire Tezuka's ability to cover an enormous range of subjects. There's not many people that would seriously attempt a graphic retelling of the life of the Buddha, a Nazi spy drama, samurai stories, and a queer crime romance. It's not hard to tell why he was such a trailblazer, not only in his early work like ASTRO BOY but in his gekiga era as well.

MW is a mixed bag. It's an interesting premise. The Catholic clergy is a rich subject to mine for storytelling and the queer criminal angle is pretty fresh even now. With that said, it's not a story ... that's aged particularly well. The women here are one-dimensional wilting lilies and Yuki himself, the aforementioned queer criminal, is a caricature. Thankfully our protagonist Garai is more interesting and has some really rich conflict going on as he struggles not only with his vows and with Yuki but with his own history and his sexuality. It might have been a stronger piece if Yuki weren't so cartoonishly evil and the story had focused more on Garai's attempts to fix him.

Even more than MESSAGE TO ADOLF this story is tangled up in the early gekiga style. Tezuka never really amended his art to fit better tonally with his later stories, so his characters look as cartoonish as people like Dr. Tenma from ASTRO BOY. In MESSAGE TO ADOLF at least it lent his depiction of Hitler himself a real vibrancy, but during the grittier sequences it just doesn't work. MW is the same way. There are rare panels when he tries something more realistic, like in the page where Garai is haunted by the memories of his first meeting with Yuki, but overall it looks a little too Disney. Something like Nagai's DEVILMAN does a better job of bridging the two artstyles. If MW got a modern update in the style of Urasawa's PLUTO, it could make for a fantastic anime or manga.

It's an alright read in the end. Tezuka remains a technical master. His pages are composed well and his grasp on story is strong. The trouble is that his villain here is so comically evil that it strips all the depth from the telling. As it is, it's impossible to get past the dissonance between style and subject. Not one of the master's stronger works.