Rumic World

The thing about being a comic book nerd discovering manga back in the 80's and 90's is that it was almost like being one of those hip kids first discovering William Burroughs back when Naked Lunch was the edgiest thing in literature. There was just something cool about reading Akira when everyone else was reading Superman Adventures. Peter Milligan's Human Target? Forget that, there was Crying Freeman!

Ok, ok, bad example.

But there is something undeniably nostalgic about Rumiko Takahashi's earlier work. I'm not so sure it's the fact I grew up with Ranma, as much as there's a dry look to her art that gives her stories a sort of familiar, maybe even comforting feeling.

At least, that is the sort of thing that originally drew me into these collections of the mangaka's one-shots, and they are well worth seeking out. Specifically, fans of Inu-Yasha, Ranma, or maybe even Maison Ikkoku will enjoy being able to see just how Rumiko Takahashi grew to be the best selling story teller that we love today.

As a person that got into manga early on through Takahashi, I find it endlessly fascinating to see so many familiar ideas and prototype concepts floating around in her head. Some stories like "Those Selfish Aliens," or "Excuse Me For Being a Dog!" are clearly the seeds for popular series like Urusei Yatsura and Ranma, and it's fun to see how they could have played out.

Perhaps the stories collected in Rumic World may not blow your mind, but even if you're not a die hard fan of Rumiko, there's a few stories that stand well enough on their own that they deserve a read. "The Laughing Target," "The Face Pack," and "Tragedy of P," are some of my personal favorites, and if nothing else, they can entertain you while you're whining about how bored you are to friends on facebook.

I ran across an OVA based on one of the shorts contained in this manga compendium, so I thought I might as well start with the manga, as it's not overly long. This was my first time reading Rumiko Takahashi, I certainly have heard of her more famous works but I've never thought to pick them up. This is a very silly collection of manga shorts, but also a few from the horror genre also. Question is do you enjoy romantic comedies and slapstick humor. Personally I can take it or leave it so my enjoyment of this manga was lukewarm. Certainly Takahashi knows how to use her characters, and these shorts are well made for what they are, but if you're not big on a romantic couple struggling to get past themselves and confess their true feelings, this will feel a bit repetitive and overly silly. Some aspects are recurring, and I'm led to believe serve as major elements in her later works that brought her fame: a comically strong heroine prone to outbursts of anger, her often inept and crude romantic partner who is also often prone to anger, mildly lewd appearances (spontaneous bikinis), and really silly plots involving aliens, time travel to historic Japan, folklore elements, and various school clubs that are so fondly represented in Japanese media. On just how silly these stories are: a space opera where both protagonist and antagonist are such comically strong women who make a habit of destroying their own space ships; a married couple who rejoice at the thought of having someone who so perfectly fights with them as they are in constant need of such an emotional outlet; a high school that is at war as the jocks and the nerds fight over possession of the stamp of the student council. The silliest is a series of shorts where secret agents fight against a secret organisation of manic litterers; it completely revolves around garbage and actually features the characters breaking the fourth wall. On the more troublesome side of thing, less often but still repeatedly the subjects of incest and a fondness for ones romantic partner as they appear in a prepubescent age due to time travel are brought up. I really didn't appreciate such light reading to feature such themes, but I guess there's just something inherently traditionalist and authoritarian about Japanese culture that predicates them to find satisfaction in the idea of incest for it's role in maintaining social order through aristocratic hierarchy. But I meander! It is but a silly little romantic comedy, you can take it or leave it; personally I could have done worse things with my time, but again it wasn't a very memorable experience.