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Shonen Sunday
Swords, samurai, explosions, giant insects, and the occasional cheesecake shot are always a popular combination. And that is what we will see here in Fukuda Hiroshi's latest work, Joujuu Senjin!! Mushibugyo. For those not in the loop, this is actually a reboot of Fukuda's previous work, simply titled Mushibugyo. Reboots are a tricky thing because many previous readers need to be able to drop their pretenses from the previous iteration in order to accomodate any changes the author makes. Luckily, JS!!M does very well to justify this reboot.
Jinbee is a young warrior from the countryside who takes his father's place as a candidate for Mushibugyo, a magistrate office in Edo specializing in taking out giant bug that have ravaged the land. He is in for a surprise when he witnesses the power and strength of the Specialists in Mushibugyo: a Slashing Expert, an Explosives Expert, a Defensive Expert, and a Terminating Expert. Jinbee thus becomes determined to get even stronger in order to match up with those he admires as he protects Edo from the rampaging bugs.
There two types of reboots: one that needs a revamp of the series because the first one was a bucket of crap (History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi), and the other made to take advantage of the fanbase so publishers can make buckets of money (Negima?!). JS!!M is thankfully in the first category, but not because it was crap, but because it never got the chance to shine. It ended only after three volumes and never hit the spotlight. But now this new series seeks to change its story to appeal better. Already in the beginning of JS!!M there is a big change. It focuses more on the backstory of Jinbee, concentrating on his motivations for his drive to become the strongest there is. The first Mushibugyo was a much breezier affair. They plonked him in the middle of Edo and pointed out where the bug was without much thought to his character. It wasn't a bad thing because it kept the story nice and punctual, but the weird thing was that the side characters became much more prominent and fleshed out that Jinbee was more of an observer than an actual character.
In the new version, Jinbee is easier to relate to. When he was young, he caused his father to sever his own leg in an act of honor, to protect his son and taught Jinbee the importance of staying on the path of the warrior. As far as characterizations go, it's really bare bones, but it serves to really mold how Jinbee becomes who he is. It actually reminds me of One Piece's opening, where we see Luffy as a young boy who witnesses Shanks sacrificing his arm to rescue him from a sea monster, thus setting Luffy on his unforgetable journey. Sure, compared to the first Mushibugyo, it's a lot more drawn out, and weirdly some of the chapters end rather abruptly. But sometimes pacing demands that we slow down and think more about the characters than the awesome action scenes. This slower pacing is actually mollified by adding even better action sequences. Jinbee's immense strength leads him to use his sword more as a hammer, and seeing the resounding crack of the skull when hilt connects with jaw is so satisfying that I forgot that the other characters unfortunately are not as fleshed out and interesting as Jinbee is in this reboot.
Already there are signs of this manga gaining ground, as it now has more published tankobon than the first series, and is still ongoing. I hope to see more of Jinbee's constant battlefied as he fights to protect Edo from bugs.
First Impressions
4/5
Edited by Tr0pic0n, 07 June 2012 - 05:57 PM.
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