Monday, February 18, 2008

Hohzuki Island Chapter 01 | A Beautiful Island


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Hmm, so last night I read the first chapter of a new seinen in Young Gangan - Hohzuki Island by Sanbe Kei - which Zinny's decided to translate at MH. It's supposed to be a horror/murder mystery. Then a group called Gievmoar released a scanlation, and so I decided to read it. It was actually pretty well done, for a first chapter, so I have a good feeling it's here to stay and I've decided to write up something about it. So here goes.

First, gotta show where the goods are, right? RAWs can be found here... Zindryr's translation of the first chapter here (he's done two more chapters)... and of course, if you're lazy like me and just want to read the scanlation, Gievmoar's can be found here. There are also some other scanlations floating around right now but I haven't looked at them yet; Gievmoar's scan was good enough quality for me anyway.

Be sure to read my commentary only after you've finished reading the actual chapter, otherwise get ready to be spoiled out of your mind

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Hohzuki Island Chapter 01 | A Beautiful Island

Well, since the chapter title itself is reflective of the protagonist's own impressions of Hohzuki Island, I might as well go ahead and comment on the artwork first thing.

In short, I can only say that Sanbe Kei's art here was OK - adequate - and certainly more than sufficient enough to keep you interested in the story. The art's not fantastic like what you'd find in Vagabond or Berserk, but more comparative to Full Metal Alchemist but not even as detailed as that, either. Regardless, the artwork still does the job for what's supposed to be a suspenseful story. The character designs for Kokoro and Yume are simple, straightforward, and not particularly impressive, but that's good because we're more able to identify ourselves with them without dwelling on the differences so much. That way our own adrenaline should get pumped up when it's supposed to without a hitch - that's the theory anyway.

The background art, also, can be be considered creepy, because of its quiet simplicity - the details aren't distracting enough that we fail to notice all the broken wooden planks in the Academy, for example, and Sanbe Kei knows where to place the shadows just so that you can't help but wonder if something's going to pop right out. He also includes just enough accompanying details to the background that helps give more of a suspenseful feel to the story - spider-webs and scrawlings, just to name a few.

Now what does disappoint me, though, is the artwork does fail to make an big impression as far as the island itself. Unlike Kokoro, I couldn't really say that I thought the island was that scenic and impressive, so I simply had to trust him on that. Unfortunately, this may be a bigger detriment down the line. If the story is supposed to make you think of Hohzuki Island as a sentinent, frightening presence all of its own, the writing is still mainly going to have to pull that one off.

Fortunately, though, there's much potential in the story itself so far.

We get thrown into the action right off the bat, immediately seeing an exhausted Kokoro frantically carrying his blind sister, Yume, through the forest from some unseen antagonist. We quickly see that they're trying to get away from a crazed dude with a knife - the spider-web was a nice touch there. Our kids get some unexpected help from a ghost girl that Kokoro recalls was already killed by their pursuer, so it's obvious they've just suffered some unknown tragedy. They end up hiding behind a log, and suffer a brief scare when they think they had just gotten caught.

And well, that's all. That was naturally only supposed to be a taste of things to come. After all, can't have an opening chapter of a horror series without showing a preview of what's in store for us! Still, we did need to know the characters themselves in order to really care about what's happening to them, not to mention see more of what exactly went on beforehand, so back to the beginning we go.

We learn that Kokoro and little Yume have just been enrolled into a small academy on an island that only includes eight other people - four of them fellow students, and four teachers, including, I can only assume, the principal who introduced them.

All well and good. Slowly and surely, we learn little bits about Kokoro (he's a bug lover and nicknamed "Hoh-zuki" himself, what a coincedence!) and Yume (a blind girl who can learn her way around as long as she's left alone.) We find out that they're part of an unfortunate world that abandoned them at one point - and they had to survive on their own. Obviously Kokoro would certainly feel a huge amount of responsibility in taking care of her sister. What we don't learn yet, though, is how they came to be recruited by the principal.

We meet one of the teachers, a peppy gym teacher by name of Ms. Yukino, who gives them the tour of the place and shows them to their bedroom (located in what I'd expect to be a very frightening part of the run-down building... far to the back) as well as warn them about all the "dangerous stairs" around.

Later, we meet the other four students as well. First, Shuichiro, or Shu, a quiet but semi-conversational fourth grader who then introduces them to Hatsune, an even more silent girl whose disquieting gaze first greeted them when they arrived at the island.

Then comes the two more interesting students (at least to me) - Rikiya and Futoshi, two boys who seem to mysteriously hint at the web of deceit surrounding them all at the school. Riki, typically, is a brusque boy used to getting his way, although he doesn't scare Yume in the least. I don't blame Yume, though - Riki never threatened so much as he tried to get their attention, and tried to inform Kokoro of what to watch out for - not really what you would expect from a schoolyard bully.

Still, Riki does sock Futoshi one in the head when the fat boy let slip about a departed student named Hisanobu - which does seem to indicate they're not all on the level. And by Shu's own reaction, he also knows more of what's going on, too.

Naturally, of course, being told that the "adults" might lead them all to an untimely death would give one a sudden start, and we see that from Kokoro, if not Yume. Why not Yume? Well, perhaps it's understandable; their own parents abandoned them, after all. They should probably be used to that sort of thing, huh?

Still, wouldn't you know, turns out the locked drawer in Kokoro's room happened to once belong to that very same mysterious name, Hisanobu. Of course one thing leads to another, and Kokoro manages to open the drawer with a crowbar he found nearby, and finds naught but... blood. And a knife.

Not a bad way to end the chapter. Sure, it wasn't earth-shattering or anything, and more or less what one would expect at the end of one of these things, but it was enough to make one curious - a decent hook for reading the next chapter.

Overall, a good chapter, a good start, and a potentially good series. Looking forward to more.

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