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Story and Art by Masatsugu Iwase
Copyright © Masatsugu Iwase
Afternoon KC Comics
5 Volumes; still running
¥470
Volume 1
ISBN 4-06-321052-9 |
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—by Charles McCarter
Parody manga always run the risk of losing their edge after
one or two volumes, which is why the genre often seems
devoid of any long-running series. Unless the author can
simultaneously find a way to incorporate new jokes and move
the story forward, the manga becomes stuck in a pit of
repetition from which it is often difficult to escape.
Masatsugu Iwase's CALM BREAKER however, is still fresh and
funny after five volumes. The plot is standard anime fare:
a genius scientist creates a super robot that looks like a
cute girl. This is Sayuri, the main character of the story.
And, like all other good robot girls before her, she has a
heart of gold and a naiveté—about who she is and what she
really can do. Although something of a stereotype, she is
still a genuinely appealing character.
Of course, there are a host
of other characters that all start out hating Sayuri. Most
of them wind up battling her at some point, and losing.
After which they all become friends. And the basic plot
wouldn't be complete without an evil organization out to
destroy Sayuri and take over the world. This shadowy group
wears triangular hoods with their business suits.
Anime and manga spoofs
abound. Of course, some of the mecha look like mecha from
other shows. Optimus Prime even makes a cameo in one of the
volumes. But there are other in-jokes as well. When Sari,
Sayuri's self-proclaimed rival, appears and starts a fight
she uses a "Sari Flash," complete with disappearing clothes,
to transform into her battle outfit. This is a very clear
parody of the "Honey Flash" used by Cutey Honey to change
costumes. Then, of course, there is the Gendou-like
scientist who is always brooding and sitting with his
clasped hands in front of his mouth.
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Many of the jokes like these
are backgrounded so that viewers need to be paying
attention. For example, the guy who looks like Allen from
ESCAFLOWNE (a joke in itself) makes
his big speech on top of a statue of the first A.I. robot
which looks suspiciously familiar (see image to the
left).
Masatsugu also lets his
imagination run wild with the mecha in the show. The first
is Mr. Ball No. 1, who is essentially, a ball with arms,
legs, and a head. My personal favorite, however, is
Jurubelle, the giant cow mecha who appears in Volume 2.
There are various other mecha parodies that are best left
for the reader to discover.
CALM
BREAKER does not restrict itself to parodying other
anime and manga, however. Japan has a rich pop culture ripe
for lampooning, and Matsugu is not afraid to venture into
these waters as well. Probably one of the most obvious to
anime fans will be the race that occurs in Volume 4. Aside
from the obvious MACH GOGOGO (a.k.a.
SPEED RACER) parody of the car with
the lettered buttons on the steering wheel, there is also a
very well-known video game reference. It seems that one of
the cars shoots turtle shells to disable other cars. Anyone
who's ever played Nintendo knows where this comes from.
Perhaps slightly more obscure
is the parody that takes place in the story "Kukkingu Baka!
Ryouri no Tetsujin 28 Go" ("Cooking Fool! Iron Chef #28").
The title itself is a pun of several things, the first is
the manga COOKING PAPA. And "Ryouri
no Tetsujin 28 Go" is a combination of the classic anime
TETSUJIN 28 and the television show
RYOURI NO TETSUJIN (IRON CHEF).
IRON CHEF is a weekly (live action)
show where two chefs compete to see who can make
the best dishes out of the given ingredients. So of course,
in this cooking-themed story, Sayuri must compete against
Cook-chan, a robot chef. They even hold the competition on
a set that looks suspiciously like the set used in IRON CHEF.
The art is crisp and clean.
Masatsugu renders his characters in a style that seems
vaguely familiar, but is unique and distinct enough to not
be confused with other artists. And of course, his parodies
of famous anime characters and mecha are dead on. My only
point of contention is that everyone seems to have the same
basic hairstyle.
This is one of those manga
that reveals something new every time it is re-read. From
the familiarity of people's battle suits to the strange
mecha to the parodies of popular anime shows, CALM BREAKER always manages to elicit a wry
smile, if not outright laughter. This is one of the
funniest manga I have read in a long
time.  |
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