Zetman

Since the one-shots in this collection are distinct from one another and written over the course of 6 years, I will review each one separately.

ZETMAN-

Considerably different than the subsequent adaptation, here the protagonist is 23 year-old games programmer Kurono. He possesses a strong sense of justice instilled in him by his mother, who was killed in a hit-and-run when he was a teen. One day, an electrical storm causes the game he programs, "Zetman" to come to life, shades of author Masakuza Katsura's previous hit Video Girl Ai. Thus, Kurono becomes the titular superhero, and must "level up" by stopping various criminals.

As with the later series, the tale is an examination of what constitutes crime, heroism, and the nature of justice itself. The one-shot was well-drawn, with slick transitions, and solid pacing, but proceeding in a predictable direction. However, there is a neat twist near the end, adding ambiguity and depth to what could have been a trite, simple theme. The design of Zetman is also different, as he has horns, a devil's tail, and angel wings.

Overall, this is a good, solid work, if nothing remarkable. Still, it's a fine starting point for what would become an excellent, long-running series. 7/10

WOMAN IN THE MAN-

A silly work that shows off Kastura's love of ecchi involving nubile young girls as well as being heavily inspired by the gender-swapping of Ranma 1/2. While preparing to fight a karate rival, a wimpy guy and a brave girl switch bodies. The humor is as poor as in other ecchi series, and the climactic fight is very lazily done, with bad animation and action lines to symbolize strikes as opposed to clearly drawing them. The ending is anticlimactic and there weren't any real ideas here. This is crap. 3/10

SHADOW LADY-

A timid, unathletic girl called Aimi, with the help of her grandmother's magical artifact, becomes the bold, sexy, acrobatic Shadow Lady, flying around the city late at night. In the process, she crosses paths with Bright Honda, a boy she likes at school who is also an amateur crimefighter.

The work absolutely screams 90's shounen, from the art style to the secret identity (complete with transformation sequence) to the moral about courage and believing in oneself. It's executed well enough, with a couple nice fantasy touches, genuine effort put into the action scenes, and a climax that features a call-back to the beginning of the one-shot. There is even a bit of humor to the ending. It's generic and unexceptional, but done competently, with care, unlike "Woman in the Man". 6/10

Amusingly, this is an instance where merit was rewarded. The wretched "Woman in the Man" never got adopted as a full series. The okay "Shadow Lady" got a series in Shounen Jump but was unceremoniously cancelled after just 24 chapters. Meanwhile, "Zetman", the best of the bunch, went on to be a monster hit, publishing until 2014 with strong sales and getting an anime adaptation.

Sometimes there is indeed justice in this world, whether administered by Zetman or not.

Zetman is a Devilman derivative (or in the case of the original one-shot, an obvious pastiche) that fills the niche of those looking for a darker, sexier superhero comic while retaining some of the camp of the genre, along with character duality reminiscent of a reversed Batman/Superman dynamic. Fans of the slow-burn will enjoy the steady build of the plot, while others may be frustrated at points where it seems to move *too* slow.

Its strongest point lies in its artwork, which will likely keep people reading despite bumps in story construction. The artwork is beautiful and polished, with immaculate attention to detail and anatomy put into the character designs and settings, which is impressive during extensive fight scenes with highly detailed characters. Those who appreciate the hyper-detail that goes into works like Berserk will likewise also appreciate the effort put into Zetman's art and design.

Storywise, Zetman is a familiar sci-fi take on a classic subject and becomes fairly meta as genre-specific anime origins become integrated into its plot. While slowly paced, the story is full of timeskips and flashbacks, at times becoming incoherent or suffering from superfluous dialogue when the priority should be "show, not tell." The attention to detail is extensive, but the storytelling would benefit with streamlined editing. While the overall soul of the story is meant to be in the internal conflicts of the main characters with a "nature vs. nurture" subtext, it remains weak by being largely driven by plot points, with the main character remaining fairly static. While a hit-and-miss for some, Kouga's character arc remains the most dynamic thus far.

This lack of dynamism extends to the female characters to a great degree - most lack dimension and serve as plot devices to create conflict for the male characters. It's worth mentioning that this manga could be called "Fridged Women: Zetman Edition." Those with a low tolerance for this trope will quickly become frustrated by the constant sexualized peril and exploitation of the female characters, which appears so fetishistic it can border on guro. While tolerable the first few times, the constant recurrence can quickly become redundant and exhausting. Those discerning of well-developed romance will probably crinkle their nose when the first major one comes out of left field, feeling jarringly hasty and uncharacteristic. The motive for the shoddily constructed romance is blindingly obvious, which will leave some with a sour taste.

For all its flaws, Zetman has its poignant moments and is worthwhile for those looking for a niche seinen with retro superhero vibes. This story could also satisfy anyone simply looking to read something with beautiful art. It is committed to retaining suspense and tension, which makes it an exciting read when all the elements flow smoothly. With the action only now seeming to truly kick off, it could still have time to iron out its flaws.

Even with the heart of a monster, does that truly mean they are all that different from a Human? Can such a beast feel love, and have a sense of justice that's even greater than that of a humans?

This is a story of Players, genetically modified beings that have the appearance of humans but will transform into terrifying beasts that seek to slaughter any and all humans that are in their path but are bound to a law set in place by a mysterious organization. In comes ZET, an incredibly powerful being whose goal is to destroy every single player, good or evil, and fix the mistakes of his creator. ZET isn't just a mere Player himself, he's something so much more. Yet ZET is not alone in this fight, there is a wide cast of characters; some who seek to become heroes of justice, some who seek the truth, and others who want to be freed from the shackles of society.

In a sense this manga is very similar to Devilman, suffering from a handful of similar issues but shares in much of it's strengths. If you loved the concept of Devilman but wanted something that had less exposition, and had more time to develop it's world and characters with similar themes then this manga is for you.


REVIEW:

This manga does have some real flaws as well as highlights and I believe the review by the Machinist really does nail them quite on the head, however my review will go slightly more into spoiler territory compared to his review.


Flaws:

The character writing in this manga can be incredibly tropey, with the main romance being kind of shoe horned in and the later story beat(s) really come out of nowhere and don't really give you the feeling that they were properly earned. Despite that fact I do actually enjoy the interactions that come from the romance and all characters.

Next I want to discuss the perverse usage of death/sex of the women in this manga. It's tonally very dissonant and its usage comes off as incredibly edgy; and thankfully in only one, albeit major, segment of the story. For the period of time that it has this fetishization it does feel incredibly uncomfortable and is used as motivation for a character and it just falls flat on its face. There's only a handful of those moments, and the event(s) that follow really do over shadow the flaws of that portion.

Finally I'm gonna go over some of the general flaws in the story/characters, which I have few of but are worthy of note. First: Most all of the main antagonists are pretty weak. They have a distinct lack of personality besides Haitani. The rest of them are pretty forgettable, while the smaller antagonists/henchman are far more memorable due to their stunning designs and (usually) great fights. Plus the major antagonist, the leader of EVOL, barely gets any screen time and then just fades into black very soon after he was introduced (which was his goal anyways, but it feels like wasted potential). Tl;dr the actual stories antagonists are pretty weak. Aside from that the plot itself fine, character motivations are usually pretty believable.

I don't dislike the characters by any means, I think most are written to be very solid. It's just that Jin and Kouga really do carry this story on their back.

Also the ending is kina mid. It's by no means bad, but it's not terribly satisfying and leaves more to be desired.

Pros:

The art in this manga is jaw droppingly beautiful. The quality of the art ranges from incredibly solid, to stunning amounts of depth. The monster designs are phenomenal, evoking fear and disgust with the way many of them warp the human body or will leave your jaw glued to the floor. Each of the characters has a very pronounced style that reflects their personalities: for instance Jin has a casual but crude look, Tanaka has a very rebellious appearance, Kouga always looks suave and sleek etc etc. Point is the designs are unique and solid.

It's punctuated with phenomenal hyper detailed art that you can't help but stare at for minutes in order to really absorb the depth and care poured into each scene. Not to mention the way that emotion is so powerfully displayed through facial reactions, really selling the more intense and heart breaking story beats.

I do want to praise the story and character writing here. While I did mention that it is definitely flawed and succumbs to tropes, I would say it does more good than it does bad. Characters are, for the most part, very interesting albeit they don't all grow too noticeably the whole way through; usually having minor developments along the way aside from Kougas major developments throughout the whole story. Haitani is my favorite antagonist in this story, and his interactions with Jin really do save the weaker moments in the ladder half of the story.

The pacing is very good, but I will note there are a handful of time skips that are very abrupt in the early chapters.


Conclusion:

Does this manga deserve the 9 I gave it? To be honest, I don't think so, if I were to be more critical and fair this manga is more like a low 8 high 7; but I'm incredibly biased and loved this manga to the point where I believe that personally it's a 9. By no means is this manga meant for everyone, and I'd imagine it'll be very divisive on whether or not you will actually enjoy this manga. Are the flaws glaring? Absolutely. But at no point did it ever really turn me away from reading it, but instead displayed to me that the manga had serious potential but needed heavy investment and time to really capitalize on it; which it only does a real handful of times. Despite all of that, PLEASE give this manga a chance: I truly think it is worth your time. And if you've dropped this manga, I totally understand why you would; but maybe give it another shot? You might find yourself enjoying it a bit more than you might've expected.

Zetman is the tragic tale of a destructive man , featuring an underlying theme of justice. You have two main characters Kanzaki Jin , a kind man who is cursed with being a hellish monster , and Kouga Amagi , a literal white knight.

The story is amazing , and if there was any flaws to point out , it was that it's quite complex and a lot of things are happening at once - sometimes multiple flashback sequences occur and you're just like whaaa? Nonetheless , by the end it all made a lot more sense.

The art is extremely detailed , which I very much think adds to the 'grotesque' and somewhat real feel of the manga. The art is extremely good , and there's no complaints there.

The main characters in this manga are thrilling , such distinct opposites collide to make such an intense story. Although he has the form of a demon , Kanzaki Jin is an extremely likeable main protagonist , and often I found myself feeling extremely sorry for his terrible luck. The creator honestly did an amazing job in focusing on the torment that Kanzaki is going through , and pulls no punches doing so. By contrast , the side characters are bland to an extent , and the love interests are also very uninteresting.

I found the manga to be very enjoyable , so much so I binged it in a whole day , it's extremely satisfying watching the massive conflicts and wondering what's going to go wrong next. It's very rich with action and drama.

Just a note - but in the first half of the manga , there was an odd emphasis on rape. It kind of ruined it for me , as in the middle of intense psychological action sequence there was literally a massive orgy. wtf lol. It seemed extremely out of place.

Overall , I would give the manga an 8 , it was very enjoyable , and I recommend it quite a bit , but expect gore , sex and overall adult themes.

This is one of the best manga i've have read in a long time, really even if sometimes you might say "this manga goes too slow and doenst show much battles like on some other mangas", the story is excellent, the main characters are very realistic, they art is really good as expected from the artist who has made great mangas before and finally its really enjoyable since you always want to see what happens next.
I really recommend it for those people who like a lot of violence

tl;dr: A manga with interesting themes, characters, and plot threads that just throws them all away at the end.

Zetman is to some degree a manga about super hero origins, but it's more so a manga that explores some of the issues relating to the ethics of super heroes, and hence goes deeper and gets quite a bit darker than most super hero related works. This dark setting works pretty well, and the issues relating to justice and such mostly come through pretty well. The various character relationships were done pretty well too, with Jin and Kagou serving as good foils to one another, and the romantic aspects also being pretty well done for the most part. The plot was interesting too, in that there did seem to be a lot going on and a lot of players with various motivations and plans. However, all of this is severely hampered by how the ending is a complete nonending that doesn't do anything that an ending is supposed to do. While the ethics and such behind being a hero and justice were explored a good amount throughout the series, in the end it never felt like they actually made any sort of point. The various character relationships too end on a note where they're all completely broken, which is simply sad, not bittersweet, just kind of bitter. The plot never actually comes together. There are a lot of plans and conspiracies and twists where it turns out that the plans, goals, and motivations behind various characters are very different from what they appeared to be, but in the end it never became clear what the actual goals were, and what was actually going on, and ultimately the extremely long finale simply felt like chaos. There isn't a proper ending, rather the ending is essentially a set up for a time skip, being more preoccupied with setting up new plot threads then resolving them. But even in terms of that, it felt quite strange, in that it doesn't stop at the time skip, but has one chapter that shows things after the time skip that doesn't actually resolve anything either but rather just feels kind of awkward in terms of there eventually being a proper continuation. Though considering the time frame, it seems unlikely a continuation ever will be made at this point. I really liked the art style, art, and character designs, though I was fond of the general style more towards the beginning toward the end because it seemed it got a lot more reserved. 

A perfect blend of Manga and Western style comics about a strange homeless kid with a halo mark on his hand, monsters hidden throughout the city, and the amagi corporation.

Zetman is by no means complicated in its themes just think Devilman meets Batman Beyond all covered and wrapped in the allure of a mystery novel with tons of dark themes regarding superheroes, origins, and ideals.

The action and imagery is realistic, dark, brutal, and unsettling true to the superhero nature of the manga the fights indeed reflect that with dynamic impacts and transformations

The art is highly detailed and gorgeous which is to be expected from Katsura, Masakazu creator of Tiger and Bunny and Zetman his illustrations of his characters always slick and full of expressions while looking badass and emanating a sense of coolness

There are so many words to describe it and so little time because i dont want to bore you. This manga has so much action you might not think it is made by Katsura, Masakazu. The manga is one of my top favorites. And it wont disappoint. Come on how many homeless kids do you see kicking butt? That is really all i need to say.

Zetman is about Justice.

But what is impressive about Zetman is the way it chooses two characters, completely different from each other, puts them side by side and lets us see how their ideas of justice are similar and different. They have the same goals, but what is most precious to them, what they decide to sacrifice to achieve their
goals are very different.

Jin is a superhuman known as Zet. From a young age, he has discovered the hardships of life as he loses many people who are very precious to him. Through these incidents, he becomes sort of a cold person who likes to pretend he doesn’t care about anything but inside doesn’t want to lose anyone anymore. To do this, he tries to keep distance from the people he cares about. He believes that the people closest to him are most important and that saving someone’s life is always right, even if the person doesn’t want to be saved. He didn’t want to become a hero but because of Zet, he realizes that he must or the people close to him will always be in danger.

Kouga on the other hand is a rich and quite spoiled boy who dreams of becoming a superhero. His friends have built him a suit that gives him more or less superhuman abilities. He doesn’t actually question what justice is to him until he encounters Jin and an incident that shows him the horrors of life. He is still a bit unclear of what justice and idolizes Jin for being so clear of his ideas of justice.

The two characters are quite the opposites, but when they interact the question of “What is Justice?” constantly pops up. As the characters struggle to find what they believe is justice, we also find ourselves wondering with them.

Zetman’s entertainment doesn’t all just come from themes and characters though. The action is quite nerve breaking. The romance subplot is also quite strong and enjoyable. It is interesting to read about the tension between their lives as people and their lives as superheroes. They try to understand what being a superhero means but also have to cope and protect with the ones they love. Of coures, the originality of this isn't there, but its still fun.

Oh. And The Art Is Amazing.
It’s quite an amazing feeling seeing all the details put into it. The characters, the background and the action scenes are all just drawn so well.

Sadly, the pacing of the manga is rather very hard to follow as the beginning explains very little about the setting. The direction of the plot for a while is almost impossible to follow especially "the Kouga arc". I admit I’ve actually dropped this manga a few times. Still, if you keep with it, and when everything connects, simple enjoyment will overwhelm you.

I just finished reading the available chapters of Zetman and I just have to say WOW!!! What a trip! From what I've read in the superhero genre this is something extraordinary, from the artwork, to the characters, the world, and above everything else; the story. What makes Zetman stand out from the lot is the incredible well written story. For good and bad, there appears to be a long tradition of improvisation in the art of manga-storytelling. You create the characters, set a premise, and then just going where the story takes you, one arc at the time. Even if there technically is arcs in Zetman, the story is so tightly woven that everything is connected and everything overlaps, there's nothing the typical crescendo -> resolution movement, and you really need to read it from the start. Even after 200 chapters you see flashbacks to the first chapters. The effort put into the story is just incredible, and I've get come across any major "loose threads" that defiles the logic of the story.

Another thing that is really impressive about Zetman is the world that Zetman is zet into (fufufu). I can be really picky about suspending my disbelief, and I can also be really tired of long written out explanations on the (imaginary) world's logic, that many adventure/scifi mangas are burdened with. In Zetman I did not come across anything like this, the world and it's logic works really well. One interesting aspect is the neo-materialism that the story have, there is nothing supernatural here, everything is defined within the boundaries of science, and not even souls separated from the body exists (as it is written out anyway). This is not a big point within the story, it just happens to be there.

It's actually quite refreshing that this manga does not rely on existentialistic themes and philosophy and instead focuses on actual storytelling. Sure, you'll get your share of neo-materialistic (almost nihilistic) ethics, especially the question on what "justice" really is and who is worth saving, but it's not the main focus as some seinen mangas have it.

The art, just stunning. Just amazing. I can not help to feel sorry for all the poor assistants who had to work day and night to trace those crazy backgrounds, like seriously, that is one insane effort put down in those details, I'd run out of superlatives if I were to describe it with words. Read the manga already.

What amazes me about the characters is how realistic they are. They are portrayed with warmth and a sensitivity to the human psyche, in this manga things matter, and people just doesnt move on after life changing traumatic events as if nothing ever happened. Even the villains have their reasons, and even the silly appearance of the non-human cast have a great and actually credible backstory.

So hey, what's more to say? The scanlation group Evil Genius have through their work with Zetman, Berserk and others given a huge gift to the English speaking part of the world. Now I wish someone would license it in English so we can give something back to the mangaka himself (and his loyal team of assistants!(whom all have autism and are hung up on drawing huge constructions of trashed concrete)).