Fans of urban fantasy and Robin Hood inspired stories will love the manga series we will be unearthing today. Getbackers takes both of those aforementioned motifs and melds them with the battle shonen genre. The manga has two creators at the helm compared to the usual singular mangaka that handles both story and art; with illustrations done by Rando Ayamine and story witten by Yuya Aoki. Getbackers had an impressive run in Japan, with serialization beginning in 1999 in Weekly Shonen Magazine and lasting as a popular draw to the magazine until its conclusion in 2007. The franchise’s popularity spawned a two-season anime adaptation, two audio drama CDs and five video game releases for the Playstation 2 and PC platforms in addition to the original manga being collected into thirty-nine volumes. English localization of the books was handled by Tokyopop and lasted from 2004 until 2008. Tokyopop sadly did not complete the series in English. The company had gone through a financial restructuring in 2008 and scaled back operations, dropping many of their publications, and leaving Getbackers with an unfinished English physical release at twenty-seven volumes. The series also received and English dub for both seasons of its anime adaption, with the second season diverging from the plot of the manga, leaving the story of the anime with its own conclusion that differs from the manga canon.
The manga’s narrative follows the duo of Ginji Amano and Ban Mido, and their retrieval service called, “The Getbackers”. The pair will recover anything that is missing with a marketed, “almost 100% success rate”, and these missions range from getting back a lost video game for a kid, to more Robin Hood-like missions, such as stealing back an unmarked suitcase with extremely valuable contents that was stolen from a client, stealing insanely pricey art pieces back from art thieves or getting back rare wine that was lost in the World War 2 era. These retrieval expeditions get more intense and serious in nature as the narrative unfolds, with later story arcs getting into retrieving intangible things and concepts for their clients. The pair operates out of a coffee shop called The Honky Tonk, and meets with clients and plans their missions at this location. Despite the duo’s high rate of retrieval and successful missions for their business, they are hardly profitable; the two frequently cause damage to property and incur repair fees, get parking tickets, their car towed or rack up a huge tab at the coffee shop they operate from. These revelations at the end of many successful missions create some great comedic moments after the action is done. Ban and Ginji also have their own unique abilities to complete their tasks. Ban has a power called, “The Evil Eye”, that can cause hallucinations that last sixty seconds in anyone he makes eye contact with; this ability is limited to three uses in a twenty-four hour period. Ban also has an inhuman grip, being able to crush things far beyond what an average human can. Ginji has the power to control electricity, and always has a strong current surging in his body. These powers get used frequently in their retrievals and create some truly unique encounters and scenarios that are fresh and creative in each mission. With the simple concept of getting back what should not be gone, Getbackers positions itself for all kinds of wild scenarios and has an interesting take on the Robin Hood style of story that is an engaging read that reaches some seriously high high points in its major story sagas.
The characters are a major treat to read in Getbackers as well. The main characters, Ginji, the eternal optimist with a heart of gold, and Ban, the more cynical realist with a frequently PO’ed attitude. These two conflicting personalities make for some well-written, memorable interactions between the two. As the series progresses, the pairs backstories unfold, and gives context to why the two possess the personalities they do, as well as how they met and became best friends. The series also boasts a strong revolving door of a support cast that helps Ban and Ginji on their retrieval missions. Some other interesting characters include Hevn, a mysterious woman who hangs out at the Honky Tonk that helps Ban and Ginji by matching them with clients in need of their services, Paul Wan, the owner of the Honky Tonk with a big secret and Himiko Kudou, A.K.A. “Lady Poison”, a young woman that concocts poisonous perfumes with a wide array of effects, she appears as an antagonist in an early retrieval mission, and has ties to Ban’s past.
One of the narrative choices I love in manga is when a story uses flashbacks and backstory to add depth and solidify a character’s personality and motivations; Getbackers delivers on this aspect in spades. The series has plenty of time to flesh out and dive into many of the characters over the series’ thirty-nine volume span, even with the sizable cast that accumulates as the plot moves forward. There is a central area in the story called Infinity Fortress, and most of the characters have some sort of history with the monolith. This area is used in the narrative as not only a backdrop to one of the series’ most important missions, but also serves as a similar thread that ties most of the cast together. A large majority of the character’s backstory revolves around Infinity Fortress, especially characters associated with Ginji’s past, before he met Ban.
Another aspect of Getbackers that I really enjoy is the setting. The story is set in a fictional rendition of contemporary (at the time of publishing) Japan, and the way it is set up is brimming with life. From the way the characters interact within the setting to the way it is depicted in the illustrations, Getbackers has its own vibe that gives it a one-of-a-kind charm. The settings of each of the missions also have their own flavor to them. Ban and Ginji’s job takes them to cathedrals with religious motifs and architecture, cruise ships, concert hall venues and the previously mentioned Infinity Fortress, a science fiction inspired slums with its own districts and lore. These settings, in combination with the plot and narrative choices that drive the action in each of these locations, makes every story arc feel fresh, and provides a strong variety creative locations for the events to unfold.
Rando Ayamine’s artwork for the series is yet another aspect that makes the world of Getbackers such a memorable experience. I never knew a character with spiky hair, Ozzy Osbourne glasses and a plain, white button-down shirt could exude as much coolness as Ban Mido. The character designs, facial expressions, and panels are extremely well done, and the stylized art of the series makes it all the more fun to read. The backgrounds art extremely detailed as well, be them the city that Ban and Ginji’s day-to-day life takes place in, or one of the many exotic locations that the Getbackers find themselves in during one of their retrieval missions. The action panels are another one of the main draws in my opinion. The battles are inked in a way that is intuitive to follow the action and envision each individual move in each physical and magical exchange of blows. The fights are also get pretty unique from a choreography standpoint, especially Ban’s fights. The way his evil eye technique is used to create hallucinations for his opponents leads to some very creative uses. The horrific scenes he shows them are drawn in a way that makes you feel the horror, the comedic visions he gives them are over the top hilarious, and many of the other uses to get him and Ginji out of a pinch are drawn in a way that expertly conveys the methods and mood of each individual vision. The typical big eyes, spiky hair and thick outlines of 2000’s manga art is on full display here, but Getbackers takes that aesthetic to the next level in terms of detail and artistic ability, creating a masterfully stylized world that has so much life and “cool factor” to it.
Getbacker’s deceptively simple premise, engaging action sequences and enjoyable art make it a great read for any manga fan that may be new to the series, or missed Getbackers as it was coming out. The action, character development, dialog and exciting missions never leave a dull moment, and keep the reader engaged cover-to-cover of each volume. Any shonen manga fan that likes an equal mix of action, character development and adventure would be doing themselves a disservice by not checking out Getbackers. Thank you for tagging along for this unearthing of another wonderful, out-of-print manga, I hope to see you all again or our next expedition into the world of criminally underrated works of art.
I love this series! Good pick!!