Warning! It has sensitive themes and nudity.
Well, a touring musician has a lot to sacrifice including family. Today's musician has it easier, but way back in the roaring twenties, it was like hell to be a touring bluesman. It's also not touring, but more like wandering.
Me and the Devil Blues Volume 1: (by Akira Hiramoto) is the fantasized version of Robert Johnson's biography. A farmer who has a wife with a baby on the way is living his routine life of work, eat and sleep. He wanted to play the blues but sadly, cannot play the guitar if his life depended on it. He made a pact with the devil and in one night, he could outplay any bluesman in the country.
His journey through his new found talent is quite a long one. Along the way, he even meets Clyde Barrow who is a famous thief and popularly know as a part of a team called "Bonnie & Clyde." His life could not get any worse as he tags along with a thief and is soon to be lynched for entertainment purposes. He could play the blues, but what would that talent do if you're six feet under?
This is the compressed version, I'll leave an uncompressed version for those who would like a more detailed summary. It's more on the story of how RJ got from "can't play for $%@#" to "I'm great" and not this whole volume. I don't want to give it all away, just the ideas that I think are important and are big hooks to reel readers in reading this title.
Art: A very serious painting at some panels but mostly made of comic book like art. What I mean is, it doesn't feel like it's a manga but a comic book. It's a comic book disguised as a manga. I feel the serious and darkness of the art because of the use of a lot of dark tones. You don't want to read this if you're depressed because this will make you feel sadder than you already are.
This being a representation of the 1920's man, it's kind of modernized in a way. The people look like they're from this era and not from that time period. It's anatomically correct and it's really like a painting. The mangaka was probably thinking of giving Robert Johnson's life story justice. With the serious take on manga, he definitely expresses the darkness and the suffering very well. There are some parts where lynching is seen. It's terrible but with only a silhouette made out of scratches, he still delivers the horrible feeling.
Panels: The standard box panels and a lot of big ones at that. I like that they used the whole page to express serious emotions. I don't know if it's because of the size and format of this series but it has a lot of white pages. I bet Del Rey Manga could've compressed this series like what they did on their omnibus lines (with the Tokyopop Trim [5" x 7.5"].) A lot of white spaces would be gone and that means less paper and it would cost less.
The expression of movement is not emphasized a lot but it does portray motion through it's story telling. It wish they did more panels to show motion since it deals with little movements like when RJ plays the guitar. Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad was better at this but I guess, I can't complain since it makes up for it with the art.
Story: Interesting to read about history but then it was mixed with fiction which, to be honest, I kinda like but I wish it was only a part of it. He meets Clyde Barrow which is possible but that would be a little far fetched. I guess the mangaka really wanted to mix it up to make it more interesting.
The audience for this would be 18+ because it contains nudity and mature themes. Foul language is also to be expected from this title. I would suggest that you get ready for swearing and some slang used for African Americans at that time because there's plenty of that.
Characters: RJ is your typical black man, he aspires to be a decent guitar player and a good father and husband to his family. Like a man, he also has some... urges that take over him. This part about RJ totally feels real to me because not every character in a story should have good traits, they should have both sides of the spectrum, good and evil. He took it like a man when he realized that time had passed and he was gone for months. His development, from a regular guy to a stone hearted bluesman was really shown when that turning point in the story happened.
Bottomline: Read it if you're looking for something really out of the ordinary, real but out of place. If you're looking for a piece of art, look no further, this has it covered.
Addicting Level: 7/10
Long Summary: One night, his friend invited him to go to the juke joint (like a bar where people enjoy blues music and dance to it) and drink alcohol (the Prohibition Law is going on so alcohol is totally illegal.) He goes there and tries to play the guitar where he ultimate fails to do. At the table, a bluesman talked to him and told the tail of selling one's soul to the devil to be a great guitar player. RJ shrugs it off because it was ridiculous to even think about.
After a few visits to the juke joint every week, he then hears a song that was totally out of this world but just sees a guitar with no one playing it. He takes it with him with the initiative of giving it back to the bluesman. He doesn't find the bluesman but he continues on walking where he ends up at a crossroads. He tries to play a song to see if the legend was true but it ends up being a hoax. Things happen and one night, he came in with a guitar in hand and outplayed the bluesman whose currently playing.
He has gained the power to make people dance around his music, the power to move people but is it the real thing? The real blues? How did RJ learn to play the blues? Two days out and he can play anything, what happened? It turns out, he's been out for 6 months and a lot of things happen, including the death of both his wife and his child. Once he recollected his thoughts, he went all out with being a bluesman. He doesn't have a reason to keep him from coming back home, he's alone now, he's a bluesman now. RJ walks away with only his guitar and a companion named "Ike" and together they roam all over town to do what they can only do, play the blues.
His journey through his new found talent is quite a long one. Along the way, he even meets Clyde Barrow who is a famous thief and popularly know as a part of a team called "Bonnie & Clyde." His life could not get any worse as he tags along with a thief and is soon to be lynched for entertainment purposes. He could play the blues, but what would that talent do if you're six feet under?
This is the compressed version, I'll leave an uncompressed version for those who would like a more detailed summary. It's more on the story of how RJ got from "can't play for $%@#" to "I'm great" and not this whole volume. I don't want to give it all away, just the ideas that I think are important and are big hooks to reel readers in reading this title.
Art: A very serious painting at some panels but mostly made of comic book like art. What I mean is, it doesn't feel like it's a manga but a comic book. It's a comic book disguised as a manga. I feel the serious and darkness of the art because of the use of a lot of dark tones. You don't want to read this if you're depressed because this will make you feel sadder than you already are.
This being a representation of the 1920's man, it's kind of modernized in a way. The people look like they're from this era and not from that time period. It's anatomically correct and it's really like a painting. The mangaka was probably thinking of giving Robert Johnson's life story justice. With the serious take on manga, he definitely expresses the darkness and the suffering very well. There are some parts where lynching is seen. It's terrible but with only a silhouette made out of scratches, he still delivers the horrible feeling.
Panels: The standard box panels and a lot of big ones at that. I like that they used the whole page to express serious emotions. I don't know if it's because of the size and format of this series but it has a lot of white pages. I bet Del Rey Manga could've compressed this series like what they did on their omnibus lines (with the Tokyopop Trim [5" x 7.5"].) A lot of white spaces would be gone and that means less paper and it would cost less.
Large panels... a lot of large panels...
The expression of movement is not emphasized a lot but it does portray motion through it's story telling. It wish they did more panels to show motion since it deals with little movements like when RJ plays the guitar. Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad was better at this but I guess, I can't complain since it makes up for it with the art.
Story: Interesting to read about history but then it was mixed with fiction which, to be honest, I kinda like but I wish it was only a part of it. He meets Clyde Barrow which is possible but that would be a little far fetched. I guess the mangaka really wanted to mix it up to make it more interesting.
The audience for this would be 18+ because it contains nudity and mature themes. Foul language is also to be expected from this title. I would suggest that you get ready for swearing and some slang used for African Americans at that time because there's plenty of that.
Too bad this was B&W on the actual manga.
Characters: RJ is your typical black man, he aspires to be a decent guitar player and a good father and husband to his family. Like a man, he also has some... urges that take over him. This part about RJ totally feels real to me because not every character in a story should have good traits, they should have both sides of the spectrum, good and evil. He took it like a man when he realized that time had passed and he was gone for months. His development, from a regular guy to a stone hearted bluesman was really shown when that turning point in the story happened.
Bottomline: Read it if you're looking for something really out of the ordinary, real but out of place. If you're looking for a piece of art, look no further, this has it covered.
Addicting Level: 7/10
It wouldn't be scary if it was built around the same time. There wouldn't be ghosts yet.
Long Summary: One night, his friend invited him to go to the juke joint (like a bar where people enjoy blues music and dance to it) and drink alcohol (the Prohibition Law is going on so alcohol is totally illegal.) He goes there and tries to play the guitar where he ultimate fails to do. At the table, a bluesman talked to him and told the tail of selling one's soul to the devil to be a great guitar player. RJ shrugs it off because it was ridiculous to even think about.
After a few visits to the juke joint every week, he then hears a song that was totally out of this world but just sees a guitar with no one playing it. He takes it with him with the initiative of giving it back to the bluesman. He doesn't find the bluesman but he continues on walking where he ends up at a crossroads. He tries to play a song to see if the legend was true but it ends up being a hoax. Things happen and one night, he came in with a guitar in hand and outplayed the bluesman whose currently playing.
He has gained the power to make people dance around his music, the power to move people but is it the real thing? The real blues? How did RJ learn to play the blues? Two days out and he can play anything, what happened? It turns out, he's been out for 6 months and a lot of things happen, including the death of both his wife and his child. Once he recollected his thoughts, he went all out with being a bluesman. He doesn't have a reason to keep him from coming back home, he's alone now, he's a bluesman now. RJ walks away with only his guitar and a companion named "Ike" and together they roam all over town to do what they can only do, play the blues.
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