Sun-Ken Rock - vol.01 (DOKI-DOKI)

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Ambition Is Evil: Many of the characters we see have ambitions beyond just being cruel sadists, but in striving for their goals of wealth and power, they often become just that, IF they already weren't like that to being with. No Celebrities Were Harmed: Let's see, for starters, Ban-Phoung in his first appearance was based on Tony Jaa. Then on the Casino arc, we have one of the director's hitmen is a carbon copy of the great Charles Bronson. And in Wallman, the two male protagonists are dead ringers of George Clooney and Danny Devito.

Defeat Means Friendship: Ken employs many of his past opponents into his gang, knowing they were good people who happened to work for his enemies. This is, however, completely averted in his stand against the White Dragon Clan. He and his allies kill everyone they can, with Ken later stating he finds them unredeemable. This dark turn of events highlighted when Ken seemingly kills a guy who was a misguided fool manipulated by a false friend... until it turns out Ken did spare him after all. Deliberately Triggering the Trap: Tae-soo intentionally provokes Jang Yunchang to get him to send his henchmen to follow him so Marin can go find out their base of operations. Jang figures this out and sends them anyways, however also getting Ban Phuong to go and kill Tae-Soo.Criminal Doppelgänger: Rain is compared to Ken In the final battle between them, he uses this as part of his Breaking Speech in Yumin fell in love with him. Indeed, Ken looks like him when he has his hair down, or has a beard. I Want Feed Yumin, a shojo styled, somewhat suggestive yet SFW series of sidestories concentrating on a character that could very easily be replaced by the reader taking Yumin out on dates to various Korean restaurants. Much attention is paid to ridiculously detailed descriptions of Korean Food Porn and how freakin' cute Yumin is. STORY: Kitano Ken's crush Yoshizawa Yumin, moves to Korea to become a police officer. Following her, Ken moves to Korea as well. However, he is a failure. He meets Park Tae-Soo, leader of a local gang. Tae-Soo tries to convince Ken to become their boss. Ken agrees on something really ridiculous. (Salary what?). So basically, a failure rises from the bottom of scum to the top of the country. So, in my opinion, story is a 9/10.

The following is a more detailed review. Don't bother reading if you don't want a giant wall of text full of my opinions. Frankly I'm not sure if the author was tired of the series/actively disliked it and was trying to tank it or hired someone else to finish it or something, there is no excuse for that trash I just read. Bleached Underpants: Subverted completely! The guy doesn't hide the fact that he did porn, even in a fan AMA, he said he'd like to work at it again! Expy: Ken is Vash The Stampede as a mafioso, he even shares his idealism, it's an interesting case, as both Boichi and Yasuhiro Nightow are friends, and Boichi drew Trigun: The Lost Plant, a one shot set 6 years after the ending of the original manga.The amount of large themes introduced as potential main story points but then not explored enough are many. For example the concept of the state, the history of South Korea, immigration and xenophobia just to name a few. It's a bit sad that that these interesting themes were pushed aside to make space for naked women. Art 10 - I genuinely do not believe words can define the magnificence of Boichi's art! The art is of the same caliber as Takehiko Inoue's Vagabond, Shin Ichi Sakamoto's Innocent, Tomo Takeuchi's Ballroom E Youkoso, or Kentaro Miura's Berserk. Body anatomy is superb, and the detail is unparalleled! GOOD BITS: There is a lot to like, there are sillier more comedic parts but also deadly serious and hype parts. Aside from the first 40 chapters or so, the tone is very consistent despite having to balance humour with serious mafia stuff. The characters are quite good, although the women when Ken or a man is involved will be absolute pushovers and it can take away from the enjoyment for a while. This problem does eventually fix itself The art is exceptional! Easily, one of the most beautiful covers I've ever read is at the level of Takehiko Inoue and Sakamoto Shinichi. In fact, she shines in great fights very well choreographed and exciting, having several incredible fights.

So the main protagonist decides to confess his love to his classmate, Yumi. She rejected him, because she wants to go to South Korea to become a police officer. As he heard her dream, he decides to go after her, and with some incidents he happened to become a leader of a gang. I would not say that it had the best story but it certainly provides and entertaining story. its about a girl who goes to Korea to become a cop and Ken who is a delinquent who follows her which I find a little bit weird but who cares. During his time in Korea ken becomes a boss of a gang I found this to be funny but serious a lot of the times. The story is kind of complicated to analyze. On the one hand, there are several moments focused on the fanservice that kind of break the immersion of the serious story that the author wants to pass, even with an arc focused on it. On the other hand, history has good arcs that argue and deepen its antagonists instead of just being bad, but as a result of a cycle of violence for Korean war crimes or for the corruption of its system. In addition, of course, to having some very interesting reflections on the state, “The state is just a gang that is legalized”.

Interest Stacks

Bland-Name Product: A movie Ken watches at the theater was apparently produced by Boniversal Studios, who have the same logo as real-life Universal Studios, I already described Ken with enough detail to cover everything but not spoil anything. His buddies are all pretty much introduced from the first volume and as the story continues, everyone but Ken actually undergo some pretty serious character development. What about Ken you ask? Well he does indeed undergo a good chunk of character development but you see, his character is already defined from the get-go. He acts as the foundation upon which the others grow and mature. To be honest, having the main protagonist undergo the "least" actual character development (as in their personality, etc etc and not their position in society) was a ballsy move that really paid off. We get this wonderful balance between the cast of characters. No single individual within this fictional world overshadows another so greatly that their existence (for as long as they are relevant and play a major role in the story) becomes this tertiary obstacle that simply gets stepped on and ignored. Oh and this manga has one of my top 5 favorite female characters sooo... i am kinda biased here :D high school delinquent as well as the main protagonist who leaves Japan in pursuit of his love, Yumin and drops out of school. While in Korea he lives his life as a shut in for a whole year being not able to locate a real occupation. After saving an old man from being killed by loan sharks, he was scouted and encouraged to join an area gang(gondal) to work under Taesoo as among his underlings. After fighting against Taesoo, he was offered the job of manager rather. He declined since he desired to join the police force alongside Yumin but Taesoo finally controls him into taking the position. His strength and awareness of justice earns him the devotion of the local community as well as his gang. Ken’s parents were killed over the course of a Yakuza war when he was 13. The character design of Ken is greatly impacted from Vash of Trigun Manga. Becoming the Mask: After the Idol group arc, both Yumi and Ken's friend in the cram house both comment on how he's changed/become more serious. Noticeably, Ken is hardly ever drawn in his less detailed, more comedic version after.