Bremen

Title: Bremen Genre: Music, Action Rating: 8/10

Summary: Reiji and Kasuga head out to Tokyo to become the "Gods of Rock," but they seem to always attract trouble. On their way, Hayama Ryo and Fujii Ran join them in their quest.

Review: Bremen turned out be one of those “don’t judge a manga by its cover” moments. Although the manga does focus around the main character becoming a rock god, it didn’t really feel like it was completely focused around music. Why? Well for starters the beginning the manga was just about getting group members together. That was an adventure all on its own. The way the characters actually meet up isn’t because of auditions, or past connections. Actually none of the characters knew each other, nor did they care. They all had their own dreams, lives, and problems. But it was music that brought the fated four together. The character creation was the highlight of Bremen. Unlike most animes and manga that I have watched/read the characters weren’t completely opposite of one another. They all had strong wills and reasons for being in a rock band. The bond they shared was refreshing. Even though they teased and messed with each other, they all had a sense of loyalty. The idea of band membership went beyond just making music. The storyline wasn’t bad either. I was expecting a very straight forward story: guy wants to get into rock, meets some people, they practice, they make it to the big times. For one thing, the band didn’t really need to practice. They all sort of “clicked”, which was hardly believable, but it still prevented the creation of boring chapters. Secondly, most of the manga seemed to have a much bigger story behind the obvious. However, it wasn’t until the end till you find out how everything was tied together. I did  have a slight problem with this. The length of the manga was fairly short, and I actually finished it in one night. The storyline didn’t seem rushed, but rather planned to be short. I was a little depressed that such a large issue (which I wont spoil for you) was resolved so quickly. The creator of Bremen could have also put a little more effort in the actual music portion of the manga. When the band played I was a bit troubled by the fact that there were no lyrics. I feel that adding lyrics could have really added to the character development by expressing their hopes and dreams through rock. The only reason I believe the creator avoided this was in case the manga became an anime. If lyrics were written in the manga, the anime would have to follow them, actually write an entire song using them, and make it sound good. That can be very difficult to due if the writer has no musical experience. Still, that could have been adjusted if necessary I’m sure. The action scenes were amazing as well. The anime can get a little twisted (and hardly believable), but hey, that’s why it’s manga right? The art style complimented the fight scenes perfectly.  Unlike most action manga, Bremen did a great job helping you visualize how the movements would look animated. So needless the say I was impressed by the artist.

Final statements: Bremen isn’t one of those kiddy mangas. Even though it centers around becoming the “God of Rock”, a lot of other things come into play. There are harsh and sometimes disturbing moments. This action packed manga is a preferred read in my book… no pun intended.

P.S. Hooray for Breaking the Boundary’s first full manga review! Hope there is more to come. Pops the champagne