Customer Reviews

Sexy Voice and Robo

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Sexy Voice and Robo is a grand celebration of the possibilities of Japanese graphic fiction. Released to virtually no fanfare during a time when titles like Fruits Basket and Fullmetal Alchemist were breaking sales records, Sexy Voice is a breath of fresh air to say the least.

The initial premise is hardly original: Nico, a crafty teenager with ambitions of changing the lives of people around her, is taken under the wing of an aging yakuza to solve mysteries with her bumbling henchman Robo. Under this deceivingly simple guise Iou Kuroda has crafted one an unforgettable portrait of modern Japan. Each of the thirteen stories is a masterful exploration of modern day Japan, with characters ranging from a disillusioned businessman to a manipulative lover to an amnesiac assassin. The world in which the characters inhabit comes off completely natural, yet has a sort of modern mysticism to it due in large part to Kuroda's wonderfully organic art.

Just as important as the world of Sexy Voice and Robo are the central characters. Nico is a fascinating protagonist, equal parts sly and heroic. Her relationship with Robo is also a high point, with its playful twist on the standard manga romance. It's almost impossible not to root for Nico as she attempts to touch the lives of the people around her. Her development throughout the story reads like a natural maturation of a girl her age.
To put it bluntly, Sexy Voice is unlike anything you've ever read and while it may not be selling anywhere near the top of the charts, it's probobly the best manga of 2005. FAns of more conventional series may want to steer clear, but anyone interested in brilliant, award-winning (the Media Arts Award)needs to look no further. Do yourself a favor and let Iou Kuroda take you on a ride into his imagination.

I have mixed feelings about Sexy Voice and Robo. It didn't pull me in, but at the same time it kept me reading (without cliffhangers) and it has its moments.

The story follows 14 year old Nico. Her part time job is doing phone companionship. It's not so much phone sex, as phone chat with women, but lonely men tend to call in and the subject of panties comes up frequently. She sees the job as training to be a spy, and tries to recognize voices which she's gotten quite good at. Her skill of recognizing voices and meddling in the world around her soon lands her another job running errands to a mysterious older man. Meanwhile, she gets 25 year old "Robo" who collects toy robots (her nickname for him much to his chagrin) to run errands for her by telling him what to do via phone and then meeting him in real life as his phone girlie's kid sister. He's lonely and a tad socially awkward so he's easy to string along.

The graphics were OK. The quality of drawing varies widely from frame to frame, but characters can be distinguished, and that's what matters in telling a story.

The story lines for each chapter were self contained and had very little overlap. Main characters reappear, but each chapter has Nico going off on a new mission. Her missions have a playful quality in that she's practicing to be a spy and wants to do good deeds for everyone she meets. They range from serious missions like preventing the assassination of a soccer player, to lighter self-assigned missions like reuniting her boss with his 1940's girlfriend. From story to story we learn a little bit more about Nico and Robo.

Overall, this is worth looking at. It didn't pull me in, but some of the stories and mood linger.

Lately, I've been despairing of reading anything good, and after reading glowing reviews for manga that I later purchased and then set aside, I was growing increasingly frustrated.

At some point, I kept on seeig this pop up in my recommendations, and on Listmania!, so I decided to give it a go. It helped that the hook was original, and the writer is just skilled enough to pull it off too :). Apparently, our heroine is just a little bit based off a friend of his (unnamed) that claimed to pretend to be a dating service at the age of 14.

The other characters are a hopeless otaku by the name of Robo, and a mysterious old man that hires hre. She solves cases, but the plot thickens near the middle, and her actions start to have consequences.

It's a good read, pick it up sometimes. If you're like me, it might take you a couple tries to look past the art, but it's well worth it. Also, his art improves later in the book.

Beware, though, it ends with a cliffhanfer ... and he doesn't appear to have written the second volume in the series yet. (Or, possibly, it just hasn't made it overseas.)

"Sexy Voice and Robo" is quirky, fascinating and fun. The entire story could be transplanted to the West Village of New York and work just as well - place is not the issue. It's a story of character. And the characters carry the story.

If you're looking for the usual kind of manga, you'll probably be disappointed. This is for people looking for something a little different...or maybe a lot different. The art sits somewhere between American comics and manga, but the sense and sensibility are pure Japan.

Iou Kuroda is up near the top of my list of manga authors/illustrators. He's got a restraint and a freshness that is pretty difficult to find in the manga world, at least the manga I can find in English. You get the feeling that Kuroda is the kind of guy who really enjoys life, in many different sizes and degrees. There's a feeling of wholeness in his work.

In the case of "Sexy Voice and Robo," you feel that Nico is only one person among many, which is just the right feeling for this type of story. This manga is all about the people. Or characters, if you prefer. What appeals in Sexy Voice are fleeting moments, small beautiful details, and many types of lives and ways to live them. It's definitely worth reading.

Also, I don't understand the complaints about Kuroda's artwork. While I have to admit his drawings are not as good as they are in "Japan Tengu Party Illustrated," or his "Nasu" series, his art always has this magical quality. His art has as much restraint and expressiveness as his writing. The only thing I can compare it to might be Hayao Miyazaki's animation.

It's a sad how few of Kuroda's works have been brought to America, but if you have anymore interest in his work, you might want to check out those that have been Scanlated by the public. That is, the kind souls who take it upon themselves to translate and edit manga which may never be picked up by publishers overseas and release them over the internet. "Japan Tengu Party Illustrated" and "Nasu" have been Scanlated in entirety by MangaScreeners, which is one of the oldest and best Scanlation groups out there.

I picked this up after reading numerous glowing reviews, praising everything from the art to the character interactions.

Unfortunately, the brushwork stinks. It's far too sloppy to hold any merit, especially at the size of this comic. Unlike artists that take advantage of the brush or sketchy style such as Paul Pope (100%, Heavy Liquid), Tsutomu Nihei (Blame!), Hiroaki Samura (Blade of the Immortal), or Becky Cloonan (East Coast Rising, Demo, American Virgin), Kuroda's art is much too loose to adequately add any advantage to the detail added. It just appears to be a mishmash of fat lines, and many of the characters fall flat, without any striking details to set them apart.
The writing isn't much better--I found myself baffled by many of the happenings. The premise is fairly unique, but the main heroine Nico doesn't match the hilarity that is the Robo character. I'm not sure if it is the translation or what, but alot of the exchanges that are probably meant to be humorous didn't elicit any sort of reaction from me.

If you want some of the 'indie' work that's been going around Japan or influenced by Japan, check out any of Junko Mizuno's work (which plot-wise is just bizarre but artwise refreshing), Sho-u Tajima (MPD Psycho), Atsushi Kaneko (art is better than the story, at least), Bryan Lee O'Malley (Scott Pilgrim) or any of the aforementioned artists.