Review of "Gothic Sports 1"

JoannaZhou's Rating: 4 of 5

Hehe, I apologise for being obnoxious and reviewing a manga which isn't available in english :P! I'm hoping to stir up enough interest so more OGL mangas will be licensed for the USA/UK market. There are fantastically talented artists in Germany who deserve wider recognition, but the market is very self-contained so few people know of their work outside the german speaking countries.

Gothic Sports is one of the most successful homegrown mangas from Tokyopop Germany. The protagonist Anya is excited to be at a new school renowned for its sporting success. Though she soon discovers that the basketball team is too bitchy and the soccer team only accepts male players. In a flash of inspiration, Anya decides to form her own soccer team with an unusual twist. What they (might) lack in skill they will compensate with outrageous Gothic Lolita style uniforms...

One remarkable feature of Gothic Sports is how it handles a whopping cast of 11 characters (plus peripherals like the headmaster and soccer coach) without appearing disjointed. The concept would make a brilliant anime, similar to Kickers. Anike is extremely skilled in differentiating the characters so the reader rarely gets confused. Her character designs are cute, light-hearted and very appealing.

What I love most about GS is the drawing style...there's something brilliantly 'effortless' about the lineart that makes each page a joy to read. Facial expressions and body postures are rendered spot on with single lines, never appearing awkward or overworked. Anike's techniques are very traditional and you can tell she works with a dip ink pen (which is something that adds the 'X-factor' to any manga!) Toning is minimal but very effectively placed.

There are only minor drawbacks which include wobbly speedlines near the beginning and occassionally sparse backgrounds...but all easily forgiven for someone's first manga. Story-wise I felt the first book moved a teeny bit slow, it actually only encompasses the team selection process and ends without them having played their first game. I used to be a passionate soccer player and was on a girls team for 5 years...and I somehow feel that the most electric part of a sporting experience isn't quite captured here. The first book is mostly devoted to preparation and does a good job of building up anticipation...so I'm very eager to see how the action kicks off in the second book (February 2007).

Sound interesting? Well let's hope GS will be translated sometime soon ^_^! Another german TP manga I'm dying to get is 'Summer Rain' by Nathalie Wormsbecher. Oddly, I find that german mangas tend to look more japanese than english ones (quite aside from the fact that they're all right-to-left!). OEL manga often has indie or american influence whereas germany had a relatively weak graphic novel culture before manga came in. German artists tend to be a lot younger as well...the huge majority of professional mangakas are 18-23 years old (makes me feel like having missed the bandwagon >_<).

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