“Jumbor Japon” Book Review

Back in 2007, after the conclusion of Shaman King and working as a supervisor for the cancelled manga Smash Bomber, Hiroyuki Takei started is new manga series called Jūki Ningen Jumbor. However this too was another failure. This manga was a long time in development and did not take the traditional route of having a oneshot first to judge the success of the manga. During this time Takei and his staff worked on developing the “World Xand,” various EMs (Earth Movers), and character designs over multiple time-skips. As a result, Takeihad material and ideas to work with for Jumbor to last many years as a manga series. However, it was cancelled from Weekly Shonen Jump after only 10 short weeks.  In the single compiled volume release, Takei added a portion of the materials he produced in a section called “Jumbor Japan.”

However, on October 7th, 2007 for Comiket 73, Takei produced a new addition to the  Jūki Ningen Jumbor series, titled Jumbor Japon. This book was a self-published and was originally sold only at this event, where it was completely sold out. The volume contained 48 full color pages plus 14 black and white pages. The book was edited by “Genber Publising,” an inside joke to the leader of the Dr. Docult’s Jumbors. The book was printed by Akatuki Insatsu. The exact number of volumes printed is unknown, but it is extremely rare.  This book as a whole is a close to Takei’s only artbookever released and is not officially recognized or owned by Shueisha (who owns Weekly Shonen Jump).

In October 2010, the book went into a limited reprint which orders were taken via Twitter. The price for this reprint was 1600yen (plus 80yen for shipping) and was only available to residents in Japan. In addition to this reprint, the book came in an envelope with “Genber Publishing x Takei” on it and a hand written receipt. This reprint was referred to as 「JUMBOR JAPON希望」, though the cover and a majority of the content remained the same from the original 2007 release. A complete page-by-page listing of the contents of the 2007 release can be found at the end of the article. At this time there is no page-by-page comparison between the two versions.

Some of the original color images were also reprinted in the dual volume reprint of the original Jūki Ningen Jumbor series known as ” Jumbor Ang Zeng Bang” (安全版, “Anzen ban”) which also translate to “Security Edition.” (This occured shortly after the release of the “Shaman King Kang Zeng Bang,” 完全版, “kanzenban”, or “Perfect Edition”) There was a pull out page in both volumes (“Up” and “Down”) which contained small versions of many of the color images in Jumbor Japon. However Jumbor Japon in addition contains all of the color pages used in the Weekly Shonen Jump release without any text on them. There is some other earlier concept art that received color as well in this release. Interestingly, two of the images have Baru dressed in a more pirate-style clothing withone of his hands being replaced with a crane hook (image to the left).

Looking at some of the earlier sketches (and “name”, a rough sketch of a chapter) provides some insight on how earlier versions of the story progressed. Many of the characters, including Baru and Rivetta appear much younger than they do in the actual release. The numbering system on the Jumbor “horns” was not in earlier sketches either. Additionally the meeting with Nipper was moved into the first chapter on an early version of the story.

Overall the book is a rare and unique look at Takei’s internal thought process on creating a new manga series and is high recommended for serious fans of the original Jūki Ningen Jumbor manga series. The book also has very little Japanese and all name are in English, this book can easily be enjoyed by both Japanese and English speakers alike.

Additional sources: m_oge blog for 2010 version comparison.

Complete contents of the 2007 Jumbor Japon are below. Comments are in parentheses. All page numbers are as printed in the book (errors including). Some images have been provided thoughout the article. If you would like to use any portion of this article (including translations), please provide a link back to this article as it may be updated in the future.

Pages 1-2: (not printed, assumed to be the inside of the front and back cover)
Page 3: Title page
Page 4: Table of Contents (which is inaccurate…)
Page 5: Characters title page
(The following are full color images of characters)
Page 6: Jumbor 1D Genber Diode 2999
Page 7: Crane and Vice 3002
Page 8: Road Docult
Page 9: Jumbor 11D Baru Craw
Page 10: Nipper Toruss
Page 11: Rivetta Gounte Helmate Dovork
Page 12: Tabil Gounte Twomessio Dovork
Page 13: Rod Boring
Page 14: Genber Diode
Page 15: Jumbor 12D Drill
Page 16: Jumbor 2D Crane Docult
Page 17: Jumbor 3D Vice Vervender
Page 18: Jumbor 4D Kili Sasara Gimnecurette
Page 19:  Jumbor 5D Hubsus Jali
Page 20: Jumbor 6D Blow Hopper
Page 21: ??? Mixia
Page 22: Jumbor 7D DozaRipper (With Tabil for size comparison)
Page 23: Jumbor 8D Chain Dogleg
Page 24: Jumbor 9D Wrentch Monkey
Page 25: Jumbor 10D Petica Chip
Page 26:  Baru Craw 3012
Page 27: Jumbor 13D Rod Boring
Page 28: Drill 3012
Page 29: Vice 3012
(The following are full color pictures of Earth Movers)
Page 30: D-30A
Page 31: D-51E
Page 32: D-53E
Page 33: D-51S Baru Craw Special
Page 34: D-51EB Nokita
Page 35: D-51ED Nitro
Page 36: D-28B Shaft
Page 37: D-47 4CS Biggarm
Page 38: G350
Page 39:  (4 purple water-colored backhoe sketches)
Page 40: G200 (4 angles)
Page 41: G48000 4A4B Barubaster
Page 42: G55 Shoberius III
Page 43: Illustration
(The following are clean full color images of various original Jyuki Ningen Jumbor artwork)
Page 44: Original Volume Title Page
Page 45: Original WSJ Issue Cover page
Page 46: (2 Pictures of “Pirate Baru,” appears to be early concept)
Page 47: Early Baru Promo art
Page 48: (3 Drawings, 1. 3002 Baru with young Nipper; 2. Author’s Note picture from the original JNJ volume; 3. Early Jumbor Baru wearing a cape, appears to be early concept art)
Page 49: Jyuki Ningen Jumbor Original Volume cover art
Page 50: Chapter 4 Title Page
(All pages till the end are in Black and White)
Page 51: Rough & Sketch Title page
Page 52: Baru & Nipper
Page 53: Crane; Kili
Page 54: Hubsus; Blow; Chain
Page 55: Doza; Monkey
Page 56: The Early Jumbor, Team Baru Craw + Jumbor Baru
Page 57: (continuation of page 56)
Page 58: (pages 1, 16, 17, 18, 19, 22, 42, 50, 51 of an early draft of Jyuki Ningen Jumbor Chapter 1)
Page 59 (marked as page 21): Rivetta + “Dr. Docult’s Assistant”
Page 60: Jumbors; Baru; Crane
Page 61: Kili(Powda); Doza(Bull)
Page 62: Others; Earth Movers
Page 63: (More Earth Movers)
Page 64: Credits Page

Ultimo Volume 3 Review

AnimeNewsNetwork reviewed the upcoming release of Ultimo volume 3 today on their website. Ultimo volume 3 will be released on December 7th in English by Viz. To read the complete review, follow the link after the excerpt.

If Hiroyuki Takei wanted to make something big happen in the third volume of Ultimo, well, he couldn’t get much bigger than the end of the world.

And while it’s presented as standard action-adventure fare with good guys fighting bad guys, it also contains an echo of truth about human civilization: aside from the polar ice caps melting, meteors crashing into us, the ozone layer going poof, or the sun exploding in a giant ball of flame, we’re definitely going to blow ourselves up. (Many would say we are already partway there—and all it would take is a few fantastical weapons, like giant humanoid machines with amazing powers, to push us over the edge.)

Full Review: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/ultimo/gn-3

Reviews of Ultimo vol 1

The following are some reviews of the first volume of Ultimo in English, published by Viz. Follow the link to read teh entire review.

From Anime Vice:

From Anime News Network: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/right-turn-only/2010-02-16

On one hand, it’s a typical boys’ action comic through and through, but the concept has potential. Chalk up a C+ for this one and see what happens next.

From ICv2: http://icv2.com/articles/news/16803.html

Like many manga, the creator has included levity at peculiar times, by American standards.  The title character Ultimo, while repeatedly described as a boy, is dressed in a very feminine tank top outfit throughout the story.  These are very minor issues in an interesting story.

From Manga.about.com: http://manga.about.com/od/vizmedia/gr/Ultimo1.htm

Despite these stylistic issues, the story was compelling enough that I can definitely recommend Ultimo to anyone who enjoys Shonen Jump manga or who likes shonen manga in general. It’s more than just the sum of its parts. Ultimo provides a solid reading experience with characters you want to know more about, in a situation you want to see resolved well.

From The Manga Critic: http://mangacritic.com/?p=3278

Given Ultimo’s pedigree, it should have been one of 2010’s must-read manga — a tangy, peanut-butter-and-wasabi pairing of superhero titan Stan Lee and cutting-edge manga-ka Hiroyuki Takei. Instead, Ultimo turned out to be more of a PB&J affair, competently executed but utterly forgettable. Takei, who’s credited with the script, relates the story at a brisk but comprehensible clip, introducing a large cast of characters that includes Yamato and friends in both their present-day and feudal incarnations.

Ultimo volume 1 was released February 2nd, 2010. It is currently being published in Shonen Jump by Viz in the USA.

SK Volume 17 (US Viz release) Review

SK17USAOn July 1st, Viz released Volume 17 of the Shaman King manga. If you didn’t like the consept of the Shaman Fight, well, you’re in luck! Since this volume doesn’t have anything to do with it! And you won’t really see that again until 2009!

MSRP: $7.95
Length: 200 pages (it’s right this time, but only if you count the 7 pages of ads at the end)
ISBN: 1-4215-1659-4

If I were to sum up this entire volume in one word, I would choose the word “great.” Not because this volume has the best story, but just because it sets up so much, and the quality of the English version, is the highest of all the series up to this point. So, I’d like to take a moment to thank Lance Caselman and John Hunt for a great English adapatation. I greatly enjoy the amount of quality you have placed in Shaman King, and I hope that you will be continueing to work on Shaman King Volumes 18-21, which are the best volumes of the series.

On page 4 of volume 17, this probably is the worst page in the volume. There were alot of change, if you look really closely. First of all, for some reason it’s “Tao Ren,” while everybody else is ‘first name, last name.’ I guess Ren’s special like that. Also, Kororo, is “KORORO.” Missed that one. And most of the boxes for the desciptions have been expanded, even though some of them didn’t need it. Ironically, most of the characters in this character page don’t appear in this volume. Chocolove (Joco in Viz’s version, but I’ll call him Chocolove) on this page, like all other pages, has had his lips edited. However, on this page, they used the wrong shading, and you can clearly see where they edited, as seen in the image. But don’t worry, all the other pages look fine!
 

Shaman King Vol14 Review

It’s been out for a while, but you can buy Shaman King Volume 14 from Viz right now!

Shaman King Volume 14MSRP:  $7.95
Length:  200 pages
ISBN:  1-4215-1475-3
In stores:  Jan. 1, 2008

Like with all Viz volumes there are some changes. Below is a list of changes or mistakes I found, as well as noteworthy things that they didn’t change. May contain some spoilers if you haven’t read the volume yet. Click below to read the full list.

Continue reading →