"Even if you'll only be stardust we will talk again...right?" (Jing: King of Bandits, Jing Twilight Tales Vol. 1 - Yuichi Kumakura)

Member Name: chaobreeder16

Product:	Jing: King of Bandits, Jing Twilight Tales Vol. 1 - Yuichi Kumakura
Date:	24/07/08 (91 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great plot, character development, artwork, everything about it really

Disadvantages: Quite controversial in places may offend some people

"...To the funeral of a wilting leaf, two snails depart in a trail of slime...To all my friends who,ve dared to live throughout these troubled, troubled times...The earth rolls on,it rolls throughout it's four majestic seasons... The donkey, the king and I are one for tomorrow we'll all be dead..A mother knits as her son runs off to fight a war without rhyme or reason..The donkey is hungry, the king is bored and I am in love with a girl named Fred...voices from all over the world reach this room...So why am I so alone...Why am I so alone?"

This is actually the second series of king of bandit Jing books though you don't need to have read the first or watched the anime to grasp it. I actually read the twilight tales first and found them the best out of the two different series.

Ever since he was young Jing had the ability to steal anything from the name of a street to a girls heart, his mother left him at such young age that he can barely remember her face, but he vows to see her again some day. Jing was also born with a paralyzed right arm, however through trial and error of the treasures his mother left behind for him he managed to regrow a new super powerful arm. which now gives him the ability to merge with his new found friend Kir a Big black rook with a thing for cute young females to produce a blast of energy called the Kir Royal which gets them out of all sorts of tight spots.

In the twilight series he looks older and is more believable when being serious and philosophical. In the first volume he enters the city of Czarine which has been mined into the shape of a club (the playing card kind). The majority of people who live in this city are collectively known as "sledgehammer" they never see the light of day and are born and also die in the mines. The city is famous for the ore that they mine because one of the vital ingredients to such a substance is sledgehammer itself among twelve other minerals. This group of people have three eyes.

The leader of the city is actually a young sledge hammer who has status outside, but he is so obsessed with trying to communicate with his dead mother that many corrupt government officials have taken over power and treat the people of Czarine badly. This young man believes that a giant ancient crystal that was excavated years ago from the mine has the ability to communicate with those in heaven and this is exactly the treasure which Jing and Kir want to get their hands on.

The second story which begins in this volume also is about a man who is convinced he is God. He was trapped in a tower since he was a baby and was never exposed to the outside world. He was taught only about biblical testaments which possessed him with the knowledge of what he believed was God. This story is only very briefly introduced in this book though as it focuses on the story in Czarine.

I really enjoyed this series it is full of depth and the characters especially the villains are really well developed and interesting. The plots are quite fast paced but full of philosophy and history about mythical times and places. It does seem quite strange that our protagonist and hero of the books is a criminal, but with the far out upside down worlds that Yuichi Kamakura creates it isn't totally out of place and actually makes a lot of sense.

The worlds are intricate and detailed and random famous quotes and poetry are added in between every other chapter or so which gives the books a nice unique touch. The artwork is very sharp and the division of scenes per page is very regimented, the format of the text also varies greatly depending on who is speaking.

Trivia!
The artist also refers to the volumes as bottles, in the last series almost all of the characters were named after alcoholic drinks, There is even a cocktail guide and recipe in the back of one of the volumes. So I wouldn't recommend this one for impressionable kids.

You can generally find these going for around 6.99 or less, you can pick them up on play.com and sometimes in Eason or waterstones, though this is quite an old manga and has been out a while. (almost 8 years).

The producer, Tokyopop gives the books an average rating of 13+ as there isnt anything overly objectionable apart from fantasy violence and some indirect alcohol references. Though it is quite controversial in some points as it does question the existence of God and religion quite a bit.

Summary: "To the boy at the top, I may not be your mother..but your voice has always reached me here..."