#blust

Adventure ho!

Blust! definitely does not take itself too seriously: Murata loves the idea of the odd twist to create humour, so you have a ridiculous village where just about everyone is a secret operative available for hire.  The titular character, Honozaka Kai, (nicknamed Blust) has a problem in that thanks to his failure to rescue a scientist, he and his handler are now owe their client a significant amount of money, even though the fiasco left him with cybernetic arms that fire nuclear blasts... provided he’s eaten enough curry. 

What it does take extremely seriously are references. It becomes obvious from the very first page that Murata does his homework in both visual and technological references that he wants to use.  Geographical settings, backgrounds, weather, vehicles, weapons, materials and the way they respond when broken, all of it has been meticulously researched and comes across right away. 

The plot itself is a relatively straightforward action adventure, but it’s well-thought out. It’s a bit too much story for the number of pages he had and so you get more exposition and a pace that could totally have used another two instalments to fully bring out the ideas that Murata definitely had in mind, but it works.  A short self-contained story is not the place to try out complex characterisation and Murata doesn’t try. However, he does create good characters who never carry the idiot ball.  In drawing style, you can see influences from his work in Eyeshield 21 and from Toriyama. He puts a lot of emphasis on good facial expression and good movement. 

The appeal that One-Punch Man held for Murata is obvious right away. A wide-ranging action story that’s clever, funny and doesn’t take itself too seriously?  It’s right up his street.  Of course OPM has some more serious satirical elements to it and overall is a closer study of the human condition than Blust could ever be but its spirit is very much kindred. 

You promised there’d be cyborgs

Which brings me onto the next thing: Cyborgs!  It turns out that Murata loves himself some cyborgs and has put a lot of thought into realising them, which has been all to the benefit of OPM.   Let’s introduce Major Bah Mou, our major baddie and envious cyborg.  Is he not glorious?

He and Kai have a short but intense battle which the latter wins with the sort of devastating common sense that’s both a perfect fit for OPM and a great illustration of the way Murata thinks about cyborgs.  Major Bah Mou’s neck was broken because he’d had his arms grafted on without investing the major additional work required to adequately modify and reinforce the rest of his body. 

This incomplete workmanship contrasts beautifully with the very heavy back armoring that Genos features and its manifested consequence of turning what should be a horrifying crash into an annoyance.  Because OPM has more space and time to develop ideas, Murata doesn’t have to tell us these things: he can just show them. 

Something that I also greatly appreciated is his acknowledgement of pain.  Part of Major Bah Mou’s terrible attitude is the chronic pain he lives with as a result of his hasty surgery. 

 The humanity of Dr. Kuseno shows when we see that he gives thought to the pain that Genos can experience when he puts him under general anaesthesia for major procedures.  It goes without saying that he’d never countenance Genos suffering chronically.  Seeing the roots of of how Murata thinks about and realises cyborgs is quite exciting.  

Murata puts the technological gloss on the ideas that ONE raises and does so without any information dumps or telling, just pure showing. But he’s been thinking about how to realise cyborgs and what issues they may experience for a long time.   Not just Genos, but all the other cyborgs we see in OPM, like Drive Knight and Jet Nice Guy, have the benefit of an illustrator who thinks carefully about them. 

Conclusion

Wrapping up, reading Blust! is a great way to understand better how and why Murata and ONE work so well together.  They’re both working on the kind of story they like -- big ideas, great action, funny without being farcical.  Murata brings a lot of detail to the big picture that ONE paints.  And even as OPM has grown more serious and considered, there’s still a light touch that’s all to the better.