 | | ▪ | RELEASED BY: | | VIZ MEDIA | | | ▪ | AUTHOR / ART: | | YOSHIO SAWAI | | | ▪ | FORMAT: | | JAPANESE / B&W | | | ▪ | PAGES: | | 183 | | | ▪ | RATING: | | T | | | ▪ | RELEASE DATE: | | 11/08/2005 | | | ▪ | REVIEW DATE: | | 08/30/2008 | | | ▪ | REVIEWED BY: | | SCOTT CAMPBELL |
Yoshio Sawai pushes the bounds of satire and the medium of manga itself with Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo. Irreverent, silly and unpredictable, Bo-bobo is just about the strangest thing you will ever try to read. It is utter nonsense wrapped up into something loosely resembling a story of rebellion. It’s truly one of the best examples of a comedy manga that is so absurd, that it is difficult to talk about in text. A plot summary you say? Well, let’s see what we can do here… In the year 300X, a cruel dictator has mandated the hunting of all hair in the Maruhage Empire. But a single man rises to the occasion and takes a stand against this violation of human hair rights. Bo-bobo, master of the Fist of the Nose hair, uses the prehensile hairs of his shnoz (that’s his nose, and therefore his nose hairs) to most lethal ends (try to picture that, I dare you). Follow the nonsensical adventures of Bo-bobo and his sentient sidekick snacks as they lead their hilarious rebellion against the Empire (and when we say “follow”, we mean “try to follow, and don’t hurt yourself in the process”). You know that a manga containing characters with names like Poppa Rocks, Jelly Jiggler, Dengaku Man, Torpedo Girl, Rice, Raisin, and Pickle, is going to have some pretty interesting art. Interesting may not be enough of a word though – the art, characters, and general style in this manga is about as indescribable as the plot. Take the old claymation show “Gumby,” and mix it with some Yu-Gi-Oh, and something else you thought you saw at 2 AM once during a binge drinking, and you’ll basically come up with what Bo-Bobo has to offer visually. If you’re looking to be visually attacked by a manga, this one in particular is she to make you shake your head and check your eyes. People are always trying to take things one step further than everything out there, and right now Bo-Bobo is the manga with its foot place firmly two steps over the line. Excel Saga has got nothing on Bo-Bobo – Excel Saga looks like a well organized marching band in comparison to the insanity that this manga has let out on the world. Every image jumps out at you, or moves in some direction, or explodes, or whatever. Nothing and no one can stay still for half a second – this is manga on ten cups of coffee and whatever the opposite of horse tranquilizers is. OKAY? So besides the eye-popping visuals, and manic storyline keeping you guessing, there are most certainly some fun extras to keep you busy once you manage to make it safely through this very odd book. There is some amusing fan art, a big Naruto sticker for sticking to whatever you please, and a number of advertisements for other great manga titles from Viz that you might want to check out. Not that any of them will be half as crazy as Bo-Bobo, but surely you wouldn’t be expecting that?
IN SUMMARY:
Bobobo-Bo Bo-Bobo is just as crazy as the title sounds, and more so. If the first place prize was going to the manga who tried to be most unique, Bo-Bobo wins it hands down, no questions asked. It is too strange to try to classify into a genre – you’ll just have to pick it up and see if its antics fit well with you! |
