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O-PARTS, VOL. 5
VIZ MEDIA
CARTOONIST: Seishi Kishimoto
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Tetsuichiro Miyaki
ISBN: 978-1-4215-0859-7; paperback; Rated “‘T+’ for Older Teen”
200 pp., B&W, $9.99
The manga series
O-Parts (known as “666 Satan” in Japan) is a shonen manga for older teens. Drawing on folkloric, mystical, and religious traditions, it takes place in the world of Ascald, in an indeterminate future in which mankind battles over “
O-Parts,” artifacts from an ancient civilization that contain mystical powers.
An
O.P.T. or
O-Parts Tactician has the ability to release and use the power within an O-Part. The “
Spirit” is the special energy force inside an O.P.T. that allows him or her to release the power or “
effect” of an O-Part. An O.P.T named
Jio Freed, who dreams of world domination, and a treasure hunter named
Ruby Crescent, who seeks the whereabouts of both a legendary O-Part and her missing father, travel the world together.
In
O-Parts, Vol. 5, the Armageddon showdown in
Entotsu City rages on as
Governor Jaga unleashes the force of the fully-awakened
Mexis, a monstrous O-Part, on the city in an insane bid to become a god. Jio’s friend,
Ball, a newly minted O.P.T., leads the
Resistance against Jaga. Meanwhile, Jio directly confronts Mexis and the murderous
Wise Yury the Crimson Magician, who wants to paint the city red… with blood.
The mysterious and powerful O-Parts appraiser,
Kirin, also arrives to guide Jio and Ruby against Mexis and Wise Yury. However, Jio’s battle against Yury brings out the devil deep within himself, and that may be the end of Jio as we know him.
THE LOWDOWN: O-Parts is a gloriously entertaining epic sci-fi/fantasy manga. There is no need to spill frilly words over this. Manga-ka
Seishi Kishimoto invents the kind of bombastic sci-fi action that recalls
Akira, and he visualizes the fight comic in a way that evokes the scope of a Jack Kirby superhero comic.
POSSIBLE AUDIENCE: Readers who like those wide-ranging event series like Infinite Crisis or Civil War in which epic battles rage may find that this is the one manga for them.
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