This isn't really a review, so I'm doing it in a slightly different style. See, this blog isn't intended to just be a review site... I do need to get some things off my shoulders every once in a while, too... me being human and possessing extremely strong opinions, and all that.
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| Volume 1 of Kyojin no Hoshi and Volume 10 of Hanagata |
A number of years ago, I started reading 'Shinyaku Kyojin no Hoshi: Hanagata' (Retelling of Star of the Giants: Hanagata) and instantly fell in man-love with the main character. I have since purchased untold amounts of Kyojin no Hoshi manga and believe that everyone in the world should familiarize themselves with the story down to the minutest detail. Basically, I feel about this manga the same way my girlfriend feels about Skip Beat. If there were music videos on YouTube, I'd probably watch them. BUT! It doesn't qualify for my reviews under the rules that I have set aside for myself. First of all, it's not untranslated... and second, it's not finished. BUT BUT!! The translated one is a retelling of the classic one! A loophole! But not really. So this isn't a review. Any semblance this may have to a review is purely coincidental.
The Summary!!
The original Kyojin no Hoshi (which is basically nothing short of a huge advertisement for the Tokyo Giants baseball team) followed a young man by the name of Hoshi Hyuuma and was a national phenomenon in Japan in the late 60's. This manga is the reason that sportsmen in manga today wear ridiculous contraptions with springs all over their body, run around in impossible training sessions, and create fireballs when they play tennis. This started all of it. And for those of you who aren't that cool with fire tennis, this also started anime, laying claim to being the first manga ever to be produced into an anime series. Not only that, but it was written by legendary author Ikki Kajiwara, who you most likely haven't heard of, but he penned other legendary works such as Ashita no Joe and Tiger Mask (which I'll review eventually) and was a guiding force in sports manga history.
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| Anime Vs IRL Comparison? I got that. |
So, it's historically significant... but that doesn't make it good. Or relative to the needs of today's audience, for that matter. What makes it good is the progression. The original story follows the genius son of a genius baseball player, who's father was injured in WWII and forced to retire. After his forced retirement, he used every ounce of passion (and anger) in his body to turn his son into the strongest pitcher the world has ever seen. As a child, Hyuuma is forced to wear an apparatus... to explain it, it's basically a vest with a system of springs that forces his arms to straighten out. Over the years, he gains the strength to move naturally with these springs, and practices his pitching while wearing the vest and arm restraints (there's a baseball sized hole in the side of his house... he throws the ball through the hole, it hits something outside, and then comes back in through the hole). His father forces him to practice day in and day out., and Hyuuma does his best to meet his father's high expectations... He remains unstoppable until he meets Hanagata Mitsuru, a genius batter with strength rivaling his own. (Btw, here's a link to the anime opening sequence)
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| Iconic child abuse? I got that, too. |
The rest of the story follows the eternal rivalry between Hanagata and Hoshi as they rise to the professional league, battling it out in front of the nation. Hoshi wins, Hoshi loses, the rivalry becomes bigger than each of them individually... it's become a sports story cliche. But really, the manga is about the relationship between Hoshi and his father, as they grow apart and together again through their love of baseball.
And this brings me to the retelling. Shinyaku Kyojin no Hoshi: Hanagata switches the focus from Hoshi to Hanagata, not even introducing the former main character until like volume 2 or 3 if I recall correctly. And it's this juxtaposition and the fact that you're seeing the story that everyone in Japan knows by heart told from a different perspective that makes this manga so worth reading. It's the dramatic irony of knowing the characters better than they know themselves that brings this story into the forefront of my favorite manga list. When they introduce Hoshi's sister, you know who she is, you know her history and future, and you wait with baited breath to see it unfold. Of course, there are subtle differences, but the macro story plays out the same, allowing for suspense to be played out in the smaller everyday struggles of the teams and players.
That said, the history is also this story's greatest downfall. As a translated work, to an English audience, it's one-sided, almost shallow... Hanagata and friends are fleshed out, leaving the opposition, and Hoshi specifically, as a tragic rival instead of a the heroic figure that Hanagata played in the original series. I fear that people who are unfamiliar with the story are brought too close to Hanagata and fail to understand the intricacies that are woven into the plot.
My Man Crush
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| "Wha...? Hm, Hey!!" |
Oh, Hanagata Mitsuru, the only male character I've ever thought 'damn, nice...' about. He has an unwavering sense of justice only matched by his overconfidence in his own abilities. He's rich. He has a tragic past (at the beginning of the story, he is formerly a famous little league pitcher who hurt his shoulder and has been forced into retirement, taking up the bat only because he can't forget his love of baseball). He's chivalrous to a fault, and he values his friends over himself. He's stereotypical and belongs in a cape fighting crime alongside batman or something, but he's the rare character that stands above the stereotype and achieves true awesomeness. His favorite line? Literally translated, it's 'I don't have a name to give to you', explained, it means something like 'I'm not going to lower myself so far as to tell you my name'... which, even if I were to tell you in English on the street, you'd kind of look at me funny for a while, but you'd know it was an insult. And it's actually about the same reaction a Japanese person would have.
A video of the original Hanagata being awesome with his hair and his batting can be found at the link in the previous words.
The Bottom Line
For months, I debated translating the retelling of Kyojin no Hoshi. I posted it up on my staff forums and opened it to discussion, I poured over the manga trying to see if it would stand on its own or if translating it would be a disservice to the history that it represents. And ultimately I decided that if I was to ever translate Hanagata, it would have to be after I translated the original. Anything less would be blasphemous to the feelings that I hold for this series of manga and the respect that I have for the artists and authors responsible. So I didn't translate it. And I'm sad that it is being translated. Happy that someone other than me appreciates it enough to spend the time to bring it to the public, of course, but sad that the public doesn't have the benefit of getting the full story, and understanding the cultural impact Kyojin no Hoshi has had on their hobby.
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