Manga Review: Old Boy Volume 1

[Floating_Sakura]

Title: Old Boy (Volume 1)
Story by: Garon Tsuchiya
Art by: Nobuaki Minegichi
Serialized in: Weekly Manga Action 1996 - 1998
Publisher: Dark Horse Manga
Genre: Seinen, Suspense, Thriller
Price: $12.95 US

"Old Boy" is a manga that inspired Oldboy, a Korean movie directed by Chan-wook Park (director of JSA, Sympathy of Mr. Vengerence, and Lady Vengeance) that has gained considerable reputation internationally, winning many prestigious awards, including the Grand Prize of the Jury from the Cannes Film Festival in 2004. Seeing how Oldboy is one of my favorite movies, I was quite excited when I found out Dark Horse had decided to license it last year and finally, when volume 1 came out in stores a few weeks ago, I didn't hesitate for a moment to pick it up.

The story opens with the protagonist (whose name is not given to us throughout the volume) locked up in a private prison. He does not know where it is, who it is that locked him up, how he got there, or why he is there. For the ten years he has been imprisoned in this tiny room he has been training his body, and looking forward to the vengeance day gives him hope and keeps him from going insane. Then, one day, for no reason, he is released. From that point on, he tries to find out the person behind all the suffering that he has gone through and the motive behind it, determined to have revenge.

The art style is realistic, with much of it seemingly referencing the movie's film noir visuals -- the distinctive shadows, silhouette, dark lighting, realistic characters, expressions, and setting match the pessimistic and crime-filled narrative. The narrative itself resembles much of hard-boiled fiction, a tradition that has its roots in pulp fiction and journalism, highlighting a protagonist with a cynical way of thinking and acting that separates him from the rest of the world. The point of view and narration shadows the interior soliloquy of the protagonist, advancing the story with the build up of his hypothesis, with occasional flashbacks to his days in the prison that drop hints regarding the central mystery. The choice of narrative here enables the readers to progressively identify with the protagonist, engage in the thrill of the plot, and increase their involvement with the puzzle of the plot.

Dark Horse's adaptation of the series is excellent. Both the translation and lettering are extremely well done. The sound effects are sub-noted inside tiny boxes that are drawn at the edge of the panel (a method that I noticed Del Rey started using last year). This method is definitely cleaner than sub-noting within the panel beside the original Japanese (a method Dr Master uses), putting English text on top of the Japanese wordings (a method ADV uses), or removing the Japanese word completely and replacing it with an English one (other Dark Horse releases and all of Viz's). Not only does this method prevent the distraction caused by looking at Japanese and English text on top or beside one another at the same time, it avoids messing with the original art work by removing the original Japanese sound effects.

In comparing the manga with the movie, I see the two are actually quite different, although the general plot line is the same. To be honest, I did enjoy Park's movie more, the way he exaggerates each scene and situation definitely creates more suspense and stirs up more of my interest. However, the way the manga progresses will most likely preserve more of the mystery for later. So for those who have seen the movie, the weird incidents that happen in the beginning of the movie, which begin the mystery, are invisible in the manga. Moreover, in the future, volumes the manga and the movie will diverge from each other completely, eventually leading to two completely different endings. So I suggest to anyone who has seen the movie to treat the two as completely separate and just enjoy each of them on their own.

I really enjoyed volume one of "Old Boy", and I anticipate the next volumes, especially whichever holds the point where the original series will diverge from the movie entirely. For anyone who enjoys a good urban thriller with a psychological and mind-twisting plot, "Old Boy" will definitely be an amusing read. Nonetheless, I have to emphasize that this series contains explicit sexual and violent scenes, so is recommended for mature readers only.

Reviewed by: Floating_Sakura
Proofed by: Rainyfrog
Edited by: Firedog