Title:
Megatokyo, Book OnePublisher’s rating:
NoneGenre:
Comedy/FantasyPublisher's Website:
MegatokyoAnime:
Sound bite:
A video-game freak and an anime/manga fan take an impulsive trip to Tokyo and don't have the cash to get back. The humor is aimed at gamers, but others will find it funny as well. This entire manga is available for free on the web.My rating:
Fine for 12 and up, younger if you don't mind some language and fairly vague sexual references.Kid Reviews:
ShoujoOneMore details:
Plot Summary:
This book is a series of one-page gags originally presented as a web comic. It follows the misadventures of Largo, a video-game addict, and Piro, a manga/anime fan, as they wander around Tokyo, encountering real people as well as figments of their fevered imaginations.
In the first few strips, Largo and Piro try unsuccessfully to sneak into a game convention. Piro gets fed up, Largo gets drunk, and they wind up on a plane to Tokyo. They crash for a while with a friend, Tsubasa, but every time they get enough money to go home, they spend it on beer instead. Eventually Tsubasa takes the advice of Ping, a female android that is actually an experimental PS2 accessory, and heads to America, leaving Piro and Largo homeless and responsible for the lifelike Ping.
This comic gets its humor from the wildy out-of-whack perceptions of the main characters. Largo sees only video games. Piro is kind-hearted but shy . Wandering in a manga store, he encounters a group of schoolgirls. Flustered, he leaves his bookbag and sketchbook behind. Seraphim, his conscience, chides him for being attracted to a teenager, but meanwhile, one of the girls finds his bag. She gets a crush on him and hangs onto the sketchbook. In another plot thread, Piro sees an actress running late for an audition and gives her his rail pass, then slips away before she can thank him. By the sort of amazing concidence that only occurs in fiction, he then gets a job in the same manga store where her roommate works. Yet they keep missing each other. Meanwhile, Largo accidentally brings the undead back to life beneath the streets of Tokyo.
The book includes running commentary by the artist on technique and gag-writing.
Character and morality:
This is satire, pure and simple. Largo and Piro are nice guys but completely socially inept. They drink a lot of beer and ignore social conventions, with hilarious consequences. Both are provided with consciences, however. Piro's is Seraphim, a tiny winged woman who perches on his shoulder and reminds him of things like the inappropriateness of falling for a 15-year-old schoolgirl. Largo's conscience, due to a personnel shortage, is a hamster who can only squeak. Largo interprets all squeaks as "yes."
Violence:
This is not a violent manga, and everything is played for laughs: Two video game designers pull enormous guns on each other. A competitive video game designer locks a rival in his trunk. A model at a comic convention breaks Largo's arm when he points at her breasts.
Sexuality/body functions:
No sex, but some sexual references. Seraphim has to remind Piro he is too old to be involved with a teenaged schoolgirl. Piro's sketchbook includes drawings of women in their underwear. A friend tells them of a vending machine that sells girls' underpants. A waitress is clumsy because her falsies are uneven. An actress asks another actress if she slept with the producer.
Language:
Some swearing and vulgarity: "hell," "dammit," "ass-cramp," "sucks," "bastards." Largo, who speaks Leet, uses the term "fsking."
Substances:
Largo and Piro drink a lot of beer, which usually gets them in trouble. In a flashback, Largo, in need of quick cash, gets a copy of "Meth for Dummies" and promptly blows his house up.
