Krystallina: I didn’t know what to expect when I read Giganto Maxia. I will say I was not expecting an Attack on Titan-like story with a young girl that stands on the male lead’s head and keeps demanding he drink from her.
I haven’t read much of Attack on Titan, but I think it’s impossible not to draw comparisons between the two. Both feature large creatures that threaten the world to the brink of extinction and male leads who are more than meets the eye. There are even some visual similarities in the creatures’ designs. Of course, there are many differences: Delos is older than Eren, the Titans are an independent species, technology vs biology, one volume versus many, etc. Obviously, Attack on Titan was not the first series to feature battles with larger-than-life monsters, but any manga featuring giants is bound to draw comparisons.
But back to Giganto Maxia.
As a one-volume series, this manga feels like an extended one-shot, the kind writers and editors use to test whether the concept should be turned into a full-length series. Set in a post-apocalyptic world, the strong yet kind-hearted hero Delos and his analytical sidekick Prome wander the world. They soon are captured by a tribe of beetle-human hybrids, and then the colony soon must turn their attention from Delos to the evil empire that is approaching. If you’ve ever read any of the prototypes for Rurouni Kenshin or Naruto, Giganto Maxia has that type of feel, just stretched across over 200 pages instead of about 50 or 60. One conflict is resolved, but the main characters will have to keep wandering to reach their goal. Ultimately, I think your enjoyment of Giganto Maxia will come down to whether you like stories with a “and their adventures continue”-type ending or a complete “the war is over”-type epic.
Visually, Giganto Maxia is quite impressive. Delos looks like an old-fashioned shounen hero, and he has a certain charm around him. The Giganto creatures didn’t impressive me so much (an elephant-like octopus?), but I’m sure it was a lot of work to draw each member of the beetle tribe. Author Miura must have been inspired by African and South American tribes, but he takes great care in making every member follow a similar style while also looking unique. I think I enjoyed the art more than anything else. The fight scenes look straight out of a WWE match, but I don’t know how far wrestling moves would go before the battles look repetitive. I’m not a wrestling fan, so perhaps other readers know more about moves other than body slams and piledrivers.
As a final point, one aspect is bound at least detract from the main story, and it might even be the deal-breaker for some. What is it? The fact that the young-looking Prome offers Delos direct access to her fluids. And she doesn’t mean from her mouth. Delos is (fortunately) agitated by Prome’s insistence and habit of flashing, but suddenly I don’t feel like complaining about vampires biting necks anymore… Yeesh. If you do buy Giganto Maxia, don’t lend this volume out to just anybody. Seriously, just don’t. Yes, it’s very obvious early the story Prome isn’t human, but only you can decide if you can handle a girl-like entity standing on a man’s head and holding her dress up while not wearing underwear.
Justin: Miura, just what in the world…?
So, from what I could understand, Giganto Maxia is overrun by powerful, immense titans. While progressing through this story, we have Delos and Prome, an odd pair that’s spending their time traveling in this world. They get captured by a race of humans shaped into beetles, and from there is a fight for survival.
I’m actually in love with the wrestling theme, as there’s not a lot of manga that even uses that as a style. Delos is the type of hero that’s ugly, very much strength based, but designed to be memorable in how he carries himself, though whether it’s actually sane is a good question. Prome’s past is interesting, but her notable quirk is her manner of speech, though standing on Delos’s head wearing nothing but a dress is something. She’s not a child, but she’s currently the size of one. Either way, it’s definitely weird.
Whatever the case, the battles are at least it’s most interesting part. The story, not so much. Maybe it needed another volume to get its footing. Or maybe Prome just needs to go back to being an adult or stop talking a lot. I think Miura did his job of making me want to know what happens after this, but I can’t help but feel a bit disappointed, even with how it wrapped itself up.
Manjiorin: Dark Horse announced the license of Giganto Maxia at last year’s Anime Central in Chicago, and I had the pleasure of being there when Carl Horn gave everyone the news. I’d heard some buzz about the series prior, but I still didn’t really know what Miura’s new series was actually about. After reading it though, I could arguably say that’s still the case.
Perhaps that’s a bit unfair to say; the story is clearly about two traveling companions, wrestler/fighter Delos and the child-esque Prome as they fight various monsters, or Giganto. The art is top-notch and while we expect that from Miura, though he really outdoes himself here. Monsters are massive and detailed, with various two page spreads. Art-wise absolutely nothing is spared, and Berserk fans that mainly appreciated his art-style would find plenty to like.
Because of that art, the fights in the series are really, really great looking. Unfortunately that’s all I could really take from Giganto, as the story absolutely didn’t compel me in any way. Since I rank Berserk as one of my top favorite manga (if not the top) I find this fairly disappointing. I’m all for good character relationships in terms of saving a series so I looked at Delos and Prome for potential, but they’re hard characters to care about. Beyond that there’s also the whole idea of Delos regularly having his head up Prome’s dress for “nectar” (no subtlety there) and that didn’t particularly thrill me either. I wish I could love this with the fervor that I love Berserk, but I feel like Miura could have put this idea to paper in the form of a couple of chapters and some art prints tacked on somewhere else.
You can read a very short preview here: http://www.darkhorse.com/Books/Previews/28-756?page=0