Writer: Hon Kwon Gan
Artist: Yong-wan Kwon
Publisher: TokyoPop
Price: $9.99
Two heroes go on treasure hunts. They run into bad guys, fight ogres, and try to make money. They use spells and magical weapons. Sound familiar? It’s not the latest RPG, but rather the new manga Last Fantasy, a cute and funny spoof on the RPG genre, written by Creative Hon and illustrated by Yong-Wan Kwon.
Hon and Kwon have covered almost every role-playing game stereotype that was possible to cover within, roughly, 220 pages. There are rabid bunnies, dragons, a tree of life, invisible armor, a magic school - the list goes on. In doses, this is funny; sometimes it’s even hysterical. Yet on occasion, the jokes go flat, or are overdone, which is a side effect of almost anything that has the sole purpose of being comical. In addition the dialogue, while mostly well written, is occasionally cheesy.
This manga has one other major fault, that of annoyingly repetitious background information. The story is told through the characters’ points of view, but also through an omniscient traveling minstrel who is mostly forgotten throughout the story, until the end of a chapter, when a random picture of hands playing a harp will pop up. This unfortunately serves to periodically remind the reader that they are not actually part of the story. Causing a similar sense of detachment, are the side bar notes that explain what items are being used, what they do, and how much they cost. While to some extent this information provides the reader with a more concrete background, it also jars and interrupts the flow of the story.
Towards the end of the second chapter, a larger plot is introduced to the story. Up until then (and after those three pages) the manga is really comprised of nothing more than amusing anecdotes. However, those pages leave the potential for the next volumes to go somewhere other than the easy land of amusement.
This volume of Last Fantasy is amusing, no doubt about it. The title alone plays off of the video game Final Fantasy, and one of the greatest scenes in the volume was a Sailor Moon spoof. If you’re looking for a light, fun read, and you’re into the RPG scene, this manga may just be right for you.
Cari Kilbride is currently a student at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn studying writing and living the New York City lifestyle. She lives and breathes anime and manga, though also finds time for movies, books, comics, and the occasional piece of homework. A Florida native, she almost constantly pines for the beach.