Black Gate Vol. 1-3 [Paperback]

Sometimes I wonder why manga authors put those little self-depreciating notes in the margins of their comics. Too often I find myself agreeing with them. In "Black Gate," for example, Yukiko Sumiyoshi writes that this is her first time attempting a long story in a comic, instead of the usual short strips that she does, and that she doesn't really know how to structure a long story.

She is correct. Unfortunately, she doesn't really know how to structure a long story, and "Black Gate" suffers for it. All of the elements necessary to a great manga are here. Interesting premise, good plot, nice art...all that is really missing is characterization and good story-telling.

The premise of the comic is that in this world when someone dies their spirit passes through a White Gate into the afterlife. Occasionally, instead of a White Gate a Black Gate is opened, and instead of being content with the single spirit the Black Gate will try and suck up the spirits of the living as well. The very existence of a Black Gate unsettles things, causing accidents that can lead to deaths to feed the hungry gate. Only a few people have the ability to see these gates and close them, and they are known as Mitedamashi.

The story follows Senju, and adult Mitedamashi and his young charge Hijiri. The two are perpetually poor (For some reason being a Mitedamashi doesn't pay very well even though it is an elite and necessary profession. There is no real reason given for this, other than it is funnier to have Senju and Hijiri poor and scrounging for food) and Hijiri is more of a bother than a help to Senju. Hijiri is a stereotypical "scrappy kid," thinking he is tougher and more powerful than he actually is and annoying everyone around him. Senju has some deep bond with Hijiri, and some reason for watching over the kid that even Hijiri doesn't know. Senju does his best to keep Hijiri from danger, even though Hijiri tries to tackle Black Gates far beyond his power level.

Over time, it is revealed that Hijiri is the last of a line of Gate Keepers, a race who had the ability to see and close not only the Black Gates but the White Gates as well. The leader of the Gate Keepers went mad and attempted to close all of the Gates in the world and end death, which is something that never goes over very well. There are those hunting the last Gate Keeper, to ensure that they never mess with the balance again, and there are others hunting the last Gate Keeper because they think the insane leader had a pretty good idea in sealing off all the Gates and ending death, and they want to give it another go.

I like all of the bits and pieces of "Gate Keeper," but not so much the whole. The premise and plot are great, and if Sumiyoshi had gotten a little help with the story telling and characterization, then this could have been a smashing series. But too many of the characters are flat, especially Hijiri who never moves beyond the annoying kid stereotype (Hijiri never ages either, so even though several years pass in the manga, we have to deal with him as a little kid for the whole series). Some of the story jumps are too abrupt, like the sudden change from Gate closing to hunting a serial killer that murders Mitedamashi.

The art is great in "Black Gate." You can see from the cover that Sumiyoshi is a very strong artist. And if you are the type of manga fan who likes to look at the art, with just a bit of story stringing it together, you might love <em>Black Gate</em>. But me, I am first and foremost a reader, and the story matters more than the art. And there just isn't enough story here.

Tokyo Pop has packed all three volumes of "Black Gate"together for this collection. As far as I know, they were never released separately. It makes the collection affordable, although the large size makes it unwieldy for carrying around with you in your backpack if you read your manga out and about like I do.

Reason for Reading: The publisher's summary had me very interested plus I liked the idea of reading a small mangas series all in one go.

Dare I say it? I think this is the best manga I have read to date. What a compelling, epic saga that covers many years through flashbacks and skipping forward into the future. When a person dies a white gate opens in which their soul goes through to the other side (which the story does not explore) but on rare occasions a black gate will open and these gates are not satisfied with just one soul, they will try to suck the souls out of the nearby living and often cause mass destruction such as fires to gather as many souls as possible. Just as rare is a certain breed of people who can see these gates the Mitedamashi; they are also the only ones who can close black gates. This is the story of Hijiri, a boy, with a Mitedamashi guardian who grows to learn of his own special powers, his true background and his important role in the future. And I can't tell you anything else because it's just too exciting to find it out yourself as you read.

From the copyright dates, and some on-line searching, it looks like the individual volumes of this series were never published in English before, making this all-in-one edition the first English publication of a most awesome trilogy. Most manga series go on for several up to infinity volumes, so it is a real pleasure to sit down and read a series from start to finish, knowing when it ends, that really is the end. This story becomes very deep and without going into any detail it ends up questioning life and death. Do people who fear death so much have a right to put an end to death? If we could stop death, would that be ethical? Would it be good for us as human beings? Would we really want to live forever? When you think about forever do you really take into account how long forever actually is??

A truly brilliant story that had me glued to my seat, kept me turning the pages and had me finishing the book over the course of a day. The characters are all well-developed with pasts and certain things that motivate them to act and behave the way they do. Any character is worthy of being favoured by a reader and I think each will have their fans. Of course I liked Hijiri, the main character. So many people messed around with his life and yet he never stops caring and trusting. He starts off as a troublesome, mouthy little kid and grows to become a worthy leader. I also liked Michizane, a boy whose childhood was emotionally abusive and he is still not treated well, though it is through no fault of his own that he is not liked. He has an attitude to cover himself from being hurt and unfortunately often becomes the victim. But Hijiri befriends him right away (against his will) and eventually Michizine allows himself to care and trust. There are no long drawn out battle scenes, no s*x, no gory violence. What you do get for the Teen rating is the mild swear words (d@mn and h3ll) and after non-graphic kill scenes a spatter of blood or blood on hands, etc.

I can't help but sound like I'm gushing, as I really did love this book and highly recommend it to fantasy manga fans or those who enjoy stories dealing with souls and death.

› Go to Amazon.com to see both reviews  4.0 out of 5 stars