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Otaku Blue

Tokyo Underground (Otaku Blue, #1) 
Special thanks to NetGalley and Europe Comics for a copy.

I am an affiliate with Z Publishing House. For more information, see the link at the bottom of the page.

Tokyo Underground, the first in the Otaku Blue series, is written by Richard Marazano and published by Europe Comics. It will become available in the US on April 17th. Marazano is a French author of graphic novels, titles including The Chimpanzee Complex series, the Dream of The Butterfly series, the S.A.M. series, and Milo's World, among others. 

Otaku Blue follows Asami, a Japanese sociology student who is studying the otaku culture for her thesis. As she tries to understand the phenomena and reasoning behind this subculture, with the help of cosplayer Maiko who suggest she looks for Buntaro, the elusive otaku expert. Meanwhile, Asami's boyfriend Kotaro is working on a J-horror flick with the hopes of starting his film career, yet he is frustrated by Asami's insistence of pursuing Maiko's leads to the otaku culture. At the same time, a serial killer is loose, removing body parts from his prostitute victims and Inspectors Arakawa and Ryohei are searching for any way to stop him.

At this point, this is only the first book in the series and it does it's job of setting up the characters, their relationships, and the direction where the rest of the story is meant to go. Asami an Kotaro are having trouble with their relationship, their work could be closely tied with the serial killer, and the detectives are searching for a reasoning behind the killers. 

From this starting point, all I can say is it plays the part but didn't really wow me with any of it's plot points or characters. Asami and Kotaro are both busy with their own futures and try to make time for each other, yet keep running into trouble. One little problem I have with their relationship is how Kotaro acts like he expects her to drop her work for her thesis in order to be with him but when she actually does, he blows her off because of his own work or he's made other plans. I would also like to note that he gets angry when she points this out to him. I couldn't help but hope for her to dump him.

Maiko is a fun character. She specializes in goth, almost goth lolita, cosplay. I hesitate to use that word since this isn't just a once in a while thing she does. Perhaps it's different in Japan, but Maiko is only ever seen in her costumes, implying this is her life-style and not a "costume." She is happy to talk to Asami about creating a persona and helping Asami try it out for herself, but she also seems a bit childish, ignoring Asami's wishes about keeping pictures of them in costume private. 

Finally, Arakawa and Ryohei are going from crime scene to crime scene, looking for clues about the serial killer. Arakawa also reminisces about his past, specifically how his work ruined his relationship with his wife and child. He's attempting to warn Ryohei not to make the same mistakes but from what we see, it isn't working. They really don't play much of a role in the story yet, though there are a few images suggesting the killer may either be involved with the J-horror movie or even the otaku Buntaro, suggesting the three story lines are going to come together soon.

The book's art is good. I like the colors and detail in the drawings, though some of the faces didn't look the best to me. It seems like it's going for a realistic look while also keeping a comic appearance. Perhaps this is a style I'm just unfamiliar with. I did get used to the art after a few pages and it never distracts from the characters or story.

Overall, this is an alright beginning to a series. I am curious to see what comes next but it did not suck me in or surprise or overly impress me. From what I can see on Goodreads, this seems to be a common reaction. If it sounds like something you're interested in, give it a try, but you may want to request it from your library instead of purchasing it if you haven't read any of Marazano's work before.

I am an affiliate with Z Publishing House. If you're interested in reading the works of emerging authors, this is a great place to start. Please note I do receive a small commission for any items purchased through this link: http://www.zpublishinghouse.com?rfsn=1831564.e6264
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