MANGA REVIEW | "Four Lives Remain" a Massive Headache from Tatsuya Endo
Success doesn’t happen overnight in the manga world; it takes time and practice to crank out a hit. There’s no better example of this than Tatsuya Endo, the creator of Spy × Family. Before he brought the world the Forgers, he was trying to cut his teeth with various other stories such as TISTA and Blade of the Moon Princess. Both of those series, of course, failed due to their poor storytelling.
But before he was given the chance to make his own series, Endo went the one-shot route with a small foray of tales. Four Lives Remain collects those shorts into one manga volume, and it’s quite the educational thing to have on hand for those wanting to become a manga or comic artist. Perhaps the biggest lesson it teaches: why you shouldn’t write stories that’ll give readers brain aneurysms.
"Western Game"
This is evident in the first story “Western Game”, a tale of a bounty hunter school and its troublesome pupil Ellena Fiscuff. It turns out she herself has a bounty on her head, and it’s not because of all the students she sent to the nurse’s office. No, she’s wanted for murder, and the plethora of hunters that want to take her downtown will find out why she’s a danger to anyone who dares to touch her.
The biggest issue with “Western Game” is how much dialogue is nonsensical info dump. Although the visuals were nicer to look at, nothing that came out of these characters’ mouths made a lick of sense! No one talks like a normal person; they sound more like ChatGPT bots offering synopses of the daily goings-on. As I kept reading through, I felt my head spinning like I was on a Tilt-a-Whirl, to the point where I almost had the urge to just skim through to the end to get the story over with.
"Blade of the Moon Princess"
I am quite baffled that Blade of the Moon Princess was green-lit as a series, as its one-shot pilot suffers from the same stuff as “Western Game”. While it does an okay job condensing the origin story without dragging it out like the main series, the problem again is its dialogue. Nobody in this one-shot knows when to shut up, to the point where every line of dialogue takes the steam out of the action happening in the panels. It turns what could’ve been a good twist on the classic Japanese fable into a mess hotter than a fresh bird dropping.
After reading through how “Witch Craze” came to be, I can’t say I’m quite surprised. Once again, this tale of witch hunters is chock-full of characters who don’t know the concept of “show, don’t tell”. Everyone speaks like they’re on a heavy dose of painkillers, the same that Endo was probably on when dealing with his toothache. But instead of enhancing a story like Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas, this does the complete opposite. By the end, I still couldn’t make heads or tails about what’s going on, why these hunters are being chased, and why — as a reader — I should care.
"Witch Craze"
Lastly, there’s “PMG-0”. I’ll admit: I love the main character of Tania. Her laid-back style is a great contrast to the wild and violent world she dives into every day. However, just as we saw in the other one-shots, this story is yet again ruined by having too much dialogue and not enough visual showcases. It’s as if each hero and villain — save for Tania — needs to do some sort of monologue about what they’re doing rather than just pipping down and showing it. If Endo were to return to any character from these, one hopes he gives Tania another shot.
Alas, most of Four Lives Remain is a hassle to get through. Even with the reward of Endo’s own board game that you can play, there’s almost nothing here that’s of entertainment value. The art may be nice, but all four of these stories will leave you feeling more confused than enticed. Whatever Endo did to finally land a hit with Spy × Family, I’m not exactly sure. However, after reading through Four Lives Remain, I have a bigger appreciation for the manga editors who have to painstakingly turn narrative headaches into something sensible and audience-worthy.
"PMG-0"
FINAL GRADE:
Promotional consideration provided by Chantelle Sturt of VIZ Media.
