#damons

The summary is as follows:

Haight and Andrews are successful engineers working for a company on the verge of developing a history-making breakthrough on nanotechnology; however, when Haight discovers a new technology that will help people live better and cure a few diseases, Andrews decides to use this technology for military purposes. Aware of his intentions, Haight resigns from the company taking all the documents and research about his discovery with him. Andrews becomes angry at this and prepares a trap for Haight. Andrews and his five maniac sidekicks brutally torture Haight and kill his loved ones, then sever both his arms and leave him for dead. Luckily Haight is rescued by a mysterious doctor and his assistant. Both men are experimenting with the strange power of "The Zetsmos," which is the ability to control the ghost inside the body while one is still alive. Reports of people that had their limbs severed confirm that they can still "feel and move" their limbs even if they are not there, but with the Natural power of the Zetsmos, the body can assimilate any kind of material and make it part of the body (such as wood, paper, water, metal, etc.) and recreate the limb that was gone. However, awakening the Zetsmos is a painful and dangerous process; the bearer has to put himself between life and death to awaken it. But Haight will stop at nothing to hunt down those that made his life a living hell, and he's determined to use the mysterious power to carry on his revenge.

‘Damons’ is pretty dark and violent, but for all that it is a legitimate shonen story. The similarities really do jump out at one:  the portentous name of the main character (Haight is pronounced Hate. Much as some fans like to duck it, Genos is short for Genocide -- and ONE and Murata make clear that they know what it means). The obsessive drive to avenge the deaths of his family.  The complete seriousness of the character.  Like Genos, Haight was saved by a shady doctor who is happy to provided him with a variety of specialised arms as weapons. In fact, Haight leans into this, deliberately destroying his arms and carrying spare ones in a suitcase.

Initially I would say that the story of Haight thus far reminds me of what Genos's power fantasy journey would look like. He'd be the strong, silent loner bravely battling his way through a hostile and increasingly chaotic world, righting (well, sorta) wrongs all while looking for the enemies who so wronged him on whom he would wreak the most fearful vengeance. The sequence of Haight tearing apart the bulletproof car one of his betrayers had constructed to hide from his enemies was truly one of the most frightening. And yet, I'm certain that this story is going to be a lot more than just a straight vengeance fantasy -- the synopsis of it being the story that authors couldn't help but come back to for its twists and unexpected ending, and the thoroughness with which Tezuka builds up characters speaks well to the promises of it.

It is beautifully drawn, and while the flow of action is not Murata (but what is?) it definitely has been put in some great hands. I highly, highly recommend it, and I really need the rest of it.

the fantasy: Haight effortlessly terrorising wrong doers before exacting justice

However, no analogy is perfect

So much for the similarities.  What about the differences? Now that’s where it gets interesting.

unfortunately, reality has a well known evil bias

A technical note that I am keeping an eye on. The case is that the initial falling out between Haight and his former colleagues was over the development of nano-technology for advanced prosthetics that he wanted used for medicine but his colleagues wanted for weaponry. However, the artificial arms that he uses within the story are driven not by mechanics, but by spiritual energy -- using spiritual particles called zetsons. While OPM doesn’t do spiritual particles, it does heavily feature telekinesis and  willpower (which enables both telekinesis and impossible feats happening anyway) and which play an equivalent role.  Another interesting parallel between both stories is that it is essential to endure near-death situations with focus and determination to be able to access use of miraculous will-based power. Given that changing his mindset is one of the key tasks Saitama set Genos, it’s going to be very interesting to see if and how OPM explores the concept of mind over matter as applies to a cyborg.

There are two big differences that stand out. The first is that Haight is a full-grown adult. He has had a full life as an exceptionally talented engineer, as a husband and a father and he is very sure of who he is and where his place in the world is. His independence does mean that the shady doctor who saved him and supplies him with arms need have no qualms about practising his art. In fact, the doctor is glad that Haight regards his arms as disposable as it means he can endlessly invent more. By contrast, it’s notable that the desire to keep Genos safe and well conflicts at times with his own desire to invent new things to meet challenges for Kuseno, so that's an interesting change for ONE.

no internal conflict whatsoever vs

damn but it’s hard to balance having a conscience and being a mad engineer

Seeing Haight's mental and psychological independence also makes a stark contrast from Genos, who is very young and is still working out who he is and where his place in the world is.  When compared to Haight, Genos’s vulnerability as well as the way he looks to both Saitama and Kuseno for guidance and how to a lesser extent, he's being shaped by the people around him really stands out.

The second huge difference is that this is truly a shonen story and Haight is a shonen hero as opposed to One-Punch Man, which isn't just seinen, but has Genos as a seinen hero. How do I tell? It falls into the same thing every last shonen story does; it makes the hero exceptional in some way. Characters always have something exceptional about themselves that they're exploiting to get on in the world. Maybe the character has inherited some great talent. Maybe they're super smart. Maybe they have some weird biological quirk. Maybe they got hold of an unusual tool that they're unusually able to control. Something. Haight is no exception to this. While he isn't the most skilled combatant, at least not to start with, his ability to master the control of spirit-driven artificial arms was truly exceptional, surpassing anyone the doctor had worked with to date. He can control 'arms' made out of anything, including paper.

It's a good enough message, that with the discovery and exploitation of one's talents, one may achieve great things. At its best, shonen explores that search for one's gifts, digs into the struggle to make something of them, find out how best to use them and the unusual, even creative way gifts may be used. Even what qualifies as a gift. It speaks powerfully to our yearnings to find our place in the world and to discover what makes us different from everyone else. It's no wonder that characters like Garou and Metal Bat are firm fan favourites.

But it's a bit of a trap too: the idea that to excel, you need something exceptional about yourself, that if it's right, it should feel natural. There are two main ways in which shonen stories achieve this.  First, are the ones who have easy access to their talent -- they’re just that good.  Second, are the ones who have the steep learning curve (contrary to popular parlance, steep learning curves are good -- it means you rapidly see improvement for effort).   It may be difficult, even dangerous for them, but in exchange for making their supreme efforts, they quickly see big changes.  If you’re slogging through a shallow learning curve, it’s definitely not for you!

The more insidious part of the shonen trap comes from the very concept of talent.  Because you need a talent to excel, if you don’t utilise the talent (or can’t), then you’re doomed to be mediocre.  An example comes in Hajime no Ippo (one of my favourite manga), where the boxers Kimura and Aoki turn out to be really talented baseball players.  They’re both good enough to reach the Big League and find Little League Baseball really easy.  However, they turn their backs on baseball in favour of boxing and are thus condemned to be forever mediocre fighters, struggling to even touch a national championship. 

Here's what's seinen about Genos. He has no talents. If Saitama is Mr. Average, then Genos is Mr. Above Average. He's smart, but not brilliant. He's got above average looks, but he's no pin-up model (in the manga, Murata has gotten a little thirsty). He's (slightly) above average height, As a human being, he was probably of above average athleticism, good but nothing special in a world of utter monsters. No undiscovered potential, just waiting to be tapped. Like a champion runner who has broken his back and is now unable to walk, Genos has no access to any talents his biology might have conferred.  If he inherited any gifts, well, they've long since been bagged up and burned as a biohazard.  Equally, any remaining talents -- I don’t know, let’s say he’s actually a talented musician -- are completely worthless in the context of what he actually wants to achieve in life.  Worse, Genos has no especial affinity or talent for being a cyborg.  He uses his parts like Child Emperor uses his toys -- as devices to be used, abused and discarded when they’re no longer satisfactory.

Shonen stories work hard to craft a story that does utilise a character’s talents. Not only that, the problem of the story needs to be small enough for the character to credibly solve them. Damons certainly follows both rules, with Haight’s opposition consisting of six villians.  OPM makes no such concessions in either regard, especially not for Genos.  

Instead, if there's anything exceptional about him, it's because he has decided to MAKE IT SO. Fuck finding your gift. He has something he wants to achieve and he's willing to do whatever it takes, become whatever he needs to be in order to make it happen, natural or not. And there's a lot of reality to that. The contrast brings to mind Calvin Coolidge's words, nicely turned into a comic (https://zenpencils.com/comic/40-calvin-coolidge-never-give-up/).  In this regard, Genos is truly Saitama’s best disciple -- they are both ordinary people who have nothing but their aspirations and courage.

But what about authenticity? Well, what about it? Ultimately, you become what you practice. This is becoming whatever you want to be... at a price. Ultimately, who Genos will be, what he will look like and whether the end result is an empty shell or a full metamorphosis to bring into the world something truly novel, only time (and ONE) can tell.  The main characters in shonen stories are all but guaranteed to succeed in their aims: the story is about HOW. (Darker shonen stories don’t necessarily allow their characters to survive to celebrate their success).  Genos has no such guarantee -- the story will be just as good whether or not he finds and puts an end to the Mad Cyborg.   And yet, he persists.

The contrast also helps me put into perspective why there are fewer straightforward fans of Genos. The shonen fantasy that people love love love is that there's something secret and amazing about you that rockets you to great heights if only you can find and use it. The much more painful climb of just making it happen bit by bit, setback by setback, only knowing if you’ll succeed or fail in retrospect, why that's too much like real hard work. Ain't nobody got time for that!