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Reviewed by Michael Aronson A quick explanation as to why I’m not reviewing volume one: it’s extremely rare and doesn’t want anyone to read it. My local library had it, and I was planning to take it out, but now it seems to be missing, likely because it sensed my intent. Fate can be cruel, but that’s all okay, because volume two stands perfectly well on its own as a self-contained story in a larger saga. Billed as a story about three different men named Adolf (one of which being Herr Hitler himself), volume two focuses almost entirely on Toge, a Japanese reporter whose brother was killed by Nazis in Germany. At the volume’s outset, Toge comes into possession of a letter his brother had mailed before he died which reveals, of all things, the secret of Hitler’s lineage. Suspecting the nature of the documents, the Japanese secret police – including Tezuka’s recurring characters Hamegg (Akabane) and Acetylene Lampe (Lampe) – hound Toge to relinquish the information. And so the chase begins. Unlike most other creators, Tezuka’s storytelling remained at peak quality through the end of his career, toward which Adolf was published. And unlike other stories about WWII, Adolf doesn’t paint a black-and-white world but one in which everyone bears some guilt due to their moral standing regarding the war. Though Hitler is one of the most reprehensible individuals who ever lived, he ironically stars in or is associated with some of the best dramatic literature and entertainment, and one has to wonder if his presence actually improves the material. Nonetheless, despite Hitler’s ancestry being at stake, we know he isn’t going to be exposed by the end of the story. Instead we’re presented with a rollicking fugitive tale ala Urasawa’s Monster (which seems to be directly influenced by Tezuka’s works such as Adolf and Black Jack). The Japanese government itself isn’t Toge’s enemy but rather individuals within it, just as there are individuals sympathic to the Nazi party who also aid Toge’s endeavors. The mood is electrifyingly desperate and paranoid, and yet the moments in which Toge is offered various forms of kindness are those that shine through. Tezuka encourages readers not to lose hope in humanity as a whole, no matter how dark the masses turn. The problem with Adolf is that it was one of Viz’s earliest efforts (the book is billed as Tezuka’s “first full-length work to be published in English”) and aside from issues of rarity, the production values are seriously lacking. The cover of a crying photographed man with cheap scar makeup is almost a slap in the face to the interiors, and all the books lack any numbering on the binding or interiors. You literally have to skip to the last page to find out which volume comes next, and then divine the reading order from there. Adolf is brilliant historically-based material frantically in need of a new and revised printing. Comment on this review of Adolf v2: An Exile in Japan on the Manga Life Forums. |
6 October 2009
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