Review: GetBackers, Story by Yuya Aoki and Art by Rando Ayamine: Volume One

Oh boy, one I've been looking forward to! GetBackers is incredibly nostalgic for me. As a teenager I had a box set of the anime and I watched it through multiple times. So, when I happened upon volume one of the manga in a little comic shop, I was ecstatic. 

So, I'm going to focus on the manga here, this is a book review! But, because there is an anime adaptation, I'm going to compare and contrast them as I go! Volume One covers about the first two episodes of the anime. There are 39 volumes in total. And 49 episodes based on them. I'll do my best to drop the behind the scenes info as it's relevant, but trust me, I have my receipts.

To start, the art style! Ayamine has a very gritty style, it definitely goes well with the overall aesthetic of the story. And I have a big ol soft spot for those 90s/00s shounen art styles. As a quick comparison. The visuals of the manga are definitely cooler, grittier and more violent than the anime. I prefer the face designs from the anime a little more. Ban in particular, he looks less baby faced in the anime which, I feel suits him more. According to my sources, Ban wasn't originally going to play a main role in this manga, and Ginji, the other protagonist, was going to have Ban's personality. But the story writer really liked Ban. You can 100% tell that Ban is the writer's favourite with all the cool art moments and action scene moments he gets. 

Speaking of the writer for a sec. Aoki (a pen name) wrote under multiple pen names for many manga. His name is Shin Kibayashi. As a little fun fact, he wrote the story for Fire Emblem Fates. And, honestly, knowing that explains a lot for me. GetBackers is very over the top. And Fates always stood out a bit to me in the FE lineup for being a little more...extra...than their other games in terms of how convoluted the story is. 

The manga starts with Ban and Ginji trying and failing to get work. They almost starve in the streets, get outsmarted by a kid, embarrass themselves, then get helped out by an old homeless man. He asks them to return his daughter, who was taken by the yakuza as he borrowed money from them. Ban initially says no but, later, Ginji goes to do it anyway and Ban begrudgingly follows his totally platonic life partner. 

A big difference between how the manga opens and how the anime opens, is the anime adds a little filler story where we meet the side characters, namely Natsumi and Wan. In the manga they don't show up until after the story of the first job. Episode two is essentially the opening of the manga. The manga also has a job that isn't featured in the anime, which is how we meet the side cast, including Hevn. In contrast, Hevn doesn't show up till episode three of the anime.

So, pacing and minor story beat differences aside. Another huge difference is the maturity of the content. The manga is far more crass in its humor, more violent with its action scenes, and takes every possible excuse to show off a naked girl or a panty shot. The anime feels kind of watered down next to this. Which makes it more accessible for younger viewers, but the story beats have a bit less punch.

As a bit of a criticism. I'm not personally a fan of unnecessary fanservice. Specifically scenes that go out of their way for...really no important reason, to oversexualize female characters. I don't mind it too much with this series in particular because GetBackers knows what it is. It knows it's a crass, sexy, violent series and it doesn't take itself too seriously. The dialogue tries too hard to be 'gangsta' at times. But I'm aware that that's mostly due to how it was translated. There are still some fantastic one liners that got some laughs from me. 

A specific story beat I want to touch on. The daughter they're sent to rescue from the yakuza turns out to be not who she seems. In the manga, that scene is overall a lot more mature, of course, but also, with how she's written, she comes off a lot less redeemable. Whereas the anime tried to play her character more sympathetic. I don't have a specific preference here really. I like the manga's more violent, dark tone but. The anime does a mostly faithful interpretation, and it's still a great episode. The anime foreshadows Ginji's backstory in episode one as well, whereas the manga hasn't even touched on either of the mc's backstories yet. 

And my wrap up point. I won't touch on it too much since, we don't see too much of it this early. But there are definitely some gay undertones with Ban and Ginji. The anime is more blatant with them because Atsuko Nakajima, who was the animation director and character designer for the anime, is a self admitted yaoi fan. So what you pick up in the episodes, and the official art (look up the GetBackers official art, trust me) is definitely intentional. This isn't an invention of the anime, as the anime is mostly faithful to the manga. So those undertones are still in the manga. I'll get more in depth with this as I get my hands on more volumes. 

GetBackers is probably one of the gayest but also straightest series I've come across. If you like crass action comedy with homoerotic undertones, you should probably give it a read, and a watch.