Earlier today, I started reading Sanctuary; last night I finished Bokurano and the week before that, it was Pluto. All three have turned out to be great reads, not least of all Bokurano, which, for what it’s worth, I think is a lot better than its anime adaptation ever could have been. Mohiro Kitoh’s style is such that it’s difficult to replicate perfectly for TV, but I would have loved to see some of these later chapters animated; a fine example is Kanji’s battle, which has a long range style, meaning that his opposition (a giant, transforming canon) fires missiles at him from Hawaii!
Also interesting is Sanctuary, which follows these two men dedicated to reversing Japan’s ailing health from within. One intends to become the country’s Prime Minister by the time he’s 40 years old, while the other, in order to support his friend, has to become the strongest yakuza in the criminal underground. Their goal? To clear the government of old men and fill its halls with bright-eyed 30 year-olds. How fucking cool is that? We’re essentially following these guys from their early beginnings, as they climb up from the streets to the very peak of Japan’s high society; it’s all about sacrificing anything for your ambitions and dreams.