Eat-Man

Eat-Man
Original title	EAT-MAN
genre	Shōnen , comedy , action, adventure, science fiction
Manga
country	Japan Japan
author	Akihito Yoshitomi
publishing company	MediaWorks
magazine	Dengeki Comic Gao!
First publication	1996 - 2003
expenditure	19th
Manga
title	Eat-Man: The Main Dish
Original title	EAT-MAN THE MAIN DISH
country	Japan Japan
author	Akihito Yoshitomi
publishing company	Kōdansha
magazine	Shonen Sirus
First publication	May 25, 2014 - ...
expenditure	6+
Anime television series
Country of production	Japan Japan
original language	Japanese
year	1997
Studio	Studio Deen
length	25 minutes
Episodes	12
Director	Koichi Mashimo
production	Atsushi Sugita
music	Ebby , Tomomasa Yoneda , Yuki Kajiura
First broadcast	January 9, 1997 on TV Tokyo
Anime television series
title	Eat-Man '98
Original title	EAT-MAN '98
Country of production	Japan Japan
original language	Japanese
year	1998
Studio	Studio Deen
length	25 minutes
Episodes	12
Director	Toshifumi Kawase
music	Black Cats , Magic , Yū Imai
First broadcast	October 8, 1998 on TV Tokyo

Eat-Man is a manga series by Akihito Yoshitomi that was released in Japan from 1996 to 2003. It can be classified into the genres of Shon , Comedy , Action, Adventure and Science Fiction , has been translated into several languages and adapted twice as an anime television series.

action

Bolt Crank, a mercenary, also known as "Explorer" travels through an unsafe desert world. In his assignments, he benefits from his special ability to eat and digest everything and to let it arise anew in his hand at will. He often consumes screws and weapons in order to be able to have the required weapon appear in his hand when necessary. As a talented and taciturn mercenary, he therefore regularly takes on difficult assignments, which often still come as a surprise and which constantly bring him new acquaintances. Finally, however, an old enemy and a long unfinished business catch up with him.

publication

The series was published in Dengeki Comic Gao magazine from 1996 to 2003 ! of the publishing house MediaWorks , which also brought out the chapters in 19 edited volumes. A new edition followed in 2014 as Eat-Man: Complete Edition in 10 volumes. Since May 26, 2014, Kōdansha's magazine Shōnen Sirius has been running the sequel Eat-Man: The Main Dish , of which six anthologies have been published so far (as of January 2020).

An English translation was published by Viz , but was canceled after the publication of two booklet series and two anthologies, as the series was not yet larger in Japan at that time and was not resumed later. Jim Lee designed a new cover for the second volume . a French at Asuka Comics and a Chinese at Sharp Point Press .

Anime

In 1997 the first anime version of the manga came out. However, Studio Deen's production is loosely based on the template. Directed by Kōichi Mashimo, who was also in charge of the scripts. Toshiharu Murata did the character design and Tsutomu Ishigaki was responsible for the artistic direction . The first broadcast of the twelve episodes was from January 9 to March 27, 1997 on TV Tokyo . Locomotion showed Spanish and Portuguese subtitled versions in Latin America and English, Spanish and Italian dubbing appeared on video.

The first series was continued in 1998 at the same studio, this time directed by Toshifumi Kawase and based on scripts by Atsuhiro Tomioka , Hiroshi Nomoto and Sakura Nonomiya . The character design was created by Isamu Imakake and the artistic director was Tsutomu Ishigaki . Tokyo TV shows the twelve episodes from October 8 to December 23, 1998. The series was subtitled by Locomotion and localizations in Spanish, French and English appeared on commercial media.

Bolt Crank was voiced by Masashi Ebara on both series . The music in the first series was composed by Ebby , Tomomasa Yoneda and Yuki Kajiura . Black Cats , Magic and Yū Imai worked for the sequel . The opening credits are:

Chiisana Koi no Melody ( 小さな恋のメロディ ) from King Show
Burning Blue from Magic

The credits are highlighted with:

Walk This Way by Fields
Tabibito from Magic

reception

Jason Thompson describes the manga as a "constantly repeating superhero series in a vague Western-Scy-Fi setting." Bolt Cranks' ability always serves as a deus ex machina to resolve the respective episode, the drawings seem "stiff" . The German magazine Animania sees the story, which would be “nonsense” if it were meant seriously, an ironic genre parody. The same stories told laconically about a good, taciturn and cool hero - "a walking, incredibly cool cliché" . The drawings in particular are a reason to read; the worlds appeared convincing and much more complex than they actually are because of the little background information conveyed.

Animania grants the anime a decent, but no more than average animation quality for the low budget. The plot, which is very different from the manga, explains little and confuses many viewers. The action scenes are "cool, but often only used sparingly" , and the narrative is otherwise very calm to boring. And not only the plot, the character design is also significantly different than in the original. Despite criticism from many fans, the first series was a success, which made the production of the sequel possible. With a higher budget and a little closer orientation to the manga, this could actually offer better quality. In the Anime Encyclopedia , the series is described as a mixture of the Hulk , Manhunt , Clint Eastwood and Fist of the North Star . The concept of the series is good, but the plot is flat - as in the original. The hero's ability will lead to the simple and consistent resolution of every adventure, which in turn appears to have been copied from familiar crime, science fiction or fantasy stories. Cranks ability becomes mere “macho behavior” . A lot has been gotten out of the small budget by exhausting the possibilities of limited animation , but in some places it is still visibly negative. In the second series, the quality is much better, but the stories remain bad and illogical.

Web links

Manga in Anime News Network (English)

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Jason Thompson: Manga. The Complete Guide . Del Rey, New York 2007, ISBN 978-0-345-48590-8 , pp. 92 .
↑ ^a ^b ^c Animania 3/2000, pp. 42-44.
↑ Jonathan Clements, Helen McCarthy: The Anime Encyclopedia. Revised & Expanded Edition . Stone Bridge Press, Berkeley 2006, ISBN 978-1-933330-10-5 , pp. 172 .

[thompson-1] Jason Thompson: Manga. The Complete Guide . Del Rey, New York 2007, ISBN 978-0-345-48590-8 , pp. 92 .

[animania-2] Animania 3/2000, pp. 42-44.

[3] Jonathan Clements, Helen McCarthy: The Anime Encyclopedia. Revised & Expanded Edition . Stone Bridge Press, Berkeley 2006, ISBN 978-1-933330-10-5 , pp. 172 .