This manga is running in Jump SQ, and is based on two oneshots that were published in Jump the Revolution in 2005 and 2006. Nobuhiro Watsuki’s previous works are ‘Rurouni Kenshin’, ‘Gun Blaze West’ and ‘Busou Renkin’… so he is a Jump veteran, but a relatively unpredictable one.
I have to be honest at this point: I’m a huge fan of Watsuki’s, and I have been following Embalming since the release of the first oneshot in 2005. I’ve been holding back with a review here because I wanted to be fair and objective… if that’s even possible for reviews. But now is the perfect moment for a first assessment, because the first story-arch is over, and the story shifts to a set of different characters – apparantly, ‘Embalming’ is trying a different kind of structure, with no definite “good guy” main character. That’s exciting, isn’t it?
‘Embalming’ takes place in 19th century Europe, where some immoral scientists are creating undead beings called “Frankensteins” (named after their inventor) from the bodies of the dead. The main character of this first arch is a young man named Fury, whose parents were murdered by a Frankenstein when he was little, and who has sworn revenge. He wants to destroy all Frankensteins, but things get complicated when his own best friend, Wraith, is mortally wounded and turned into a Frankenstein himself.
Interestingly, after five chapters, a lot has significantly changed about the initial premise. Especially the fifth chapter unleashed several plot twists.
Many of Watsuki’s old ‘Kenshin’-fans did not care much for the comedic aspect of his other works. For those, ‘Embalming’ is definitely good news: it is not completely devoid of humour, but at its core, it is darker than ‘Kenshin’ ever was. And apparantly, the story is set out to blur the line between good and evil: it is at least hinted that Fury might appear as an antagonist to the characters making their entrance in the upcoming chapters (a happy-go-lucky Frankenstein girl and her misanthropic companion, who first appeared in the second oneshot).
Some Frankensteins appear as freaky monsters, and truth be told, I don’t care a great deal for them. All they are good for is fighting, and I generally don’t like fighting that much – I guess that’s weird for a shounen manga fan… Thank goodness the main focus seems to lie on the human-like Frankensteins, and the way that they, and their loved ones, deal with the transformation and inevitable personality changes. Fight scenes are kept short and few. With this focus, ‘Embalming’ has a lot of potential for emotional depth, and might tackle some interesting questions about life, death, loss and all that. It better!
By the way, the first oneshot is available in English: as a bonus story in ‘Busou Renkin’ #10.
Tags: embalming, jump sq, nobuhiro watsuki, reviews
July 8, 2008 at 9:55 am |
It looks really good and I really liked the original one-shot piece. I also like the character designs in this one a bit more than Busou Renkin – they were a bit weird in there, also with the hair and stuff – so I’m looking forward to Enbalming… if it ever gets here (it’s notoriously slow here with manga and I wish I knew Japanese, but I dont know a lot (sad)).
I do wish we could see more of the characters in the original oneshot though, rather than new characters. xD
Anyway, I got here while searching for Nobuhiro Watsuki’s stamp. Not very fruitful so far, but I wanted one to put on an art edit I’m doing. >.>;
Thanks for that review! ^__^ (Now I really want to read it… *bounces impatiently*)
July 8, 2008 at 11:36 pm |
Glad you liked it! (I wish I could help you with the name stamp… I am sure I had it once, but that must have been on my old PC.)
It kind of shows in the artwork that Embalming is a monthly series, I think. There is a lot or detail and the lines are less angular than in later BR chapters.
I do wish we could see more of the characters in the original oneshot though, rather than new characters. xD
Well, I love the concept of multiple main characters, but Fury himself is not exactly my kind of character either. I still like him and enjoy his story, but my favourites are Elm and Ash, the protagonist of thesecond oneshot and of the second (currently running) arch in the series. They are very similar to Misao and Aoshi… right up my alley. John will definitely appear, since he’s already been hinted at, and since he’s on the title artwork, but I wonder whether Rose will be in the series, and how much of the oneshot’s premise will be changed for the serialization.
if it ever gets here (it’s notoriously slow here with manga and I wish I knew Japanese, but I dont know a lot (sad))
We have to be really patient with this series. Monthly series are so terribly slow. The first volume will be out in September in Japan, still a while to go. Nut I’m very confident that this manga will see its release in other countries and languages, it’s just a matter of time.
July 9, 2008 at 6:11 am |
Indeed. ^__^ (does this site use html or BBC?) Anyway, yeah, it should be out eventually in English … time isnt a great thing though, since I have a lot of work coming up (which means I’ll have less time for this. xD; )
I’m looking forward to Enbalming in any case – it sounds good! ^__^
August 11, 2009 at 3:34 am |
I really can’t wait until it gets here. The story was really good from little bit I got to read. The artwork was awesome but i thought frankstien would never look like that. If it doesn’t get here soon I will teach myself how to read japanese.