Tag Archives: Mega Man

Megaman Star Force Tribe Review

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It’s been a long while since I got to check out a Star Force title so it was nice to be able to read this one. The oneshot has a pretty interesting angle to it but the story is ultimately too short to take full advantage. It’s a pretty good title but it definitely left a lot of meat on the bone and at times the tone shifts could be a bit jarring. If you thought some characters went easy on Eren for massacring millions of people in Attack on Titan, get ready for how the Mega crew handle this crisis!

The story begins with a flashback as the narrator explains how there was once a tribe of Megamen. They all lived in peace and harmony until Bly showed up. He massacred all of them and so the tribe was no more. None of the Mega Men could stand up against him and why did he destroy them all? To prove his own power! Yes, Bly simply wants a worthy challenge and will destroy everyone in his way. In the present we find out that one Mega Man survived, his name is Berserk and he intends to avenge his fallen comrades. Consumed by vengeance, he marches on to Bly’s castle.

This would actually be the perfect story for one of those old school 2D beat em ups. Berserk really isn’t holding back and the way he is drawn makes the guy look constantly psychotic. It’s pretty fun to have a main character like that and since his character’s revenge is portrayed as really justified, you don’t have to have any reservations about rooting for him. Stopping Bly is important because the guy will never stop murdering his opponents to achieve true power.

Alas, this probably seemed a bit too dark to the editors so very quickly we run into a “Last Kryptonian”/”Last Saiyan” kind of angle. Turned out other Mega Men survived the purge. One of them works for Bly now. He’s not mind controlled or anything, he just figures there is no way to fight back….or he might have a plan. Either way, Berserk has to prove himself and show why he was always the most powerful. I like the little detail that each Mega Man is based on a different form from within the Star Force games. The main 3 are naturally the 3 main forms from the second video game.

Where the tone problems come from is how the characters will goof off during battle. Now you may say this is just a normal Shonen thing but it’s just a bit overdone here. Think about super exaggerated facial expressions and things like that. It can be jarring with how suddenly it happens and this also impacts the story. For example, we actually get a comedic moment with Bly towards the end and then everyone’s joking around as if he didn’t just murder a ton of people. It should just be way too personal for all of that.

Additionally, the manga gets clearly rushed as we are given a traditional plot of 8 bosses who are protecting each floor. Then suddenly Bly shows up and one shots 4 of them because he just couldn’t wait any longer. Yeah I can always enjoy a good subversion but this felt more like the series had to suddenly end. We don’t even get to see the Tribe King form all that much as a result. It does get a lot of respect as being the most powerful form though so that was nice to see.

I also thought Bly was generally a really solid villain as you’d expect. He’s very powerful and is absolutely no nonsense when it comes to battle. He doesn’t get a ton of screentime due to the length of the series but each of his scenes are pretty good. The only other villain with a good amount of screentime is the evil magician but he’s more played for laughs. The guy isn’t a great fighter and has to rely on cheap tricks to stay in the game. He’s not much of a challenge to Berserk.

Berserk makes for a pretty good main character. I liked that he was so determined and wasn’t going to give up, even if it meant being outnumbered and having to go up against a ton of fighters. He was absolutely not going to hold back. He also didn’t fall for the whole “You can’t attack your allies!” strategy that the magician pulled and just snapped some sense into the other Mega Man. You can’t afford to be defeated in this kind of situation and it’s why I’m always annoyed when any hero fall for that. There’s a time and a place for mercy and this isn’t it.

While I enjoyed the intensity of the art, it was a bit rough at times. Almost like it was trying too hard to look intense and at times it just backfired instead. It was still clear enough so I enjoyed it but it’s a far cry from the NT Warrior or Gigamix titles. Megaman Starforce always felt like it got a bit of the shaft next to the other Mega series so either way I was glad to see another manga for it. It technically got more content than I give it credit for with 2 anime, 3 games, and multiple manga but it still felt like there was more that could have happened here.

Overall, Mega Man Star Force Tribe was a pretty good manga. There is only so much you can do in one volume after all. I liked the idea of a whole tribe filled with Mega Man but it does raise some questions on how they could all be defeated so easily. Were most of them just super weak or something? Even by the end, while it’s clear that Bly is stronger than any individual Mega Man, it wasn’t so much of a gap that you could picture him eating a ton of them. I guess you had the element of surprise and all but that’s an area where a longer series would have been able to flesh things out more. One volume titles always tend to be a bit of a tease but it’s fun to theory craft how things could have gone on your own. If you’re a Mega Man fan then I definitely recommend checking this one out!

Overall 7/10

Azure Striker Gunvolt: The Anime Review

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It’s time for a quick anime OVA that adapts the beginning of the Gunvolt game. That game was really a blast when I got to play through the trilogy and I can say that it was fun to see some of the events again here. It reminds me why Gunvolt is such a great character as he defies orders to get the job done. He does what he has to here and not many characters could have followed suit. It’s also nice to be following a prodigy who is known for the best as opposed to some rookie. It’s not like this is the only story like that but they are still rarer than the alternative so I enjoy each instance.

The story starts pretty fast as you’re thrown into some battles and we see Gunvolt get captured by the enemies The Sumeragi company basically owns the world and they are as corrupt as possible. Gunvolt is part of a resistance group that saved him a while back and he uses his powers to help out. There are people who have special abilities like Gunvolt and they are all basically hunted down or end up joining the villains. This should have been a routine mission of sabotage but it all goes sideways when it turns out that the thing powering up the villains is actually a little girl. Gunvolt is ordered to murder her but naturally he refuses such an order. What all these characters forget is that Gunvolt is a hero!

Naturally that should be an easy decision for any main character because murdering a child would make them no better than the villains. It also immediately ensures that you don’t like any of the members of the resistance since Gunvolt was the only one to stand against them there. Sure, it’s easier for him since he is the strongest one but the others still could have done something instead of just watching the whole time. So that’s why Gunvolt is the only true hero here.

We also get a glimpse of his fighting style when he takes out a bunch of minions and we even cover one of the boss fights. The cameo from the rival is a bit random as he fires some shots at Gunvolt and the villain before vanishing. I suppose it just took him a while to get there. He is a fun character to have around though. You just don’t really know what his deal is from this episode.

The animation is not the best but I wouldn’t call it bad or anything like that. It gets the job done in terms of the action and showing us the electricity effects. The voice acting definitely could use more energy as well. It feels a bit too low and the characters don’t sound as if they are in the middle of a deadly conflict. You can’t be quite so calm in such a circumstance. So that’s definitely something they really could have improved upon. It’s clear that the technical elements weren’t a top concern for this special but at least we did get a song.

This is almost like a pilot chapter for a series. It just gives you the intro and you’re on your own from there. So I would say that this one succeeds because it would have definitely made me want to check out the games. If I hadn’t played them already I would definitely be racing to order them off Ebay. While the video games feel like Mega Man, I would say the anime and concept are sufficiently different so this does feel like a new experience. Definitely full credit and bravo to Gunvolt here. The special is really over in the blink of an eye.

It’s why you don’t really want to buy any excuses for series that take until episode 10 or more to get good. You need to be good right out of the gate. If you aren’t able to be good by the end of episode 1 then you did something wrong. Even with the technical limitations, we had good writing and a solid story here. Right away you could buy into the bond between Gunvolt and the kid he saved. Gunvolt will definitely be a good mentor and protector. You can feel the hero vibes off of him immediately.

Overall, This was a good special. It certainly didn’t get top production values or anything like that but it told a good story. The concept is enough to hold the product up on its own after all. The game will just have to show you the rest of the content. Hopefully one day we will get a proper adaption of Gunvolt because this could really be an awesome story. It’s also a completed one at this point so that should also help in terms of helping the creators pace it. In the meantime this special will have to do though so enjoy it while you can.

Overall 7/10

Azure Striker Gunvolt: Striker Pack Review

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It’s time to finally take a look at the Gunvolt series. I remember always seeing this one around but I never got to try it back in the day. Well now was my chance and I can definitely say that the games hold up. They are great adventures with a solid story and really good gameplay. You’ll feel bad for Gunvolt himself as the poor guy always gets a rough ending but you will be on the edge of your seat each time.

In the first game, Gunvolt decides to quit the resistance group he was a part of because they wanted to murder a little girl. Yes the girl has dangerous abilities that could doom the planet but she’s just a kid. So he goes rogue with her and becomes a mercenary for hire. This quickly becomes a job where he will have to save the world though. Will his abilities be enough to defeat all of the other metahumans running around? In this world just about everybody has some kind of ability after all, but Gunvolt’s is one of the strongest.

It’s a good setup here and I like the futuristic environment. I would say it does feel like there wasn’t much point in Gunvolt leaving the group since they end up hiring him for every level anyway but I was glad he stuck to his principles. The gameplay is a classic 2D Mega Man style but moving at a faster pace. You’re pretty much always dashing around the map and blasting away at the enemies. The main difference here compared to a classic Mega Man title is your energy barrier. While it is up, no attack can harm you. You can also shoot while having the barrier up but your attacks will be much weaker. If you take the barrier down to strengthen your attacks then you take a risk.

It’s a pretty cool system and also a way to naturally modify difficulty. If you aren’t too sure of yourself then you can keep the barrier up at all times and just beat the level with a terrible time score. If you feel like you know the enemy then you can dash through and win with record times to really show off what you can do. I died a few times here and there myself. I wouldn’t say that this is a very hard game but the climax really doesn’t hold back. I don’t expect very many people will beat the final boss on their first shot.

The game also has clever ways around the barrier aspect without cheating like having an attack just break it. Yes, there are a small handful of attacks that can pierce the barrier but the final boss also has a wind attack to try and make you fall. If you fall, you die rather than respawning. So then you go all the way back to before the boss battle. Likewise the final phase of the boss is about speed so you have to defeat it before the walls close in on you. That means you have to remove the barrier and take your chances.

Just very clever gameplay all around here and each stage had its own gimmick. It made for a lot of great variety and made the game stick out. Sometimes you are messing with gravity, slipping with ice, going through walls, etc. So you’ve got to adjust and the variety also just shows a nice level of development time here. Many games have much lazier levels than that. As for the bosses, they are all different and unique so you have to tackle them in different ways. I was really impressed with it.

Then the graphics are solid as you would expect. It’s a very flashy game and the sprites look good. The art illustrations that we get are all on point and I also enjoyed the soundtrack. The lyrical songs were really good and the gimmick of your partner saving you with a song is pretty good. I also liked the general boss battles. The game even has a good amount of replay value as you have to go back and get all of the gems in order to unlock the true ending. There aren’t a ton of stages with gems so that won’t take super long but every bit helps. It’s also not a crazy requirement so you don’t feel like the game is really stalling you too hard.

After that we have the second game where they add even more content. After the tragic events of the first game, Gunvolt is doing his best to move on. He’s made some new friends and has gone back to taking on requests and helping out. Unfortunately a new group of villains show up and they steal most of the life force from his best friend. Gunvolt must now take them all down. Meanwhile there is a second story mode for the rival whose sister is abducted by these villains. He always knew that the Adepts (Metahumans) were evil and this proves it. He will destroy them all, including Gunvolt.

I gotta say this guy is really hype. His name’s Cogen in the Dub but in the subbed dialogue they always call him Akira or at least it sounds like that. Either way I liked him a lot in both games because he is a normal human going up against these crazy fighters. That takes a lot of guts and skills. It’s hard not to root for an underdog like that right? His style of gameplay is also way different. You have to use a little bot as additional lasers as you zip around. You can auto parry up to 3 attacks but then you have to recharge.

It’s the same meter as your super attacks though so you have to choose between attacking and dodging at all times. As a result I would say his gameplay is noticeably harder than Gunvolt’s. Meanwhile Gunvolt’s gameplay is mainly unchanged but the game finds more clever ways around his barrier. The final secret boss is also fun because you have to go up against a foe who has your barrier while yours is completely powered down by the super attacks. Now that was a really tough boss and it took me a whole lot of tries.

I think it’s safe to say that they amped the difficulty up on this one. Doubling the story content was also awesome. It may be a bit of a stretch having to beat the game 4 times in order to see all endings though. I think they could have added the final story as an extra level rather than having to replay the long boss rush level each time. The graphics look as good as always with it being very shiny and clear the whole time. I would say it probably looks a bit better than the first although they are very close. There may be more illustrations this time around.

The soundtrack is also great as always and this time we have more songs. The battle by the end is really hype and the game also does a good job of being very cinematic. For example at one point you are forced to lose so that you can get up with a super form in a very Shonen Jump type of moment. The game is an all around great package as you would expect.

Overall, Azure Striker Gunvolt is an excellent series and I highly recommend picking these two games up. You’ve got a good value when you have both games here and you don’t want to miss out on this sage. It would be something that you would absolutely regret the whole time. I’ll be reviewing the third game shortly so you can definitely expect to see that soon. Hopefully the franchise keeps on going because I could play games like this all day.

Overall 8/10

Mega Man: Resurrection Blues Review

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Eh I probably could have translated Blues into Proto Man at the end but I figured I’d just keep it as is this time. It’s pretty nice to be reading a classic Mega Man story with a fully original story. It’s pretty rare since most of the manga adaptions are based on the games. It makes things a little less predictable and I’d say the manga really makes the most of it as we get a lot of battles and a ton of different bots to appear. That’s definitely a good way to handle it and while the series goes by in the blink of an eye, you will be having a good time throughout.

The volume starts with some machines going haywire again. Initially this seems like the same old situation except Wily runs in confirming that it’s not him this time. Sure, he’s lied about this kind of thing before but this time he is completely serious. Mega Man is a little skeptical but even Dr. Light is supporting Wily so the hero gives in. The government decides to give Wily their full support in stopping this robotic menace so the evil genius creates the Wily Corps. These guys will be protecting the world from the evil robots and before long Wily has bases all across the country. The only one who is not in favor of this is Proto Man and he warns Mega Man that this is all a trap. Who should Mega Man believe, Proto Man or Wily?

Now obviously Mega Man should be turning on Wily by this point. One of the blue bomber’s fatal flaws is that he’s just too nice sometimes. He should absolutely be yelling and causing a scene instead. Of course there is a reason why Light is siding with the guy and lets say it involves even more trickery. Mega Man really needs to start coming around to the idea that Wily is just not going to turn good. He’s not some lost soul who is about to have a change of heart any minute now. At this point he is just determined to keep on getting in the way and making trouble.

The fact that he has any trouble accepting that is pretty crazy. I still like Mega Man of course but he does come across as super naive here the whole time. It’s not his best look by a longshot. At least power-wise he looks really good. For the most part he crushes the competition with just a few exceptions. Punk and Enker really give him tough fights. Enker in particular was pretty fun to see. His ability to absorb moves was really handy and it took a lot of strategy to beat him. I always like when Mega Man has to put on the thinking cap on in addition to his usual buster. It helps to really cement how much of a threat the villain is.

While this is Proto Man’s big chance to appear a lot, I would actually say he doesn’t look great. He definitely looks really smart since the guy doesn’t believe Wily at all. However, in the actual fight he is soundly defeated by the Wily copy of himself. It’s particularly embarrassing since he told Mega Man that he would prove he was the real deal by winning. So that was really unfortunate. Also, how can Wily just make a fake that’s even better when Wily and Light teamed up to make the original Proto Man? I know tech continues to evolve but that just felt disappointing. Fortunately Mega Man tapped into his potential and secured the victory there.

Another element I enjoyed from the title was all of the homages to the previous games. You had Cossack and his own robot masters show up to help save the day. This meant we had 3 different factions running around and causing chaos. Naturally the battles are mainly off screen but it was still cool to see so many robots on screen. Also, while the side battles were off screen, the big fights were extended and on screen. Again, the Punk and Enker battles were really intense. Likewise the fake Proto Man battle was also fairly long.

Whenever a series isn’t afraid to have a long fight that is a big green flag in my book. It’s not something that you see every day and it’s real impressive. The art is also really good and definitely does justice to the fights. It’s clear and really tells you the whole story. You’re never lost and the big panels also means that it is very easy to read. It’s one of the better art exhibitions I’ve seen for the manga.

There’s really nothing to dislike here except for the fact that the series is so short. With 5 chapters, the whole thing ends fast no matter what you do. So it’s a great one shot but it could have been even better as a full blown series. someone needs to start a full ongoing already. I’d read a Mega Man title for however many years it can last. The possibilities are really endless here. Naturally I would hope Mega Man won’t be so easily fooled next time. Poor Roll and Beet had to pay the price here. It was pretty eerie seeing them be completely dismantled. I know they’re robots so it’s not like they felt anything but it’s still something I wasn’t fully expecting.

Overall, Mega Man: Resurrection Blues is pretty fun. Again, I really liked the idea of having a unique story here. There’s a whole lot you can do with the franchise after all. Now granted, this one was only 5 chapters so the adventure really ends rather quickly but ultimately it was a fun read. Proto Man got to get some action and we had all kinds of robots going at it. I would definitely recommend this to any Mega Man fan. You don’t want to miss out on this, especially since the franchise doesn’t generally get a whole lot of content nowadays.

Overall 7/10

Mega Man (1992) Review

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There isn’t really a subtitle here but I figure it’d be almost impossible to search for the title otherwise. The year seems like a good way to do things. Mega Man has had tons of different manga titles over the years and it’s always good to discover more. This one goes by very quickly with just a few chapters but you can still feel the vision. I’ve yet to see a Mega Man title that was just downright bad after all. Chan may come the closest as a goofy gag title but I’ll reserve judgement until I’ve finished it. Maybe it picked up later on.

The plot basically follows the first game. A bunch of robots have gone rogue across the city and it turns out that the nefarious Dr. Wily is the cause of this. He has caused them to all go rogue in his mad quest for power. Mega Man is quickly transformed from a nice house bot into a combat machine in order to stop them. Dr. Light did his best to make Mega Man as powerful as possible but does he really have what it takes to defeat these guys? It is always fun seeing early Mega Man though before the personality was completely cemented. For example he’s not your average peace goer here, this Mega Man is absolutely ready to crush his opponents.

He does offer them a chance to surrender of course but after that he immediately jumps into how he’s going to destroy them. It’s definitely quite brutal but hey they’re robots so they can always be rebuilt. That’s the general idea at least. It is nice to see Mega Man taking time to strategize and consider what to do next though. Ordinarily the fights aren’t long enough for this but with 4 chapters, we get a really long fight against Guts Man and a few of the other robot masters also get extended battles. Mega Man has to find the weakness each time and make use of it.

One detail this manga also adds that a lot of others forget is the energy meter. In this manga, it’s a real thing so the more he uses his special weapons, the less energy he has. At one point he runs out of the ice weapon when against fire man so he has to improvise with his mega buster which was pretty fun. That’s definitely happened to me in the past while playing the game because sometimes you just need them for those pesky minions. Sometimes the minions are harder to get around than the bosses to be honest.

The art is also really solid throughout. It’s definitely one of the better looking Mega Man titles that I’ve read. I’m not putting it at the level of Gigamix or anything like that but it is really easy to read and is pleasant on the eyes. The fight scenes work really well and you can always follow the action. It definitely helps that the fight scenes were extended so the artist could really show off here. It would have been a success either way but really getting to show off the art during the action scenes made this a real win.

There isn’t a lot to discuss in the manga though in part because of how it’s a straight adaption to something that didn’t have much of a story regardless. It’s Mega Man tearing his way trough all of the robot masters after all and that’s about it. It’s still a really fun read though, you just don’t have to go into too many details here beyond the extra attention to the gameplay as I mentioned before. I suppose another thing you could mention towards that is it’s nice to see how they even factored in how the copy Mega Man will always be slightly slower since he has to wait an instant to copy the original’s movement. So Mega Man used that against him and took the guy down for the count.

Another addition to the realism here is in how Mega Man had to take a while to figure out what Yellow Devil was weak against. I mean to a video game vet like me you always go for the eye but otherwise I can see how you would just keep trying different moves until something worked. That’s something that happens to me with regular robot masters since a lot of them aren’t really obvious on what they would be weak against. What would you use against someone like Drill Man right? It’s a really tough thing to think about and often times you’ll lose by the time you figure it out so then you better hope you had more lives at the ready. (Yes, they even factored that into the manga. The 1 Up seems to work as some kind of senzu bean so that was pretty fun)


Overall, This is a pretty fun title. It’s over very quickly with just 4 chapters but at the same time that’s still longer than some of the Mega Man oneshots I’ve read. The story itself may be one that you’re super familiar with by this point but it was a good bit of fun either way. The art was sound and the writing was good. You can’t really ask for much more than that in the end. I’d definitely recommend it to all Mega Man fans and hopefully we get some more Mega Man titles coming soon. You can never have too many of those.

Overall 7/10

Pulseman Review

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It’s time for the world to once again remember the world of Pulseman. This game was pretty fun when I got to play it through the Nintendo Switch Online but I didn’t realize that it got a manga adaption. So that was definitely pretty cool. The concept is really unique and this could have been a proper ongoing but the one shot does its job of getting you interested into the franchise.

The story starts off boldly as a guy falls in love with his computer program. He turns himself into data and they get together and have Pulseman as a kid. In a way he is the link between humanity and the digital world which is a lot of pressure. He is determined to do a good job in this role but then an evil scientist shows up who wants to cause a bunch of trouble. Why is thus doctor evil? Well as he says himself, he just likes being a bad person and as far as villain motivations go, I would say that works well enough. An evil version of Pulseman who takes everything literally will be the hero’s toughest adversary to overcome but defeating him will still still be a walk in the park.

For a oneshot story, there are definitely a whole lot of storylines going on. You’ve got the whole villainess turning good plot, the rivalry with the evil version, betrayals, etc. I’m impressed with how much the story was able to cover in a single chapter like this. It focuses on the critical elements and so it is able to adapt a ton of things without any fluff. It would make you eager to go and play the video game although of course there isn’t a ton of special effects or cutscenes going for the original game. So if you’re playing it for the story then that’s probably not the best idea you could have.

I’s why they should make a remake of Pulseman or make the manga into an ongoing someday. There is just so much potential here. The action scenes were definitely good and the artwork was on point. Each of the character designs were solid and it was easy to tell what was happening. Some of the pages could be a little dense with how much text was on screen the whole time but even with that you would never get lost or anything. The fights do have to go by a bit quickly due to the page count so if we got more chapters then this issue was fixed. The manga smartly decided to just focus on one boss battle here instead of a bunch. Otherwise it wouldn’t have had much time for anything.

I’ve read quite a few Mega Man titles where they try to cram all of the fights into one chapter and ultimately that just means each fight will get maybe one panel with a big splash page. Instead, having one fight that can get more pages is definitely ideal. Either way the story works well with or without context of the game so it’s an easy one to recommend. There’s really no downside to reading a oneshot because of how fast it is. If you don’t like it, then you only used up like 5 minutes tops anyway.

Overall, Pulseman was a good story. I had fun with it and the concept of the character is pretty cool. Some elements I would need to be explained further to really get like exactly what allows a character to materialize in the human world. We got some emotional stuff later on with one girl no longer being able to appear in the human world but she is otherwise uninjured and doesn’t seem to be in danger so just how bad is it? Since Puleman can freely go between both worlds, either way he should be able to visit her, at least that’s how I interpreted that. Perhaps there is more of a downside that I am not considering though. So yeah, definitely check this story out and see what you think. It had even more potential than Mighty No 9 I dare say. I know that’s a bold take though….

Overall 6/10

Mega Man X – Team X, Move Out!! Review

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It’s always fun to have a new Mega Man story to shake things up. This one shot goes by quickly but definitely shows how Mega Man X is always having to put up with so many things. The guy can really never catch a break no matter how hard he tries. The world of the future is certainly not a bright one and whether it is humans or robots who take charge, they just end up getting corrupted and dominated so quickly.

The story takes place after the first Mega Man X game and so X is being celebrated as a hero. He is now the captain of the maverick hunters and it should be a really exciting day but all of the other robots are jealous of him. They want their chance in the sun and figure that it won’t happen until a new villain shows up to cause some damage. So they actively root for a tragedy like that to occur which rubs Mega Man the wrong way but he doesn’t say anything. One day a maverick shows up and starts causing some trouble but he’s talked down by a kid. The kid isn’t afraid of him and so maybe he doesn’t have to be evil or anything like that. Unfortunately, the young heroes figure this is their chance to shine so they continue trying to murder him even when the robot won’t fight back and is clearly trying to protect the kid.

It’s a really bad look for the maverick hunters all around. They really act like the villains throughout this oneshot and it’s a shame that X wasn’t able to do anything about it. Sure, he talks to them and says they shouldn’t be doing this but that’s about it. Not exactly a strong stance against them right? The robot ends up dying a tragic death as well and now X has another body on his hands. The whole thing feels like it’s meant to break X even further and it’s a shame because I think he deserves at least one happy day at some point. Why do every single one of his adventures have to go sideways like this?

The young robots also should have been reprimanded a whole lot harder. They directly caused the death of an innocent robot. It’s hard to walk your way back from that. I suppose outside of the tragedy it works a bit as a heartwarming story considering that the girl was able to rehabilitate a maverick. Not an easy thing to do for any character ordinarily. The robot also did well in protecting her throughout all of the fighting so he gets a lot of credit there. If he really wanted to fight, then aside from X I do think all of the robots would have been wiped out with ease.

The art is definitely solid and holds its own with any of the main Mega Man X titles. The action scenes are good and all of the characters look the way that they are supposed to. So definitely no issues there at all. The pacing is solid enough as well. There’s only so much you can do in a single chapter of course but the manga told a complete story which is definitely what you would like to see out of it.

Overall, This was a good story. It can be a little frustrating how the maverick hunters get away with so much here. I think in a longer story you could really address this a whole lot more but the limited page count just sort of works against it here. Still, it shows how X has to keep his guard up and be careful even when there is no end of the world threat present. Robots continue to get overwhelmed and corrupted even without a mastermind pulling the strings. If Megaman X had more confidence in himself and his leadership skills then it may not have been a problem but right now he’s still too timid. He needs to be the leader that everyone trusts him to be and hopefully that happens sooner than later.

Overall 7/10

Mega Man World Review

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I just got to play the game boy games for this title so seeing it in manga form is interesting. Ultimately what keeps it from a higher score is how short the title is though. There are 2 chapters, they have 20 and 18 pages respectively. In those 38 total pages they have to adapt the first two games so as you would expect there isn’t a whole lot of time to really go through the story. Some characters end up missing out entirely and other bosses are downed in a single hit. What this means is you’re sort of seeing an abridged version of the games. I’d have liked to have had a more extended look at the series but at the end of the day I’d still prefer to have an extended version over not having it at all. So in the end I’m still reasonably satisfied here.

The story starts with Wily destroying the city and so Mega Man asks Dr. Light to let him fight. Light equips the kid with a Mega Buster and gives him the iconic Mega Man armor. Now our brave hero is ready to face off against Wily and does so with ease. Cutman and Elecman are the only ones to get real fights as Mega Man gets used to combat. From there he one shots all other opponents as he gets into the zone. Poor Wily is forced to run off and that’s how the adventure goes. It’s a good story but again just so super short.

The second story really follows the same beats here. Only difference is this time Mega Man one shots all of the bosses until he runs up against the alternate, evil future version of himself. This time we get an actual fight as he has to try and win while also realizing that he is destroying his own future. It makes for a pretty good dilemma and also makes the second chapter feel like it has more of an actual story. Wily having to go to the future here is definitely not something that I was expecting the manga to have time to get into.

It reinforces what a genius Wily is and how he will go to great lengths to ensure that he gets the outcome that he wants. He is definitely not the kind of guy that you want to make an enemy out of, that’s for sure. Dr. Light still did good in making Mega Man or at least helping Wily to make him but I wish he would do more during the series. If I saw him being more proactive on a daily basis then that would definitely raise his stocks in my eyes. I want to see him using his own wits to help protect the planet.

The artwork is fairly solid. It’s got more of a retro feel to it with how wide the eyes can be. The battle scenes look good and the pages are easy to follow. Clearly the focus of the manga was not on fights so they are fast but the images that we do get are pretty solid. I definitely didn’t have any issues here, the adventure works pretty well on all accounts. If anything the fact that I think it’s too short shows that this was a quality title since I think there is more they could have done with it.

Overall, Mega Man World is definitely a good manga but it goes by in a flash. The good news is that means you can read is super fast so there’s no excuse not to check it out. Just give up 10-15 minutes of your day and you are all good. That’s not a huge investment right? It’s always fun to check out Mega Man stories and this one was no exception. It’s just a well balanced story all around with a wholesome ending and good writing. If you enjoy this one a lot then you should follow up by checking out Mega Man Gigamix which is still the definitive story for the classic version.

Overall 6/10

Rockman-san Review

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Now this is a manga that I wish had kept on going for a very long time. It tackles a ton of very interesting topics and took a very different approach from the usual Mega Man product. There was a ton of potential here so it was a shame to see it end so quickly. Either people didn’t resonate with it quite as much as I would have expected or the author just didn’t want to continue. Either way I had a really good time with this one. It’s a story that I shall not forget any time soon!

The story starts off in a world that has already lived through all of the Mega Man adventures. The robots all work different jobs in the city and Wily no longer actively threatens the planet. Mega Man doesn’t even have his combat suit on much anymore as he just patrols the world as a normal citizen. The thing is, a lot of robots don’t really feel like they have a purpose in the world anymore. What are they to do now that there are no more battles to be fought? Some of them actively fight depression while others did find a new calling. Things threaten to be changed forever though when a conspiracy appears about a town that was wiped off the face of the Earth. It looks like the divide between robots and humans is about to grow ever larger and Mega Man will be forced to choose a side. Will he aid the humans, or the robots?

You might not be surprised by this but I didn’t really support the humans much at all in this one. I found them to be incredibly unreasonable and downright annoying at times. They were looking out for themselves the whole time and not the robots. In fact, the humans were still making the case that robots were disposable and at one point they decide to melt them all. Naturally a lot of the robots rebel against this. They’re already being treated as second class citizens but this is taking things a step even further.

It represents a permanent mindset that can’t really be fixed in the Mega Man series. No matter how much personality some of the robots get, they continue to be treated poorly and thought of as just machines the whole time. It’s really unfortunate because a lot of the robots have tried really hard to fit in. The whole first half of the series is about showing us how hard the robots are working and all of the mental tolls it has taken on them. The humans just ignore this to try and wipe them all out which is absolutely crazy.

Naturally two wrongs don’t make a right so you still don’t want the robots to be murdering anyone. Thing is, they aren’t. They rebel by blowing up the facilities and freeing other robots from their controlled states but that’s it. Perhaps that would change in time but at least for the moment, they were not doing anything wrong even while the humans were still causing problems. Right up to the end, the robots are trying to leave the planet and find a new home and the humans are still trying to blow them up.

I feel like the writer was on the robots side here and didn’t like Dr. Light. It’s pure speculation on my part but Dr. Light looks awful in the series so it tracks. He just allow the government to do whatever they want and he barely talks against it. He’s the exact guy that you would not want to have in your corner. You know that you would quickly be sold out at any point. Even if he just does nothing, that’s still a net negative because you are counting on him to help you. Both Dr. Wily and Dr. Cossack look considerably better than Light in their brief cameos. They at least try to inform the world of the incoming threats and everything.

Again this is not an action series first and foremost though. In most cases Mega Man tries to resolve things with words. It’s only when there is no other course of action that he dons the Mega Buster. In some ways it is disappointing to see him ally with the humans but that’s just the way he has always been. He is also just trying to make sure that nobody gets hurt and figures the humans need to be protected. The main problem is it implies that a part of him also doesn’t feel like the robots are sentient or else he would be helping them too right? That’s a topic that comes up several times here.

I don’t give Mega Man much grief here because he was clearly trying his best to find the optimal answer here. He wasn’t giving up or being passive here. He just kept on trying to get more information the whole time so that he could make an informed decision. Even for robots he tried not to hurt anyone. So yeah he’s a really good hero even if his instincts aren’t always right. Additionally he gets to look fantastic in the fight scenes. When he actually does fight, he tends to blow his opponents away. They just don’t stand a chance and that’s against a heavily suppressed Mega Man who is rusty in terms of combat.

This is fully deserved though. I am glad to see Mega Man being portrayed as the ultimate robotic fighter that he is. There should not be any fighter who can stand up to him at this point. Only exceptions would be Proto Man or Bass but they don’t appear in this story. Instead Mega Man’s rival is a guy named Enker. His role initially is to try and destroy Mega Man but then for most of the series his mission is to protect Dr. Light. He has a lot of good comedic moments but also looks good when it comes time to be serious. He’s a solid character and I like how his arc played out. He definitely ended up being one of the more memorable characters.

The ending to the series isn’t quite as satisfying though. It’s really abrupt with everything still going on. I’m always up for a good cliffhanger of course but it felt less like a cliffhanger and more like a complete loss for robot kind. I feel like the Earth is about to get a whole lot worse now. If the humans decide to go after Mega Man we already know that Dr. Light won’t do anything and what is even worse is that Mega Man may not decide to stop them. Taking a punishment that you don’t deserve is no good.

The artwork is pretty great as you would expect. There is a lot of detail in the series and all of the character designs are on point. They did a good job with Mega Man’s new design as well. It’s one that makes sense with the character and ties in well with his attempts to be more human. When we do get some action scenes, they really pop out. The artist would clearly do extremely well in a full on action based series. It really helps to enhance the manga as well.

While the first half may be a little bit on the slow side, I do like the mystery that kept on building up towards the climax about the villains making their move. I was like Detective Conan where you would get one nugget every few chapters. It’s kind of like that but for less time of course since the series isn’t all that long. It makes the stand alone chapters work well but additionally I was liking them anyway because it was interesting to see what each robot master was up to. This is the kind of series that worked really well as a slice of life title and then it also worked really well as a more serious plot based one. So they were really covering all of the bases on this one.

Now lets go on a final tally on which side I was in for each of the debates. The humans ordered all robots to be disarmed and then hunted down the ones that did not comply. Naturally I’m with the robots on this one. If you disarm them all they will be completely defenseless for when the humans get up to trouble and that always happens at some point. I already talked about the humans orders for them to all be melted down so that position is rather obvious I would think.

Then when the robots are trying to leave the humans want to blow them up to make sure they are not a threat later on. As you can surely guess, I was not a fan of that either. So no matter how you slice it, the humans were wrong in every single case. I think the dangerous thing is how a lot of their laws were going through with no real opposition. Mega Man didn’t even realize the robots were losing so many rights. More specifically he didn’t see it as a kind of oppression and was just on board with it from the start. He saw nothing wrong with it and basically had to be informed by the robots.

This is all before the whole conspiracy even appears which makes things even worse. The whole story serves as a cautionary tale of the classic corrupt government story. It’s good to be a hero and all but you have to be careful who you’re fighting for. Ultimately Mega Man has no regrets in saving the world so many times which is a good thing but for sure things are going in a rather dangerous place right now and he has to adapt. This manga should have been stretched to 100 chapters and you really could have done a deep dive into the topics.

Overall, Rockman-San is a great manga and a very interesting title in general. I feel like we’ll never see anything quite like this one again even though it is super interesting. I want to see more of this era from after the battles. Of course there are still a lot of fights going on with different factions being chosen. The series does transition into more of a battle manga for the second half and this balance really could have been kept for a long time. It asks you to really think carefully about the issues and see how you would respond. I don’t think Mega Man responded particularly well but maybe you will agree with him. It’s not a straight forward yes or no depending on how you view the situation. I would definitely recommend checking it out though. Even if you’re not a Mega Man fan, it plays out like Pluto where you can understand the themes well enough and weigh in on the debate. In fact Pluto is the best comparison to make, if you liked Pluto then you’ll enjoy this one. Rockman-san is not nearly as dark or as intense but does tackle a lot of the same themes of robots and humans.

Overall 8/10