365 Days of Manga, Day 114: Gun Blaze West

GUN BLAZE WEST (Gun Blaze West) (ガンブレイズウエスト) • Nobuhiro Watsuki • VIZ (2008) • Shueisha (Weekly Shônen Jump, 2001) • 3 volumes • Shônen Action-Adventure • 16+ (mild language, crude humor, violence)
In 1875 Illinois, Viu Bannes, a young boy with big dreams, acquires a mysterious handgun marked with a compass. It turns out that the compass is a clue to the location of Gun Blaze West, a legendary promised land (apparently somewhere in the Pacific Northwest) where, once every 10 years, the greatest cowboys and tough guys compete to see who is the best. After a prologue that takes up most of the first volume, Viu sets out to “go west,” picking up friends along the way, and fighting outlaws, armored knights (!) and tough dudes sent by Gun Blaze West to weed out the weaklings. Set in much the same time period as Rurouni Kenshin, but much more reliant on Wild West stereotypes and shonen manga tropes than that historically intricate series, Gun Blaze West starts out promisingly but ends abruptly, a victim of cancellation. Watsuki’s notes to the reader provide remarkably frank regrets, explanations and excuses: he played it too safe, he couldn’t assume that Japanese readers had any knowledge of Westerns, he had no time to develop the characters, etc. All these accusations are true, and it’s a little disappointing to see a cross-country quest story reduced to a fighting tournament, something that at any rate Shaman King did better. However, Watsuki’s artwork is bold and simple, and the series has a lot of energy. The general mood is very kid-friendly, despite the conservative 16+ Viz rating; just like Kenshin with his fatality-free sword, guns in this manga are used mostly for shooting the scenery, not for killing people.

Todays’ manga winner is David S. of California. Congrats, David!