Forum - View topicJason Thompson's House of 1000 Manga - Ginga Legend Weed
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grooven
Posts: 1428 Location: Canada |
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Oh wow this is so awesome seeing a review of one of my favorite manga series! I saw it first in 2001 at 7-11 in Japan. I then saw it translated here so I bought them all up and then realized they stopped. So on my journeys back to Japan I bought more . The fights get even more brutal when heads get bitten off and testicles are ripped off (lol I kid you not). I want to get them all someday
 I had no idea it went to 60 now I thought it was 40 and now new series LMAO
Oh i love plague dogs! But I recommend the book more so because the ending is different, very. I am a huge Watership Down fan as well! I love my talking animal things >.> |
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Weazul-chan
 Posts: 625 Location: Michigan |
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I've only just recently become a fan of this and Ginga Nagareboshi Weed and this makes me want to read more of the manga, even if I do have to settle for a low quality version (which is so far the only type I've yet to find, which is why I watched the Weed anime before reading the manga).
I'd also like to note that the ending of the animated movie adaption of the Plague Dogs actually follows more closely to the original ending of the novel than the ending that shows up in later editions of the novel (apparently the reception for the original ending was such that the author was pressured to make a less depressing one to add to the end of the later printings). |
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belvadeer
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Blashphemer! Inubaka is an excellent manga series! D: I always did wonder what the show was always about and why my friends found Nagareboshi Gin to be so endearing. I don't really have any plans to pick up this series, much less care as I'm afraid it just won't interest me. Not to mention the dog designs don't look that good. I did remember someone joked about it and called it the anime version of Balto or something along those lines lol. Now if someone made a manga series about lizards, you'll have my full attention... 
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RestLessone
 Posts: 1426 Location: New York |
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Thank you so much for this. I love several of Takahashi's work (...my icon is from Fang).
I love GDW, faults and all (as well is GNG, Ginga Densetsu Riki, and Orion). Personally, two sub-plots affected me the most: Blue and Kaibutsu. Something about Blue's demise saddened me, and Kaibutsu...About the same, though especially in regards to his relationship with Jerome and humans. Of course, we don't learn that until he's spoiler[skewered on a giant log]. There's also a lack of female dogs, though I'm not surprised. Most die due to disease, but I think it might stem from Takahashi's beloved dog Hanako, who developed some sort of infection and had to be put down (this was some autobiographical story in one of his various one-shot releases). I've watched the anime series, but...It struggles with poor animation. It's DEEN after all. I basically became more appreciative of Takahashi's art style. Look at this awesome display of artistic talent: http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a182/treatee/lol/GingaScrew2.jpg (And my favorite) http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a182/treatee/lol/screenie1.jpg |
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Moomintroll
 Posts: 1600 Location: Nottingham (UK) |
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It's not often I find myself violently disagreeing with Jason Thompson but...Ginga Legend Weed is really pretty bad.
Everything that Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson got right with the wonderful Beasts Of Burden, Takahashi screws up. Culled from my mini-review of the first volume:
Seriously, anybody who wants a great talking dog comic should go check out Beasts Of Burden instead - there are previews at the Dark Horse site if anybody's interested. |
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rolancehack
Posts: 2 |
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Ah, Comicsone, how I love you for series like this and Kazan, yet curse you for others (dear lord Wounded Man is not a health thing for you to read).
I love how almost all of their series have slip covers, and even though the paper quality and picture editing is lacking, they had a kind of charm to them. I remember picking this series up near it's release date, and then missing it's last volume released here until recently, where I found it at a Half Price Book store, and "completed" the story. I was pretty happy at the find, as I'd just re-read the other two books, and wanted to see it end. Course after finding the third book I checked out Wiki and realized I'd probably never finish the series, so that was a bit of a downer. Overall I was sort of neutral on the comic, the story was interesting, and not having read Gin, the back story reveals had that nice air of mystery that I like. On the flip side, the spotty art and boring battles were a downer. I really wish some company would pick it up on the cheap (doing double or Triple volume) just so people can get familiar with the works, but I can also see why no one does, as it has it's flaws. That said, I'd like to see you continue your ComicsOne run, Jason, I dare you to suffer through Wounded Man. I honestly think it is the Worst thing I have ever read, and look forward to the opinion of someone who's finished it, as no one I've lent it to can make it past the double volume. |
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sepherest
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I remember this series was very popular in Sweden (and the rest of Scandinavia it seems?) when I first heard about it. I never really got into it because of the length, but as someone who loved Watership Down, Plague Dogs and the Redwall series as a kid maybe I should be on the lookout for the english books.
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pachy_boy
Posts: 1335 |
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Totally second that! 'Weed' sounds interesting, but I should really remind myself to check out 'Plague Dogs' at some point. |
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Lord Geo
Posts: 2665 Location: North Brunswick, New Jersey |
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I haven't read any of the manga, but I did see a few episodes of the anime, and two things really stuck out from what I saw: It has an surprisingly awesome hot-blooded opening theme and it is violent as hell!
Really, once that genetically-altered dog appeared nothing was off-limits it seemed. If you're a giant dog lover this title might be a bit off-putting to read and/or watch. I will admit that I'd love to see the anime licensed and brought over, if only to see if PETA gets wind of the show and starts screaming bloody murder about its treatment of dogs. Then it suddenly starts selling due to the "controversy". |
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ptj_tsubasa
 Posts: 129 |
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Yeah, both Ginga and Weed are insanely popular in Scandinavia and Finland. The old Ginga TV series was published here on four VHS tapes during the late 80's and early 90's, and pretty much every kid had a friend who owned them. All that blood and violence was something no one had seen before in animation, even though they were censored pretty seriously.
It's pretty loopy, actually. To this day the Weed TV series is the only anime that was published here within the same year it aired in Japan, and after that the local anime publishing industry pretty much died. And to this day there are tons of young artists who've been influenced by Takahashi - tree-jumping ninja dogs and all. Example. |
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Chrno2
 Posts: 6172 Location: USA |
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Great entry. Was really surprised to see this title get some coverage. It's definitely niche. The first time I ever had exposure to Yoshihiro Takahashi's work was when I visited a used Japanese bookstore. Book Offs hadn't become the giant it is now. I was browsing the stacks and I just happen to come across a title with a dog on it. I don't remember the title but after flipping through the pages it was interesting to see what the author had in store. I'd never seen anything quite like this. If the Japanese can make a comic out of any subject then it's no surprise that dog fighting would be on the list. But at the same time who would have thought this would have actually become a reality? Dogs and their handlers. The comic also led to that saying, "who says dogs don't look like their owners?" It's a caged match only this time it's the dogs doing the fighting. Dogs with rocks sewn into their heads. <shudder> Talk about gruesome but you can't help that despite the fantasy there's a level of cruel reality surrounding the whole thing. I doubt this comic would have been able to make here despite the animal rights groups. If they complain about stuff now imagine how they and parents would react to kids reading comics about dogs tearing each other to pieces all the while dismissing the morals of the story?
I did have the chance to see 'Ginga Nagareboshi Gin' a few years back. Now I get all those in jokes in some of the newer shows. But gawd, what a series. I loved it despite it's age. I don't know if I would have felt the same if I had seen this years ago (if was ever aired in the states, which that would have NEVER happened, but the Netherlands got them). So I'm hoping to find the time to see 'Weed'. Surprising it was never considered years ago. Gin and Weed are definitely a part of manga history that should be seen but I doubt anyone would care about publishing or reading these books. It's annoying enough that they were published overseas. I wonder was it ever published here briefly? I would love to see some company take a chance and publish them. They're worth a look. |
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blogofthenorthstar.com
 Posts: 8 |
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Heya Jason, great article as always.
Weekly Comic Bunch didn't go out of business, it's simply going to change to a monthly format, although everyone you favorably cited from it has already migrated to the Nobuhiko Horie-ran Monthly Comic Zenon, which is doing some groundbreaking things as far digital distribution is concerned. |
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RestLessone
Posts: 1426 Location: New York |
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Me too, especially Gin! It was published in 5 omnibus volumes in Japan at some point, so perhaps it could work here as well. Obviously, I think it's far superior to its sequels and prequel. Weed's length makes it difficult. If it was ever licensed, I can guarantee it would be in an omnibus format. Ginga Densetsu Riki would by the best way to test the waters, I think. It's a one-shot that's easy to understand, even if you have no idea who Gin or Weed are (Weed's mentioned once as his future grandson, Gin maybe once at the beginning and the end). Yet it's still connected to the series' storyline. The strange thing about the Ginga series, particularly Weed, is that it has a million one-shot spin-offs, and many of them have little to do with the characters. Many of them aren't from the Ginga series, though I do enjoy their chapters. I do like Takahashi's other works, though. Even if Ginga wasn't brought over, any of his dog-related works would be fine. Though, perhaps not the dog fighting ones. Ignoring anything about animal rights groups, the morals are as thin as air once the real sport is taken into account and the fact that these dogs are killing and severely injuring each other while spouting peace (the sport itself is often glorified). In Gin and Weed, fights are either for peace or to defeat an evil. |
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Paploo
Posts: 1875 |
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Beasts of Burden is indeed fun- the recent Hellboy/Beasts of Burden crossover oneshot is really excellent stuff for that matter
 [Puppies and Kitties teamup with Hellboy and FIGHT EVIL! YAY!]
Ginga Legend Weed is a strange manga. I imagine some might be put off due to it looking a lot older then it actually is due to the art style, but is well worth reading for the sheer insanity of all the dog fights, grudges and shonen fighting gutsiness. Definitely stuff that couldn't be pulled off in live action due to the level of animal violence. |
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Wooga
 Posts: 916 Location: Tucson |
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When I was in Japan I got a Ginga Legend Weed shirt. Basically 3 Wolf Moon mixed with anime. In other words the sexiest thing ever.
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