Care for some CHIPS?
Another local manga comic for Manila comic readers' tastes.
I finally got to read Chips (Chocolate Chips/Cinnamon Chips), another local manga-style comic. I have to say that the first time I saw it, I was very much impressed by the production values; thick paper stock, nice manga art that really brings to mind authentic Japanese manga (complete with the use of screentones) and a whopping 64 pages. That's quite a good deal for the eighty pesos you will shell out for a copy. However, I have to say that I really resisted reading it for a LONG time ever since I first saw the sample copy given to Mike (Comic Quest). Why? Because I felt that it wasn't for me. I really saw it as a girls' manga. I like my manga and anime loaded with adventure, fighting, humor and some sexiness dashed in for good measure... Chips looked all cotton candy and fluff. Well, now I finally read it and... I was right. Sigh. Anyway, that doesn't mean it would be necessarily bad, so I read through the two stories to give it a proper review.
There are two stories (one for each flavor of Chips, I guess... still am mystified by the title...). Cascades is a high school comedy about (apparently) an international student named Jennifer and how she mixes in with her Filipino (but manga-looking) classmates. We get introduced rapid-fire to several cliche characters, including a ditz, an bishojo guy (beautiful man), some bullies, some wallpaper guys, a tough cool guy, a Wolverine-clone teacher and more.
Honestly, I couldn't make heads or tails of what was going on. The paneling is atrociously confusing, and the dialogue from one frame doesn't match others. I've seen wacky comedy in both anime and manga, and I think this is what the Chips crew was attempting with Cascades, but the execution is confusing, not funny and just leaves me saying, "What the-!" after reading it. Or maybe I should say, decipher it?
The second story, Seraphim Wing, benefits by being more focused (read: Two main characters). It's all about a girl named Melissa who works as an attendant in a video store. For some reason, she gets mixed up with a stranger who eventually helps her when she's attacked by some thugs. It turns out that the stranger's name is Lezarius, and he's really an angel. What's the story here? We're going to have to wait for issue 2...
Chips has nice art, as I mentioned before, but it's relatively simple and basic; nowhere near the more impressive art of Culture Crash but within the same range of recent release Ground Zero. It helps that the art really brings to mind manga, but more ambitious art and panels (and more comprehensible paneling) would do wonders.
But then again, perhaps Chips is going more for the sweet story and loveable characters approach rather than trying to blow away readers with incredible action sequences and kick-ass characters. This will be made a lot easier though by getting their storytelling up and working; One cannot live on just having Super Deformed characters and sweatdrops forever.
I may be kinda harsh, but it's all in the hope of steering these obviously enthusiastic and hardworking artists, writers and producers in the right direction to making an enjoyable (at the very least a comprehensible) comic.
This is just their first issue, so I hope they improve on their weak points with their next releases.
Another local manga comic for Manila comic readers' tastes.
I finally got to read Chips (Chocolate Chips/Cinnamon Chips), another local manga-style comic. I have to say that the first time I saw it, I was very much impressed by the production values; thick paper stock, nice manga art that really brings to mind authentic Japanese manga (complete with the use of screentones) and a whopping 64 pages. That's quite a good deal for the eighty pesos you will shell out for a copy. However, I have to say that I really resisted reading it for a LONG time ever since I first saw the sample copy given to Mike (Comic Quest). Why? Because I felt that it wasn't for me. I really saw it as a girls' manga. I like my manga and anime loaded with adventure, fighting, humor and some sexiness dashed in for good measure... Chips looked all cotton candy and fluff. Well, now I finally read it and... I was right. Sigh. Anyway, that doesn't mean it would be necessarily bad, so I read through the two stories to give it a proper review.
There are two stories (one for each flavor of Chips, I guess... still am mystified by the title...). Cascades is a high school comedy about (apparently) an international student named Jennifer and how she mixes in with her Filipino (but manga-looking) classmates. We get introduced rapid-fire to several cliche characters, including a ditz, an bishojo guy (beautiful man), some bullies, some wallpaper guys, a tough cool guy, a Wolverine-clone teacher and more.
Honestly, I couldn't make heads or tails of what was going on. The paneling is atrociously confusing, and the dialogue from one frame doesn't match others. I've seen wacky comedy in both anime and manga, and I think this is what the Chips crew was attempting with Cascades, but the execution is confusing, not funny and just leaves me saying, "What the-!" after reading it. Or maybe I should say, decipher it?
The second story, Seraphim Wing, benefits by being more focused (read: Two main characters). It's all about a girl named Melissa who works as an attendant in a video store. For some reason, she gets mixed up with a stranger who eventually helps her when she's attacked by some thugs. It turns out that the stranger's name is Lezarius, and he's really an angel. What's the story here? We're going to have to wait for issue 2...
Chips has nice art, as I mentioned before, but it's relatively simple and basic; nowhere near the more impressive art of Culture Crash but within the same range of recent release Ground Zero. It helps that the art really brings to mind manga, but more ambitious art and panels (and more comprehensible paneling) would do wonders.
But then again, perhaps Chips is going more for the sweet story and loveable characters approach rather than trying to blow away readers with incredible action sequences and kick-ass characters. This will be made a lot easier though by getting their storytelling up and working; One cannot live on just having Super Deformed characters and sweatdrops forever.
I may be kinda harsh, but it's all in the hope of steering these obviously enthusiastic and hardworking artists, writers and producers in the right direction to making an enjoyable (at the very least a comprehensible) comic.
This is just their first issue, so I hope they improve on their weak points with their next releases.
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