Synopsis
The wildly popular web comic that spawned a best selling trade paperback has found a new home! Fans and friends of the Megatokyo web comic have come to love the characters and their offbeat adventures. Whether they are entangled in a fantasy gaming scenario, saving Tokyo from devastation by rampaging zombies, or taking awkward and disaster-filled steps towards a meaningful relationship, we get to experience Tokyo through their many unique and drastically different points of view. Rife with references to video game and anime culture both here and in Japan, it is a story that contrasts the cultures, the characters, and their own perceptions of what is around them. Those new to the series may find familiar emotions and a dialogue that is eerily similar to their own. Volume 2 contains Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 of the Megatokyo webcomic, complete with miscellaneous comics, sketches and other material. Extra material exclusive to the print edition includes editorial comments by the author and a short story with illustrations from the Endgames gaming universe.
Reviews
Adult/High School–This is the second collected volume of the popular online comic. Piro, an anime otaku (obsessed fan), and Largo, a reality-challenged gamer, are stuck in Japan until they earn money for plane tickets home. Piro has a job at a game store, while Largo masquerades as an English teacher at a public high school. Piro, like many hapless anime heroes, is timid and shy around girls, yet inexplicably attracts them. Also in the anime cliché vein, there are misunderstandings that result in Piro looking like a pervert even though he really isn't. The book also spoofs anime/manga/games for humorous effect. Sometimes the backgrounds are, well, not there. However, the characters are very well done. The pacing is good, and while each page can stand alone, together they build on one another to create a story both humorous and touching. The art is pencil, but dark enough for a sharp contrast.–Susan Salpini, Fairfax County Public Schools, VA
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Following the success of his serialized Web comic and the first volume of the print manga, Gallagher continues the story of two computer game- and manga-obsessed American boys stranded in Tokyo. (Newcomers can visit www.megatokyo.com to see what they've missed.) Piro (the sensitive one who likes to sketch and read girls' manga) and Largo (the beer-guzzling brute who enjoys hacker-speak and violent sword and sorcery computer games) have found jobs and accommodations. They've also acquired a lifelike robot with the appearance and emotions of a blonde, nubile, teenage girl. Piro's conscience, illustrated as a comely but competent female, provides guidance and occasional fashion tips. Meanwhile, Largo, a gaming addict who can't distinguish between reality and virtual reality, takes a job teaching English in order to keep tabs on a schoolgirl whom he's decided is an evil zombie queen. Ostensibly, the boys are trying to earn enough cash to buy plane tickets home, but they seem more interested in exploring the brave new world of Japanese gaming culture and the cute, friendly locals. Although Gallagher doesn't ink his drawings, few artists can wield a pencil with such authority. His work, though squarely in the manga tradition, is uncommonly deft, subtle and funny. With a sophisticated script, a panoply of references to gaming and manga culture and Gallagher's stellar artwork, this series' formula makes it utterly irresistible. The book also includes a section of handsome drawings and gag strips from the Web comic as well as a prose short story following the exploits of Piro and Largo as characters in a sword and sorcery game world.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Gr. 11-up. Megatokyo follows the misadventures of two young geeks: Piro, an artist obsessed with all things anime and manga, and Largo, a hard-core video gamer. After things go wrong at a gaming expo, the pair set off on a last-minute pilgrimage to Japan. Unfortunately, they discover they have no funds to return. Through accident and quick thinking, they land jobs, then proceed to make friends and tackle a variety of distractions and complications that come their way. There's a sweetness to Piro's story line that allows readers to empathize with him as a classic romantic fool, and Largo's hilarious, over-the-top video game fantasies speak directly to today's high-input teens. Although most of the characters here are in their mid-twenties, their inexperience and shyness will appeal to young adults. Dark Horse is reissuing volume one, which was originally published with limited availability by I. C. Entertainment; in the meantime, it is available as an online comic. Tina Coleman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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