Ice-Head Gill

Edit

What would you like to edit?

SynopsisBackgroundAlternative TitlesPictureChapters/VolumesPublishing DatesRelationsTypeExternal Links  

On this round of Jump manga with untapped potential, we have a little Norse boy with an axe fighting lichts. I rated this a 6 but I think a 5.5 is more apt. It really straddled the line between I'm having fun reading this and I'm waiting for it to grow into itself. The characters and concept were solid. The artwork was charming. However, it lacked the spark a lot of manga have that manage to return for more than a couple of volumes worth of chapters. Everything felt a little flatter than it should and after a few weeks, it continued to feel flat ... even though a lot of interesting plot points were happening. Part of the flatness I think was the generic feeling to a lot of the plot. It needed something to lift it up out of predictability but it just never found that something.

That said, I did appreciate that the final chapter was a speed run of the arc, that we got to see the mangaka's vision for where the story would go and how it would play out. That's one of the most frustrating things with Jump series that get cancelled early, that we never really know what the mangaka wanted to do with the material. If Hachiya returns with another manga, I will definitely check it out. It'll be fun to watch Hachiya grow as a story teller.

If you're looking for a quick read and don't mind generic story telling then this is worth checking out. If you want to find something that digs deeper and embraces the fact it's trying to do something different, then you'll want to check out a different Jump title.

Ice-Head Gil Freezes Up Before It Can Get Going

The problems with Ice-Head Gil are many and consistent. Like all struggling and short-lived manga, it has flaws that push away any interest, and those problems are many.

Gil, the protagonist, feels too much of an archetype than a character, with the naivety of other Shonen protagonists, but none of their charm. This design choice makes it hard to connect with Gil and his actions. The benefit of this style of naive protagonists is usually that their purity cuts through complex immoral worlds and allows for their moral righteousness to win the day. Gil’s world, however, feels ... cut and dry, especially when it comes to the Liches. It also doesn’t help that Gil constant shouts “No one can beat me when it comes to axes,” in a horrible attempt at a catch phrase, that only induces cringe.

Next, while the art, at points is quite nice at some points, especially shots of cities or detailed backgrounds, some shots are awkward. The first pages of the first chapter is a great example of this contrast: from a beautiful gorgeous city shot to an awkward shot of Gil running on a roof, positioned as if he was added as an after fact. Also, while some of the fighting artwork is really nice, during a few fights, it can be easy to lose track of how the fight is going or why the attacks work as such, especially as abilities are thrown out and introduced and used.

Plot-wise, it’s hard to give a fair shake to most Weekly Shonen Jump titles under 25 chapters, but Ice-Head Gil attempts to rush through its story at breakneck pace and wrap everything up, which is an author choice. However, it makes the pacing confusing. Also, if the pacing was an issue only during the later chapters, that would be a different response. Here, the pacing seems confused pretty early on as it introduces characters, attempts to find a way to stay around, flounders, and dies.

Finally, Ice-Head Gil shows a lot of love to some Shonen series before it, but it doesn’t understand the gravity of the choices those series made artistically. For example, the idea of leaving the island home for adventure, which calls to Hunter x Hunter, sets up Ice-Head Gil’s first chapter effectively. This series wants to leave the mother figure behind and explore the world. However, because the world lacks that same gravitas as the world of Hunter x Hunter, it’s hard to feel the same magnificence in it.

What Ice-Head Gil needed was some more fine tuning to really find what could make it click, but nothing ends up firing off. Instead, it freezes up and leaves a mess of a completed and rushed story with
no reason to return.

Ice Head Gill certainly exists. Having followed it since Day 1, when it first debuted, I could already smell the axe-bait. Its first chapter had a solid Viking aesthetic, however, its conclusion suggested an adventure type story. Now, there's nothing inherently wrong with that. Some of the best shonen ever are adventures. However, as Red Hood certainly showed, adventure series usually have a hard time in Jump nowadays. And while Gill did have a decent first chapter, it went downhill from there.

Plot: 3
Gill's first chapter was actually sort of decent, leaving me with some hope for it. However, it also didn't have much originality, aside ... from its Viking aesthetic. This only gets worse. One thing that already bugged me was the inclusion of liches, which sort of bugged me, since there are so many other shonen that incorporate demons in some way, and nothing about it seemed all that original. This is a theme. The story does not uses liches in any interesting way. The story itself isn't that interesting either. It's a formulaic hero meets sidekick and villain of the week thing that is not interesting in any way.

Character: 2
Ice Head Gill's hero, Gill, on his own is already bland as hell. Nothing about him is interesting or charismatic. He's really just there, and the first chapter was the only point I found him charming. He also has the most annoying catchphrase I've seen. At least it's very memeable. I can't be bothered to remember anyone else, except for a guy with an even more annoying catchphrase. Wonderful, I needed more of that.

Art: 5
As I said, Ice Head Gill's aesthetic is strong. The Viking stuff is incorporated into the artwork in a nice way, and Gil himself has a nice design which does bring out some appeal. Aside from some well done spreads, the flow between panels is very lacking, and there are many points where the characters just look awkward due to the panelling.

Overall: 3
I could make some lame pun about Gil's catchphrase, but I really don't want to see those words in that order ever again. Ice Head Gill is a dreadfully formulaic series with uninteresting characters, a sentiment which I belive the Japanese agree with. After all, they seem to be treating it quite "coldly". I'll be leaving now.