Hiroya Oku’s Manga “GIGANT,” Episodes Twenty-Nine through Thirty-Eight

Today’s post continues the look at Hiroya Oku’s GIGANT series. You can also read my previous reviews of Volume 1, Volume 2, and Volume 3. By the way, Japanese cosplayer Shibuya Kaho (澁谷果歩) recently posted a rather nice picture of herself as Papiko, GIGANT’s size-changing heroine.

Volume 3 ended with Rei in peril after an enormous hand broke through his bedroom window.

Rei uses a knife to cut the oversized intruder and free himself. The giant apparently deciding not to retaliate or further attempt to snatch the lad out of his home.

The scene out on the street is bloody as several victims are scattered about.

However, Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) prove much more capable in the pages of GIGANT than they do in Toho’s Godzilla films. Not only does Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) eliminate the giants running rampant, but JGSDF also eventually proves effective in combating an immense robot.

Many people tweet messages of support for Papiko and call for her release. (She was imprisoned in the last volume.) Then three Gods of Destruction appear, and we see an extended sequence of a young woman and her mother trying to flee. Unfortunately, the mother is killed. The young lady later encounters a boy who also lost his mom. She tries to protect him, and then a tank appears to defend them both and attack the monsters.

The two meet a man, presumably a foreigner, who speaks in English and tries to take them to safety.

Meanwhile, Papiko was escorted by several soldiers to the scene in a helicopter and given amnesty. (NOTE: Their presence seemed unnecessary, and the men even comment as such.) We don’t see the soldiers again for awhile.

She parachutes out, and then outgrows a special elastic suit sent from America. Presumably, the suit was meant to stretch, but it was swiftly destroyed. So, that article of clothing was a waste of time, not sure why it was included in the story. Maybe it’s a statement on the fragile nature of American clothing, or a criticism of the general quality of American goods? Alternatively, maybe it merely showed that the authorities tried to keep Papiko from going nude, but were unsuccessful. Bottom line, not sure why the special suit was mentioned.

Overall, this volume was more action-packed than the previous iterations. There were no sex scenes, or even any dialogue between Rei and Papiko. However, I appreciated the action and the despair felt by the innocents trying to escape the many threats created by the “enjoy the end” (ETE) web site. Fans of giant monster movies and unusually tall voluptuous women should like this!

My hope pursuits for a satisfactory explanation for ETE and the size-changing device, but I anticipate such explanation will be drawn out.

I’ll review the fifth volume, consisting of episodes thirty-nine through forty-seven, in March.

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