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Reviewed by Hannah King “Meet Ryo and Dee, two New York City cops with an attraction for action – and each other!” Fake v1 Collecting the first six issues of the series, Fake volume one basically introduces readers to the key characters and sets up the basics for the main and sub plots. The first four issues are two self contained stories that centre around two unfortunate children, Bikky – in the first story, and Carol – in the second story. Both children join Dee and Ryo as the principal characters of the series and are the subjects of the sub-plot. The fifth and sixth issues are both stand alone stories that happen to take place at the same time. The fifth issue introduces the first of a plethora of secondary characters, who also turns out to be Ryo’s ‘Love Rival.’ The sixth and final issue follows Bikky and Carol and is the first part of the sub-plot. As you can guess from the opening quote, this title is based in and around the New York Police Force – specifically the 27th Precinct’s Criminal Investigations Unit. Randy ‘Ryo’ MacLean, the character whom the story follows, is a twenty-something rookie assigned to the precinct. Within minutes of arriving he is partnered up with Dee Laytner, his polar opposite personality wise, thus creating a great dynamic that continues right the way through the book. As characters, Dee and Ryo are both well rounded, three dimensional and thoroughly interesting. Ryo, who happens to be part Japanese, is your typical uke – quiet, empathetic, slightly gullible – but he has an obstinate streak that often surprises. Dee, again, is your typical seme – confident, boisterous, cocky – however, as with Ryo, he has a surprisingly tender side that comes into play both with Ryo and with the children. The characterisation is fluent and consistent, there are no two alike in the book and this keeps things ‘real’ enough for a reader to enjoy the stories and become immersed enough to ‘suspend their disbelief’ and care. Story wise, this book follows the usual conventions of a first release. The stories, though very well written, are simple and easily accessible, are very good character introductions (even serving to tell us Dee’s precise orientation: “I’m bi, dammit! Bi! Get it right!”) and are intelligent enough to catch most people’s attention. As to accuracy, Sanami Matoh herself apologises for any mistakes as her research, though extensive, did occasionally turn up a blank. Due to the good handling of the stories, however, you barely notice anything wrong, indeed, I’d have to go through the book with a very fine toothed comb to find anything – this may be due in part to Stuart Hazelton who wrote the adaptation. Make sure to read all the side notes and off panel scribbles, as they are faithfully translated and are not only amusing, but can also advance a conversation or plot point. When it comes to the actual art in the book, I m not disappointed. Sanami Matoh’s line work is thorough and clean, with a good attention to detail. Fake’s artwork is not the typical style most new fans would attribute to manga; it has a slightly western feel to it, with a hint of Clamp. While Sanami’s artwork is clean and a joy to behold, she does make the occasional mistake. Hands seem to be a big problem for her and she has a slightly annoying habit of not drawing in the pupils and iris in profile shots. However, all of this is made up for on illustrative and sequential grounds. The large frontispieces used to indicate a new story are stunning and the over all sequential work is very well done – the pacing of sequential art plays a large part in the story telling and Sanami pulls it off satisfactorily. Though the art is a little awkward to being with, it progresses and develops comfortably the further you read. Over all, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone who enjoys good dramatic storytelling with a little comedy and a healthy amount of well timed romance. Needless to say, after reading this book, I went out and bought the remaining six in the series. Comment on this review of Fake v1 on the Manga Life Forums. |
6 October 2009
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