Eyeshield 21 Bonus: Murata’s Oneshots

I can’t seem to let this Eyeshield craving go just yet but rather than bore you with more ES awesomeness, I decided to go another route and review the multiple oneshots released by the mangaka since ES’ ending. Yuusuke Murata has been keeping himself busy more recently with his new monthly serialization, Donten Prism Solar Car. Before getting to that point however, he has had a number of oneshots released within the Weekly Shounen Jump pages, with the hopes that one of them would prove popular enough to be picked up permanently.

The quality of these manga vary quite differently in my view but you can see some ongoing themes apparent through all of them. The stellar art is the most obvious one, but it seems like Murata is very adamant about including a likeable young protagonist that would relate to the young demographic it aims at. Out of these few, Minds is the only oneshot that doesn’t focus on a young hero. This doesn’t mean that the oneshots are narrow minded though. In fact, the ideas and setting behind them are quite creative and unique. I loved how Murata was able to take even the most mundane settings, and turn it into a bustling world worth exploring. Another thing to note is that these mangas are written by Murata as well, as he tries to make it on his own. Those hoping for the next Murata/Inagaki collaboration hit will just have to wait a little bit longer…

Blust!「 ブラスト 」

Yusuke Murata
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy, One Shot, Sci-fi, Shounen
Released in: Weekly Shounen Jump 2009 #22-23

Premise: Five years ago, Honozaka Kai was sent to gather some information in the Pagadoshia Republic and rescue a famous scientist. Instead, Kai stupidly got captured and became a guinea pig for their enhancement surgery. Before his whole body got modified, he was able to escape thanks to a miraculous tsunami that hit the research center. Now, armed with a pair of curry-powered nuclear blasters, he has a policy of not going to the same place twice. But when he sees Chimuh, his life-saver, ask for assistance, he can’t help but step into the dreaded Pagadoshia Republic again…

Read ONLINE @ SOMEMANGA | Download @ MANGATRADERS

Thoughts

The premise makes this sound a lot like a cross between Ironman and Wolverine, and it sort of is. The protagonist Kai has Ironman-like blasters in the palm of his hands that enables him to attack with devastating effect. Due to the sudden halt in the experimental surgery however, the blasters use up a lot of his energy, leaving him ragged after only a few blasts. Surprisingly curry acts as his batteries, kind of like how spinach is for Popeye. While it does sound like a pretty standard battle manga at to this point, the story does have some interesting points going for it.

Kai is part of a mercenary-like community, where assassins, spies, terrorists etc work under the guise of farmers, waiting for the next big mission to come along from headquarters. This provides the story with the potential to use different nations and settings as their battleground, like India was used in this oneshot. With the shady Pagadoshi Army conducting weird experitments with nuclear power on humans, this also gives the story it’s main villains, as Kai will have to battle his way through other experimental rejects, trying to take back his arms.

The art is very well polished, as expected from Murata, but I can’t help but feel that some of the designs look very similar to those found in Eyeshield. Kai for instance looks like a combination of Shin and Sena and in some of the action panels you can’t really tell the difference between them. Kai is far from Sena in personality though, since he is much more sarcastic and less of a loser from the get-go. He is much more confident in his own abilities but he does at times seem like a reluctant hero, working only for the money. This is a good start to develop from however, so I’m not going to judge character too much based on one chapter.

While everything comes off as solid, there really was nothing particularly memorable about Blust! I remember being quite disappointed when it was first released, but there are a few people I’ve talked to who liked what they saw. As with anything, there is the potential but I didn’t think it would be able to sustain a long run. The instant hook wasn’t there and there was no unique aspect that jumps out at you. I guess I was right in the end, since Jump too decided that it wasn’t good enough to warrant serialization. Blust! is a solid if not bland effort that gets a:

Show ▼

Madofuki Park「 窓ふき パルク 」

Yusuke Murata
Genre: Comedy, Sci-fi, Shounen
Released in: Jump SQ 2008

Premise: The story is set in the year 2050, in a place called Sky City Tokyo. The main character, Park, is a window cleaner. If you’ve ever experienced those street windshield washers that descend upon your car when you stop at a red light, you can imagine what Park does for a living. Except worse, because in Sky City Tokyo, the cars travel in mid-air! How does a window cleaner become a hero?

Read ONLINE @ TENMANGA | Download @ MANGATRADERS

Thoughts

How does he indeed? The premise seems interesting right? I really love how Murata managed to take such a weird subject matter and twist it into a fairly engaging story. The first opening pages really show the potential of the oneshot as a fast-paced story full of thrills and gravity defying stunts. The fact that the first 8 pages are rendered in glorious full colour also made it that much better but if you go into the oneshot without having read the premise previously, you’re in for quite a shock when the protagonist Park takes out a window wiper after that action-packed sequence.

The story is very light hearted and it doesn’t take itself too seriously. If it were serialized, I’m not sure what direction it would have took but as a oneshot I thought it was successful. This is not some typical battle manga. If anything, it had the potential to be a good gag story due to the premise. While it doesn’t have as much flat out comedy as, say Gintama or Sket Dance,  it does have the makings of a slice of life gag where Park has to find ways to make money through his unique predicament and skill set.

With the story taking place in a futuristic metropolitan city, Murata’s art is used to full effect as his attention to detail is immediately apparent. The art is absolutely beautiful and clean. The opening 8 colour pages are spectacular and it really sets the tone for the entire one shot. Unlike Blust!, the characters really have a unique look to them. I would compare the designs to some of Akira Toriyama’s efforts, but that’s probably because I was influenced by all the flying cars in the panels :P. Still, this was the perfect showcase for Murata and his art, and I’m damn sure you will be amazed by the opening scene as much as I was.

I was disappointed that they didn’t end up serializing this in Jump SQ, since I thought it had a lot going for it. It may have had something to do with the fact that Eyeshield was just entering it’s best run (pun intended) at that point, but I was hoping that Murata would at least revisit this at the end of Eyeshield’s serialization. Still, it was a very good effort from Murata and I really liked everything about this oneshot. The characters seem fresh and the comedy is sound but most of all, it was a nice change of pace from the typical run of the mill shounens out there. Madofuki Parks gets a:

Show ▼

Minds「 マインズ 」

Yusuke Murata
Genre: Adventure, Action
Released in: Weekly Shounen Jump 2010

Premise: Sergeant Kai tirelessly takes on the hardest and most dangerous responsibilities, causing his fellow soldiers to give him the nickname “Hagane no Shinzou” (Steel Heart). He claims he has no concern for anything but success and preserving his own life, but the rookie Kazuma sees how much it bothers him when soldiers are treated as expendable. Kazuma believes Kai has a much more ambitious and noble goal, and plans to help him reach it at any cost.

Read ONLINE @ SOMEMANGA | Download @ MANGATRADERS

Thoughts

Murata must really like the name Kai, cos this is the second time the main character has that same name. Still, Minds is an interesting oneshot in that it is a quasi-mecha manga with its use of lightcycle-like machines to do battle Tron style. The main characters are older than the typical shounen manga but it gives them a cool senpai-like vibe. It probably would have fit in well in the Jump SQ pages, seeing that the characters are more mature and the setting is less shouneny. I also liked the characters quite a bit, as Kai seemed to be a likeable, strong-headed ace with no fears. I thought he was a really effective lead and with Kazuma as his weak kouhai, it provided a good one-two punch.

This oneshot has potential to be something similar to Eyeshield, especially given the squads and teamwork motif. I can see this being a very tactical affair, given the war the heroes find themselves in. It was a bit sad that Murata didn’t explore this aspect more, but I guess he didn’t really have a choice given the oneshot platform. There were no visible villain entity in the oneshot though, since Murata chose to explore the dynamic between Kai and his crew. It had decent character development and while it may have seemed a bit cliche, I liked it enough to overlook some of it’s genericness. I suppose it had something to do with Kai, and how he really works hard not only for his dream promotion, but to act as the shield to protect his squad.

As usual the artwork is stellar. While it didn’t reach the same heights as Madofuki Park, the details are always there in the machinery and the character’s armour. With Murata’s trademark clean lines, the battles are very easy to follow and the fast paced speedlines are used really well. You will rarely (ie. never) see sloppy artwork in Murata’s stuff and this was just another one to add to his awesome portfolio.

I quite liked Minds and it seemed to have a lot of promise. I’m always a sucker for team dynamics and the potential for engaging tactical warfare is always a good thing. I rarely ever read manga like that anymore and while the oneshot didn’t explore this as much as I would have liked, I can definitely see the possibilities. Still, it never got serialized so we will never know what it could have become. As a oneshot though, it was enjoyable enough to justify a:

Show ▼

There was actually one more oneshot of his that no one scanlated. It’s about his adventure with his editor and their battle to make Eyeshield 21 successful. It would have been awesome to be able to check that out but unfortunately no one has ever attempted to scan it. Still, hopefully this will be enough to wet your appetite. Like I said before, the oneshots vary greatly in effectiveness to me but I can assure you that it is well worth your time if you like shounen manga. The art is good enough to at least deserve of your attention and I would love to see how you rate each of the three. If these did interest you, you should also definitely check out Murata’s current serialization in Jump SQ, Donten Prism Solar Car (reviewed here) as well as Eyeshield 21 if you haven’t already.

/ 8 Commentsleave a comment /

• Noblesse says:

  March 2, 2011

  Blust! felt like your average shounen one shot, with one shots i like a sense of fulfilment which is rare for one shots as they are only short but this didn't have it.

  Madofuki Park though was great the story it told in the short time was cool and the take on window cleaning was unique, this one shot made me crave more, i would have loved a full series or at least more of this setting and characters but at the same time the story it did tell ended nicely.

  Didn't read Minds as it just seemed less interesting

  (PS: i read Eyeshield 21 volume 1 and i definitely want more, its just a matter of prioritizing now.)

  Reply
  • Bass says:

    March 3, 2011

    Yea, I was so disappointed in Blust. It really lacked that certain oomph that makes the others stand out. The art and detail can only bring it so far.

    And good to hear that you finally read Eyeshield. Hopefully it was enough to make you want more :)

    Reply
• foshizzel says:

  March 4, 2011

  Ooooooh these three look great! That second one reminded me of Air Gear xD maybe ill add them to my manga reader :D

  Reply
  • Bass says:

    March 4, 2011

    Madofuki does have the skyhigh thrills of Airgear, but it doesnt have the teams, the equipment, the tournaments and what not.

    It's definitely a fun oneshot though

    Reply
• Havieru-X says:

  March 4, 2011

  All 3 premises sounds interesting (a little used by now, but with original plot points that caught my attention). Only con I could find was the visual design, specially the on in Minds. A little more effort on drawings and we could be talking about the next hit..

  Reply
  • Bass says:

    March 5, 2011

    For me, I felt the designs were fine but I do see what you mean with Minds. It seems a bit cookie cutter and quite safe, without having the same oomph that Eyeshield had.

    Murata knocked it out of the ballpark with Madofuki Park though. The details in that were amazing.

    Reply
• Vivi says:

  March 5, 2011

  Madofuki Park = awesome. I haven't read the others yet, never heard of Mind @__@ but that motorcycle is soooo cool! I'll definitely check it out!

  Reply
  • Bass says:

    March 5, 2011

    To be honest, even Minds is a bit lukewarm.

    But yea, Madofuki Park is awesome. An acrobatic, in-the-sky window washer. You can't make this shit up lol

    Reply