Manga Review: WaqWaq (Shonen Jump)

On August 4, WaqWaq Vol. 1, the new Manga series from Ryu Fujisaki, hits book shelves everywhere.

WaqWaq takes place in a world where people live in constant fear of machines. People now look to Guardians, humans who merge with machines, for protection. When rumors that the legendary Kami, a red blooded being who created humans and machines, has returned to the world, humans and Guardians are driven to war to possess the coveted being. The story centers on Shio, the son of a Guardian. After his father’s untimely passing, Shio is forced to take on the mantle of Guardian and merge with his machine, Armaiti, to protect the Kami. Unfortunately, Shio will have to fight the other Guardians, who are bent on capturing the Kami and forcing the godlike being to grant them a wish.

The story presents a familiar post-apocalyptic premise where machines have taken over the world. Many may even correlate the Kami to Neo from the Matrix since the story also deals with humans who are able to merge with machines. However, the story does present some possible elements to separate it from the crowd, including the war amongst Guardians and a looming threat from a greater power pulling the strings.

WaqWaq Vol. 1 is an ambitious science fiction adventure told through the eyes of a child who has just lost his father. The result is a story that can be melodramatic at times, but still has enough adult themes to make it worth reading. There are moments when the story can be hard to follow, especially in the exposition. Fujisaki’s style, in WaqWaq, tends to show the story more through his illustrations and less through dialogue. The robots aren’t drawn with your typical box-like sketches. Instead, the robots have a liquid blob-like appearance, similar to the Terminator in Terminator 2. However, you’ll have a hard time following some of the illustrations as well. The panels tend to be cluttered, and the robots, while creatively designed, tend to be lost in the melee of illustrations.

Although WaqWaq has a lot of cool science fiction elements, the story and style can be difficult and often laborious to follow. I found that as the chapters progressed, I got used to the illustrations and writing more. But, many readers my find the writing and illustrations to distracting to maintain their interest.

Ryu Fujisaki created the mythology-based manga series Hoshin Engi ENGI. He has also been nominated for the prestigious Osamu Tezuka Manga Award.