I cam to Getbackers from the anime. A shoujo girl at heart I couldn't believe that my anime club was showing me this series about battling. And yes, it is a series about battling, and retrieving, and all that jazz. But at its very heart it is about relationships, and friendships, and honour.

The story follows the Getbackers, Ban and Ginji. There is an underlying sense of the story moving towards and end, with some completion in mind. Whilst there are a few episodic adventures, the stories are primarily multi-volume, intense and detailed. You learn a lot about the people, their histories, and their friendships. I found the stories related to Infinity Fortress the most interesting, and where I am up to in the manga, I think we are gearing up for a big one!

The art is.. not beautiful, but it suits the story- the topic and the pace - and it is very detailed. You get a great sense of where you are (and the story covers many, many settings). The characters are all quite distinct, no small feat given how many quite major characters are involved in the story. The facial expressions are great, and I will be honest - I love it when Ginji slips into chibi - it is completely appropriate for the character as well. The fight scenes are also well illustrated - and given all the different skills, methods, magics etc, it is really well done.

Ah character! the thing which makes or breaks or breaks a series. Here, the characters are wonderful. Ginji and Ban as our two intrepid heros are wonderfully portrayed, and I find myself cheering for them the whole time. But they are not the be-all and end-all. There are a whole host of secondary characters, all beautifully described - the volts crew, the (evil and terrifying) Dr Akabane, the other retrievers and transporters, the infinity fortress crew.. the list goes on and on. Many of them are memorable in their own right, and definitely contribute to a wonderful story.

So! Overall I highly reccommend this series. It is incredibly funny, it is cute, and it is packed with action.