Published by Viz Signature IKKI

Released March 16, 2010

There exists two worlds, “the hole” that hosts punks, thieves, outcasts, and seemingly ordinary people, and the world beyond the doors where the sorcerers live.  Every so often, a sorcerer will enter the door to experiment on non-magic users, leaving their victims on the brink of death.  Dorohedoro is the story of the battle between the sorcerers and the man who cuts them down in order to track down the one who left him with a reptilian head.

The first volume starts off with said reptilian man chomping down on a sorcerer’s head.  Within, the sorcerer finds a human head that exclaims “he’s not the one.”  The guy with the reptilian head them rips his body apart.  The sorcerer’s partner, a man wearing a mask with an elongated nose, gets away.  Over the next few chapters, we find out that that the guy with the reptilian head is named Caiman (who also wears a gas mask by day–the dude on the cover), and he’s been busting sorcerer head to find out who messed with his. He has a friend named Nikaido, a busty woman who owns a family restaurant named “The Bug.”  Nikaido was the first one to find Caiman after his accident and subsequent amnesia and together they hunt down magic users.

Things get weird(er) in the second half of this volume where we get to see the magic user’s world.  Fujita, the sorcerer with the long-nose mask, has passed along info on the death of his partner and Caiman to his higher-up En.  He is then ordered to find the sorcerer who gave Caiman his head.  En then calls for a dinner party with his sorcerer pals.  Here we see that all the sorcerers wear somewhat grotesque, but definitely odd, masks (in the bonus chapter, we see the masks hand-picked by Satan himself).  En assigns his two best underlings to hunt down Caiman and Nikaido.

The artwork is dark and grimy, which makes for a great post-apocalyptic setting that should please fans of Battle Angel Alita and other cyberpunk manga.  There’s a bit of dark humor (mushrooms) to be found in this volume and a good amount of violence.  The detail in Caiman’s reptilian head is impressive and it’s nice to see how he shreds sorcerer-scum limb from limb.  The masks of the sorcerers are also highly detailed.  The most creative so far being Shin’s whose mask resembles a beating heart.  Viz did a nice job with the translation and included the original color pages and translation notes in the back of the book.

So far, Dorohedoro has me scratching my head.  I enjoyed it from an artistic perspective, but not a whole lot is making sense at this point.  I’ll continue with the next volume for the unique character designs and my love of post-apocalyptic anything.  For those unsure about this manga, you can always sample a few sample at SigIkki.

Grade: C+

After seeing Up in the Air at the Ogden 6, I went next door to the same bargain bookstore I wrote about in Buy and Brag #6.  I didn’t buy any anime DVDs, mainly because they didn’t have any new ones, but I did pick up some comics.

Exit Wounds- An excellent Israeli graphic novel.  I read this at the library a while ago and loved it.

Once Upon a Glashma- An ADV released manga.  The bookstore was having a buy 4 get the 5th free sale so I picked this up because it was the only manga there that was complete in one volume.

Cromartie High School vol. 7- I bought the anime from Right Stuf’s bargain bin a couple of years ago and loved it (I even wrote a paper on it for one of my Communications classes).  Easily the funniest anime out there.  Up until now I only had the first volume of the manga that came with the DVD artbox.  I loved the manga as well, but ADV only released the first 12 volumes and quit so I wasn’t in a rush to pick them up.  But why should that ruin my enjoyment.  I’ll pick up what I can.

Presents vol. 1-  The one I’m most excited for.  Someone was praising it on the Underground/Alternative Manga thread at ANN so I picked it up.  I could use more horror manga.

Walkin’ Butterfly vol. 1- I’m not into girly manga, but I give josei series a shot.

One Piece!  That’s right they had 99 cent One Piece mystery figure boxes.  I got Luffy and Chopper/Buggy the clown.  I may go back for more.

After that I went to Half Price Books because I got a 20% off coupon for Valentine’s Day weekend.  Of course I raided the $2 manga section.

Croquis Pop vol. 1- Don’t know anything about this other than it’s from the same artist as Jack Frost (my favorite series from Yen Plus Magazine).

Hunter x Hunter volumes 3 and 4-  I finished the anime last month and loved it.  I picked up the first 2 volumes in the $2 manga section last week so of course I had to get these.

Lone Wolf and Cub vol. 1- I think I read this a while ago. Manga Matt ranted about Kazuo Koike the other day so I had to pick it up for this price.

I feel obligated to say within the last two weeks, I also picked up the following in the $2 manga section: Ah! My Goddess volumes 1 and 2 (Kodansha Bilingual Version), Flame of Recca volumes 1-8, Gunhed, Hunter x Hunter volumes 1 and 2, Yu Yu Hakusho vol. 2, and Zombie Powder vol. 1.

Hell yeah VHS!!!!  I raid Half Price Books’ VHS section regularly.  All videos sell for 50 cents each.  Here we have two Mighty Morphin Power Rangers videos, both in the “White Ranger” series.  I am more than willing to pick up any MMPR videos, but can you please put more than one episode on these?  The other video I picked up was Blue Sonnet vol. 1.  I have officially accomplished my goal: buy an anime that never made it to DVD.

All of that cost me $30.  And I used my birthday money so yeah.  I have actually bought a ton of other stuff since the last Buy and Brag.  If you’re interested, here’s my 2010 purchase list.

#5  51 Ways to Save Her by Usamaru Furuya (CMX Manga- September 2010)

Two former classmates, a gothic lolita and a college student, are reunited.  And then an 8.1 earthquake hits Japan!  I do love my post-apocalyptic stories.  And Tokyopop finished Dragon Head a couple years ago so this is long past due. ———————————————————————

#4 Bakuman by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata (Shonen Jump- August 2010)

From the creators of Death Note, Bakuman is the story of two junior high students who team up to become the most successful manga-ka duo in Japan.  The from the creators of Death Note tagline didn’t impress me, but after reading a few chapters online, I can see this going to great places.  Bakuman was supposed to run in Shonen Jump USA this year, but it hasn’t been announced if it will only be a preview or full blown serialization.

#3 I’ll Give It My All…Tomorrow by Shunju Aono (Viz Signature- May 2010)

40-year-old Shizuo Oguro is tired of his corporate career.  So he decides to quit to pursue his lifelong interest: becoming a manga artist.  I’ll Give It My All… is Shizuo’s story of the ups and downs of his quest at manga success.  This was one of the first series I sampled over at Sig Ikki and I instantly fell in love with it. ————————————————————

#2 AX Volume 1: A Collection of Alternative Manga (Top Shelf- July 2010)

Just as the title implies, AX is a collection of short alternative manga stories.  Originally slated for a December 2009 release, AX was pushed back to summer 2010.  Volume 1 will contain shorts from Yoshihiro Tatsumi, Akino Kondoh, Kazuichi Hanawa, and Shinichi Abe. —————————————————————————————————————————————————

#1 Peepo Choo by Felipe Smith (Vertical- July 2010)

It’s not often that an American comics artist is flown out to Japan to work on a monthly manga in Morning 2 for Kodansha.  Peepo Choo is the story of two individuals.  Milton is a hardcore otaku from Chicago, obsessed with the anime Peepo Choo.  Reiko is a teenage model in Japan who wants a career overseas.  Tokyopop published Smith’s first series MBQ from 2005-2007.  I’m a huge fan of that series and cannot wait to read this one.

More manga I’m looking forward to

All My Darling Daughters by Fumi Yoshinaga (Viz Signature- January 2010) This is a short story collection revolving around a 30-year-old salary woman and her friends.   Fumi Yoshinaga is most known for her yaoi series in America, but now Viz is dipping into her josei (shojo for big girls) manga. Viz Signature is currently publishing her Ooku series.

Black Blizzard by Yoshihiro Tatsumi (Drawn & Quarterly- April 2010) If you read Tatsumi’s 900 page autobiography A Drifting Life, you will know that Black Blizzard is Tatsumi’s very first graphic novel.  This is one of the first published gekiga (“dramatic pictures”) manga.

Bokurano: Ours by Moiro Kitoh (Viz Signature- February 2010) On a summer day, 15 kids enter an ominous cave and are invited to play a game in which they pilot a giant robot and fight alien invaders.  Little do they know they are playing for their lives and the sake of their planet.  I watched the anime for this a couple years ago and loved it.  Of course there are plenty of sick twists throughout the series (this is from the same author of Narutaru after all).

Deadman Wonderland by Jinsei Kataoka and Kazuma Kondou (Tokyopop- February 2010) After being convicted of a crime he didn’t commit, Ganta Igarashi is taken to a privately owned prison where the inmates fight in a modern day gladiatorial coliseum.  The first thing I thought when I saw the cover was– “that guy on the cover sure looks a lot like Renton Thurston from Eureka Seven.”  As it turns it out, this manga is from the same artist as the Eureka Seven manga.  I’ve heard a lot of good things about this one so I’ll give it a free pass.

Hanako and the Terror of Allegory by Sakae Esuno (Tokyopop- March 2010) Urban legends are supposed to be just that, legends.  But when people believe these legends, they appear before their eyes!   Daisuke Asou is a folklore detective who deals with these cases.  This is from the same author as Future Diary so I expect great things from this.

Ristorante Paradiso by Natsume Ono (Viz Signature- March 2010) This is the story of a little restaurant in Rome.  A romance begins between Nicoletta, an apprentice, and Claudio, the headwaiter.  Viz Signature is Ono happy this year, releasing not only this but not simple, House of Five Leaves, and Gente.  It’s nice to see Viz Signature try to bring this manga-ka into the limelight.

Saturn Apartments by Hisae Iwaoka (Viz Signature- May 2010) and the rest of the Viz Signature line After humankind abandoned Earth to preserve it, humans inhabit a ring 35-kilometers in the sky.  However, this ring is highly stratified, with the rich inhabiting the highest sections of the ring.  Mitsu is a window washer that observes the inhabitants of the ring.  I began reading this series in Ikki, but stopped after I decided to buy this manga in print.  To be honest, I haven’t been following Ikki at all lately since I plan to or am already purchasing everything on there.

Toriko by Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro (Viz Shonen Jump- June 2010) Gourmet hunter Toriko searches the world for the tastiest foods imaginable.  With a bottomless stomach, Toriko battles the deadliest animals with his bare hands to supply the world’s foremost restaurants.  In the process, he is also looking for the perfect ingredients for his full-course meal.  Shonen Jump USA is currently hosting a 3-month preview of Toriko and I’m loving it so far.  It’s like One Piece meets Fist of the North Star.

That’s it for now.  There’s still a lot of 2010 manga that has not been announced yet.  As you can see, nothing on this list has a publication date past September.  I’m sure it must be a surprise to you that I’m actually updating this blog.  I have the next 2 weeks off from work and I want to make it count.  Therefore I am setting a goal for 5 reviews in the next 2 weeks.

The good news, all of this manga was 50% off.  The bad news, WaldenBooks has officially left the Midwestern suburbs.  This place was my gateway into the world of manga.  I used to pick up a volume just about every week at my local Waldens (which closed last year).  Now their Aurora location bit the dust.  I still have Borders to browse, for now, but it’s not the same.

10 Beautiful Assassins vol. 1- Another OEL manga from Seven Seas Entertainment.  Just like their other OEL manga, this is printed in right to left format, which always puzzled me since none of them are Japanese to begin with.

Astr0 Boy: Official Movie Prequel (not pictured):  I didn’t have room in the picture for this one.  And I also forgot.  This was not written by Tezuka, obviously, but rather a full-color comic prequel by IDW Publishing to the CGI animated Astro Boy movie.

Future Diary vol. 4- If you’re into Death Note, you’ll like this one.  It’s basically about this guy who has a cell phone diary that tells him what’s going to happen in the future.  Then he meets other people with similar cell phone diaries who want to kill him and finds out that they’re all playing a sick game to see who will be the next god.

Kurohime vol. 1-2-  I’m somewhat of a big boob fan and Kurohime’s knockers are definitely appealing.  Sex sells huh.

Pokemon Adventures vol. 1-4- ^that was somewhat inappropriate.  Pokemon Adventures was one of the first manga I read 10 odd years ago.  It’s nice to see Viz rerelease it complete and at a cheap price.

Yotsuba&! vol. 3-6-  Everyone’s crazy for Yotsuba&!  I did find the first volume of the ADV release for a couple bucks at a Scholastic Book Fair some time ago and enjoyed it.  It’s very pure.  An example of the joy and wonder a child can bring.

For those fortunate enough to have a Half Price Books in the area, they had a 20% off everything sale at the end of the year.  This is what I picked up.

That would be volume 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 of the 4kids DVD release of One Piece.  I know what the fans will say, “the dub sucks!”  But to be honest, I don’t mind it.  Except for Sanji.  I rather enjoyed the rap theme song, DINO DINO!  The five volumes were $4.98 each originally and came down to about $4 because of the sale.  For some reason they didn’t have volume 3 or anything after 6.

I also bought five anime VHS during the sale that I didn’t feel like taking a picture of, two random volumes of Ranma 1/2 and all three volumes of Dirty Pair Flash.  They cost 40 cents each after the sale.

So why is this the season finale?

I just don’t know if I want to continue doing this.  For starters, all the Buy and Brag columns rank dead last in number of views.  I can live with that.  I’ve had niche hobbies my entire life, I’m used to no one giving a crap about what I’m into, let alone what I’m buying.  The internet has allowed me to get the “OMG look what I just got!” off my chest many times.  But if no one is reading it, then it’s the same as if I just kept it to myself.

The other reason is that I’m simply not a braggart.  I am somewhat embarrassed when I think back on how much money I wasted in these 8 columns alone.  Someday I’ll look back on this and be amused, but for now I’m tired of seeing andrewreadscomics turn into a useless “see what I got and be jealous” blog.

Buy and Brag may come back in the future, but for now I want to focus on doing reviews and news, what I planned to do to begin with.

20th Century Boys vol. 6-  I’m a couple volumes behind, but this is still one of the best manga of 2009.

Children of the Sea vol. 2-  I read the first couple of chapters of this volume on Ikki, but I wanted to read the rest of it in print format.  Anime News Network lists the series as ending at two volumes, so I assumed this was it, but as it turns out there’s four volumes out in Japan and is ongoing.

Detroit Metal City vol. 3-  Go to DMC!

Go Go Monster- Seeing as this is the only one in this column I actually read so far, I’ll give a brief review.  Go Go Monster is about an awkward boy who “sees things” at his school.  He believes that someday soon, these things will take over the school.  Enter the new kid, who doesn’t really believe him, but is intrigued and follows him up to the abandoned fourth floor.  This is from the same author as Tekkon Kinkreet, and to be honest is almost the same story.  But I do like this one quite a bit more as it comes from a more psychological perspective.

Ooku vol. 2- Still haven’t gotten to the first volume, but I’ve heard good things.

Emma vol. 10-  The final volume.  The last two volumes have been filler, mainly short stories of side characters, but this time we finally get to see William and Emma’s wedding.

Go West ! vol. 4-  Also the final volume.  I haven’t read past volume 1 so I don’t know what I think of this series yet.

Kinderbook- A book of short stories from Kan Takahama.  I bought this used at Half Price Books in amazing condition.  I figured if it was published by Ponent Mon, it must be good.

Moyasimon vol. 1-  Bought this because I heard it was hilarious.  I haven’t read it yet, but I love the cover.

Raiders vol. 1- A manwha about an archaeologist apprentice that drinks the blood of Jesus Christ from the Holy Grail and becomes an immortal and later teams up with a vampire.  Yeah, this one is definitely a little out there.  Review coming soon.

Sayonara, Zetsubou Sensei vol. 4-  I decided to give this manga one last chance.  This manga has basically been “too Japanese” for me.  It’s not a bad series, it just demands an intense and thorough understanding of Japanese humor, pop culture, and politics.  The jokes just fall flat if I have flip to the back of the book to understand them.

Short Cuts vol. 1- Another Half Price Books pickup.  This is a gag manga published by Viz during their “Editor’s Choice” days.  It’s basically acollection of short 1-4 page gag strips.

Because you can’t have manga without anime, here is what I bought withinbthe past month.  These came from Right Stuf’s 12 days of anime sale, weekly specials, and in one case, BestBuy.com’s intense Media Blasters sale.

Baki the Grappler: Complete Collection- A BDUBTheAnimeMaster approved anime.  This was an easy sell, as Right Stuf was selling this complete 48-episode box set for 11 bucks.  They’re practically giving it away.  I’m looking forward to it.

Golden Boy- An otaku classic I have not seen yet.  But thankfully at 6-episodes, a short one.  I picked this up at BestBuy.com last month for 9 bucks.  They were having an insane Media Blasters sale, everything was 50-70% off.

Hell Girl Season 1-I watched the first couple of episodes on IFC last month and had to have it. It’s about a website where socially distract people can log in and ask to get revenge on the ones that have done them wrong.  Then this creepy looking girl arrives and sends the accused to hell.  It’s an episodic anime, so it won’t be for everyone, but rather like series like these.

Hunter x Hunter vol. 4- The final volume!  This should include the Phantom Troupe episodes.  Unfortunately, Viz hasn’t licensed the OVA’s yet so this might be it for the anime.

Love Hina: Complete Collection-  Another BDUBTheAnimeMaster approved anime.  This is another otaku anime favorite I have not yet seen.  Although it seems to get more hate from the fans as time goes on.  I’ll give it a shot.  I do love the cover art.  It brings me back to my Catholic school days ^_^

Spice and Wolf Season 1- Another otaku favorite, but a recent one.  I have seen a few episodes.  It’s about a traveling merchant named Lawrence who meets the harvest god named Holo (the wolf).  There’s a lot of wolf nudity, and moe traps, but I rather like it.  It takes place in a medieval Europe looking country and the animation just looks nice.

That’s it for today’s gluttony.  Come back tomorrow for the second half of the Buy and Brag season finale.

Ah! My Goddess Season 1 Collection- This is something I’ve been wanting for a while.  Oh My Goddess! was one of the first manga series I read and I have many pleasant memories of it.  I did watch the first couple of episodes of the anime adaptation while it was being fansubbed, but lost track of it like I always do with fansubs. I was actually ready to order this for $30 on Rightstuf from the Media Blasters sale going on now, but 5 bucks sounds better to me.

Magic Knight Rayearth Season 1 Collection- I know absolutely nothing about this series, except that it’s from CLAMP and it looks like Sailor moon, but for 5 bucks I’ll give the complete first season a try.

Shaman King Uncut Volumes 1 and 2- Shaman King was one of those shows I used to watch on the FoxBox aka 4KidsTV.  As a 4Kids dub, Shaman King obviously received a lot of flack from the fans.  I won’t comment on the dub, but I did enjoy the anime to a degree.  I thought “Wooden Sword” Ryu was a great character.  These DVDs are uncut with the original Japanese dialogue.  Unfortunately, these are the only two Shaman King DVDs to come out in America.

Yu Yu Hakusho/Ninku Double Feature- I bought this mainly for Yu Yu Hakusho, like everybody else.  From what I heard, this has a completely different voice cast than the FUNimation dub.  But I’m OK with that.

If you’re wondering what happened to my Goodwill and Big Lots finds, as well as the half dozen rightstuf packages I received in-between, I lost track of time.  My father passed away last month and I haven’t really felt like doing anything since.  This isn’t my personal blog so I won’t bog you down with the details.  But I did manage to take a snap shot of my Big Lots finds, so this is what I got:

Dragonball Z- Trunks/Bardock Double Feature-I wasn’t a fan of Dragonball Z growing up, mainly because I didn’t have Cartoon Network, but now that I’m older I have picked up a few releases.  To be honest, if this wasn’t 3 bucks and more importantly a steelbook, I wouldn’t have picked it up.

Origin: Spirits of the Past (2-disc) and Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles- Two movie releases from FUNimation.  I don’t know anything about either of these, but for 3 bucks…

Steamboy- I have seen this and was rather unimpressed. But for 3 bucks I thought I’d give it another go.

S Club Seeing Double- NOT ANIME.  But easily the DVD I was most excited for out of my loot. I used to watch the S Club 7 series all time on ABC Family when I was a kid, and for some reason I never heard of this movie.  Unfortunately, this was made after Paul left the band so there’s an obvious black hole in this film.

20th Century Boys vol. 5- My favorite long running series at the moment.  Can’t wait for the movies in December.

Gimmick! vol. 9-  I can’t believe that this series is over already.  I was having so much fun with it.  For those not in the know, Gimmick! is about a special effects movie make-up artist.  Right Stuf still needs to send me volume 8…

Ooku vol. 1-  It’s gotten to the point where I’d buy anything from the Viz Signature line.  The plot description sounds very feminist but I’ll give it a go.

REAL vol. 6- I still haven’t read volume 2, 3, or 4 (5 is on backorder), but I figured if there’s any sport manga I would enjoy, it’d be this one.

What a Wonderful World! volume 1 and 2- From the author of solanin, What a Wonderful World! is a series of intersecting vignettes.  Slice of life has always been my favorite genre so I expect to like this a lot.

Yen Plus November 2009- The magazine on top of the box.  It arrived a full week earlier than last month, wow!

I’ll be back tomorrow with my Goodwill and Big Lots finds from earlier this week!

Shonen Jump November 2009- On time with yet another Naruto cover.  This month’s issue contains the usual and a preview of Yu-Gi-Oh! R (surprisingly worse than GX).

Yen Plus October 2009-  For a magazine that supposedly ships the first week each month, it’s unacceptable receiving this on the last day of the month, ripped and bent no less.  I’m just letting you know Yen Plus has a shit ton of problems with their subscription service.  Subscribers constantly complain of receiving their issues weeks after bookstores if at all.  I’ll probably be canceling my subscription by the end of the year.

Detroit Metal City vol. 2- Krauser II saves this week’s pick-ups.  Nothing like 200 pages of rape jokes and heavy metal.  Unfortunately, no tattoos in this volume.

Battle For Terra- This was one of those movies I wanted to see in theatres but never got around to.  I believe it was even in 3D.  So I picked this up when I saw it at Borders for 10 bucks. I haven’t seen it yet, but it’s supposed to be a reverse invasion film, with the humans taking over an alien planet.

Ghost Hound: Collection 1- I knew nothing about this before, except that it’s from the creator of Ghost in the Shell and the 20th anniversary project from Production I.G. Pretty big names there, and a big price tag.  This set retails for $60 (half season sets from Sentai Filmworks are usually $40).  But I watched the first disc last night and it’s really good.  Very spooky.  Thanks you Right Stuf for sending this a month before release date.

See Dick Run- Kel Mitchell in a new movie?  Sold.  I grew up on Kenan & Kel and I’ve been dying to see Kel in something new for years.  Kel stars as Dick, a playa who lost his manhood after a night with a succubus.  He has to find his manhood within 24 hours or it’s gone forever.  So he sets out with his best friend to question his top 5 one-night-stands to see who put the hex on him.  This movie is so low-budget, but it adds to the hilarity. It’s not the best script, but it’s so good to see Kel in the movies again.

The Wizard of Oz- Believe it or not, The Wizard of Oz was my favorite film as a kid.  I used to watch it everyday.  Since I missed out on the past 2 or 3 DVD releases of this movie, I decided to pick up this new edition.  Still one of the best films of all time.

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies Special Edition- I’m a big fan of Batman.  Superman not so much.  But I still wanted to check out this team-up film, adapted from the graphic novel.

That’s all for now.  Right Stuf finally has their Viz Media sale up, so I’m going to put in 2 or 3 orders in the following week.  Viz simply has the most series that I’m collecting and I’m behind on a few.  Unfortunately, the sale is only good for manga.  I guess I’ll have to order Hunter x Hunter Collection 4 and the 20th Century Boys movies some other time.

Screencap taken from Superman/Batman: Public Enemies disc 2.  Review coming soon.

A new Zorro for the new millennium!  Zorro: Generation Z is a 2008 UK animated series.  It follows Diego De La Vega, descendant of the original Zorro, fighting crime and the corrupt government of Pueblo Grande in a Batman Beyond styled world.  I picked this up for three reasons, lightsabers, my modest love of Zorro and BKN, and the name resemblance to Dragonball Z.

Generation Z begins as all superhero cartoons do, with a two-part origin story.  Diego De La Vega and his mute friend Bernardo return to Diego’s home after school.  They discover that Mayor Martinez and his goons broke in and kidnapped Diego’s father for political motives.  Diego and Bernardo barely escape their ray guns to discover a secret passageway.  It leads to a run down underground cathedral that just so happens to be El Zorro’s lair.  The stories his grandfather told him were true!  Zorro’s “batcave”  is stocked with his Z-pod, Tornado-Z , and four sets of Zorro outfits (my favorite was the gold-fringed getup).  Diego dons the Zorro costume and runs to the Mayor’s mansion to save his father.  Meanwhile, Diego’s Alfred (Bernardo) mans the Zorrocave.  Zorro stumbles his way into the mansion, messes up, only to be saved by The Scarlet Whip who happens to be the Mayor’s daughter Maria and long-time schoolmate of Diego.  However, they don’t recognize each other and neither do their fathers.  The Scarlet Whip helps Zorro and his father escape and that’s the end of that.

The third episode is a mess.  When Diego’s father disappeared in the first episode, the Mayor accused him of swindling the tax payers.  However, this whole affair was dropped and never mentioned. But I’m willing to forget that.  More importantly, in the short time-frame between the second and third episode, Diego has become an expert Zorro and a household name in Pueblo Grande.  The remaining episodes follow the formula of the Mayor’s goons carrying out a heist, Zorro popping up, doing badly, and The Scarlet Whip arriving to save his ass.  Diego and his motive to become Zorro is never explored.  Character development is absent, instead focusing on the comic relief between Diego and Bernardo, El Zorro and The Scarlet Whip, and the mayor and his goons.

But despite its faults, Generation-Z is fun to watch.  It’s colorful, fast-paced, and has plenty of action scenes.  Zorro’s lightsaber and whip are cool weapons, even though they don’t seem to cut through the enemies’ swords or brooms. The interaction between Diego and Maria is humorous during the daily life scenes and how they slowly begin to question whether the other is El Zorro/The Scarlet Whip after a fight.

Zorro: Generation Z is a fine Saturday-morning cartoon.  It’s just a shame that it never got a television deal (although it apparently airs in Spanish on Telemundo).  I’ll likely purchase the remaining volumes if I can find it in-store at Wal-Mart or as free-shipping filler online.
Grade: B-