The First Wars
Story & art by: Tsukasa Tsuji
Based on the characters & story created by: Yoshihiro Takahashi
Originally published in Japan 2019
Volume 1 / ?
16 chapters
This is a parody manga based on the Ginga franchise created by Yoshihiro Takahashi. Since this comic is a parody I don't think it's considered canon, but it might as well be, who knows. The story takes place between the Ginga Densetsu Weed series and its sequel Ginga Densetsu Weed Orion. The name of this album is a parody which refers to the Ginga: The Last Wars series which is Orion's sequel. It's all connected man!
The main characters here are the four puppies (from oldest to youngest) Sirius, Orion, Rigel and Bella. Sirius is the silver coated big brother, peace loving and rational. Orion is red coated and his personality is hotheaded and reckless, the opposite to Sirius. Rigel is black coated, which makes him stand out among the puppies. The last one with the eyelashes is Bella, their sister.
The chapters are a random mix of puppy shenanigans during the carefree days of their childhood. Only the first two chapters really poke fun at events that has happened in the previous series, the rest just kinda throw in a reference here and there. In other chapters the puppies get lost in the woods, fight off a snake and meet a bear cub for example. One of the chapters is even told more from their mother Koyuki's point of view, which was a nice change of pace. In two other later chapters the focus is on the pups interacting with Kurotora and Akame respectively (famous characters from the Ginga series). The chapter where the pups interact with Kurotora is particularly wholesome, and my personal favorite. I wish there had been more chapters like this, the puppies hanging out with other characters, rather than have them being out in the woods alone.The negatives
- I don't like how mostly Sirius always breaks the 4th wall. Always namedropping Takahashi's name at every opportunity. In one chapter Sirius even mentions the internet! Like a dog would have any understanding of what the internet is. Please, leave out real life references, they're not even funny.
- I hate what Rigel has been reduced into. Rigel is my favorite (in the main series) and I'm having a hard time understanding why he is being depicted like a daydreaming idiot without a care in the world. His eyes always drooping and with a drop of snot hanging from his nose. Rigel in here, is so mellow to the point he doesn't have a personality at all, when he is supposed to be the middle ground between his brothers. He's just there. Dripping snot. My God, he's like Bella from the main series. Completely useless and forgotten about.
- I don't like how humanized the puppy's act sometimes. I can forgive the over the top human like poses, but I hate it when the pups suddenly have human made props on them. For instance, a comic book, hat, eyeglasses, fishing pole, etc.- The Chibis, the mind-numbingly amount of Chibis. I don't hate the Chibi style, but I would have preferred, if the puppies have been drawn normal and only use the Chibi style for extra effect.
- There's only a handful of the adult Ginga characters appearing in this comic, which is a big drawback. I think this comic would have the potential to be a lot funnier parody if the puppies were allowed to interact with other characters of the Ginga series, rather than having them doing solo adventures on their own.
- The manga isn't that funny. Like, the drawings and expressions are funny, but the stories themselves are not.
The positives
+ Bella, the GIRL, who amazingly enough hasn't been pushed to the sidelines (like in the main series). She's actually participating! She's keeping up with her brothers and actually overpowers them in one of the chapters when Orion pushes her to her breaking point. I know it's played for gags in here, but man, would that be fun to see in the main series where she is either forgotten or treated as a complete weakling.
+ I think Tsukata Tsuji's art is really good if you look past the Chibi characters. It's actually really impressive how close he can imitate the Takahashi style, but without looking like a completely perfect copy. I seriously thought some of the flashback scenes were inserts of Takahashi's art, but on closer inspection, I don't think that's the case.
+ For a long time now, I think Yoshihiro Takahashi's art style has become quite stilted. In a way, reading this parody has breathed some life into his characters, seeing how expressive they can be.
+ Better characterization of female characters. Nothing groundbreaking, but seriously, Koyuki and Bella have ten times more personality in here compared to the main series.+ Even if they are played as a joke, this comic introduces interesting ideas that I would like to see happen in the main series someday. Like, instead of having to choose one leader of the pack have all four rule as equals..... or completely rewrite Bella's character and make her the leader. And I'm not saying this with some feminist agenda in my mind. I like the Ginga series, but I also think it's very stagnant. Having a female character that's soul purpose isn't about being the companion/mother to someone else would be a big improvement.
I can't really think of anything else to say about this manga. If I were to give it some fake rating, I'd give two and a half star out of five. Maybe just two on a bad day and max three stars if I was having a great day. Unless you are a super fan of the series, don't spend your money on it, just borrow it if you can.
