ULTIMO, Vol. 1 (1) - Softcover

Takei, Hiroyuki

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1421531321 ISBN 13: 9781421531328

Publisher: VIZ Media LLC, 2010

Synopsis

Pure Vice vs. Pure Virtue. Can one win without corrupting the other?!

Reads R to L (Japanese Style). Pure Vice vs. Pure Virtue. Can one win without corrupting the other?!

Kurenai Doji: With girl and money troubles, life is hard enough for hgh school student Yamato, but then he stumbles upon Ultimo, a peculiar-looking puppet. Things only get stranger when Ultimo awakens and his archenemy Vice shows up. Will this be the battle that finally decides good versus evil, or is this just the beginning of a fantastic adventure?

About this title

About the Author

Unconventional author/artist Hiroyuki Takei began his career by winning the Osamu Tezuka Cultural Prize (named after the famous artist of the same name). After working as an assistant to famed artist Nobuhiro Watsuki, Takei debuted in Weekly Shonen Jump in 1997 with Butsu Zone, an action series based on Buddhist mythology. His multicultural adventure manga Shaman King, which debuted in 1998, became a hit and was adapted into an anime TV series. His new series Ultimo (Karakuri Dôji Ultimo) is currently being serialized in the U.S. in SHONEN JUMP. Takei lists Osamu Tezuka, American comics and robot anime among his many influences.

Reviews

Grade 9 Up Stan Lee makes the jump to manga, and, yes, he has a cameo. His concept, brought to life by manga-ka Takei, pits Ultimate Good and Ultimate Evil in a battle to the death. Ultimo, representing good, and Vice, representing evil, are Karakuri Doji, or doll-like robots built to answer the age-old question, Which is stronger? The dolls need masters to learn their roles, and Ultimo chooses a 12th-century Kyoto bandit. The story jumps from past to present as Ultimo's master, Yamato, lives his lives. It's a shaky plot device and is strongest when the characters are in the past. However, the point of the manga isn't the plot or the characters but the battles. The Karakuri Doji fight fiercely. Their battle scenes are surprisingly violent but well executed. Unfortunately, after the battles die down, the artwork is a confusing mix of cute characters and lean, tall ones. Yamato looks ages older than his peers. Not only is that confusing, but it is also a little bit creepy. Still, with the action and Lee's name, this will be a popular yet nonessential choice. Sadie Mattox, DeKalb County Public Library, Decatur, GA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

In this bizarre international coproduction, Marvel Comics legend Lee (Spider-Man; X-Men) pairs up with artist Takei (Shaman King). Lee himself cameos as a crazy inventor-cum-scholar in 12th-century Japan transporting two doll-like robot boys to his clients. Bandits attack and activate the robots as Lee reveals that one is an incarnation of pure good and the other pure evil, named Ultimo and Vice, respectively. Lee has invented the robots to discover, outlandishly enough, which is stronger, good or evil. Cut to present-day Japan, where average high school kid Yamato stumbles upon an inanimate Ultimo in an antiques shop. Yamato turns out to be the reincarnation of one of the 12th-century bandits, a good-hearted freedom fighter also named Yamato. Lee's premise is dead in the water, and Ultimo proves to be a laughably bad adventure. Ultimo's fights with Vice play out the empty old good versus evil stock premise of American comics. The book also captures several of manga's worst clichés. In one scene a school friend walks in on Yamato kneeling over Ultimo in bed; it's simultaneously a nod to unappealing erotic romantic comedies and yaoi. The artwork is adequate yet unmemorable—Lee's character is ridiculously manly and his caricatured face appears throughout the book, well after the joke has worn thin. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: VIZ Media LLC
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1421531321
• ISBN 13: 9781421531328
• Binding: Paperback
• Illustrator: Takei Hiroyuki
• Number of pages: 216