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Mr.A的注目作品！とお薦め商品

皆さん、こんにちは。
ようやく冬らしくなってきましたね。

ブログ更新ちょっと御無沙汰してしまいました。すいません。頑張ります。

さて、今日は「牙の旅商人（The Arms Peddler）」を紹介していきたいと思います！！

Howdy Doody, welcome to another installment of Mr. A's(thats me) blog entries. This time I'd like to introduce to you "The Arms Peddler" by artist NIGHT OWL and story by writer, Kyouichi Nanatsuki.

これはですね、ちょっと気になって購入してみたんですが（いわゆるジャケ買いに近い形で）、1巻を読んでスゲー面白くてすぐに全巻購入しちゃいました。
連載は「ヤングガンガンYOUNG GANGAN（スクエア・エニックスSQUARE ENIX）」。

This one, I must admit, I first bought just for the hell of it(actually, the cover art is what sold me). I bought the first book in the story just to see what all this was about, but after reading just part of it, I was completely within it's grasp and I went back to the book shop to purchase the rest of the series.
The Arms Peddler started off as a bi-monthly series in "Young Gangan Magazine" published by Square Enix.

で、なぜ故に気になったかというと、原作：七月鏡一。これに尽きます。
七月鏡一aka板本健太郎さんは僕にとっては非常に有名な漫画原作者。過去にも有名な作品をいくつも手掛けている方なんですね。

例えば、藤原芳秀先生の「闇のイージス」や「暁のイージス」。特に藤原先生と多く仕事されてますね。藤原作品といえば、名作「拳児」や「コンデ・コマ」。懐かしいっすねー。
皆さんの頷く顔が想像できます！誰しもが一度は子供の時に読んだ拳児に憧れて、八極拳がサイキョーとか口走りながらマンガに出てくる技を練習したはずです！大抵の男子諸君が......すいません、興奮しすぎてどんどん脱線してました。

Knowing that writer Nanatsuki was involved in the project, this was the real reason why I decided to start reading The Arms Peddler. Kentarou Sakamoto a.k.a. Kyouichi Nanatsuki is what people who know, would call, famous, with an arsenal of genius works under his belt.
For example, "Aegis in the Dark" and "Aegis in the Dawn" co produced by artist Yoshihide Fujiwara. Writer, Kyouichi Nanatsuki and artist Fukiwara have worked together a lot in the past. Some of Fujiwara's most recognized works are "Kenji" and "Conde Koma". These really bring me back to the days. Super nostalgic to say the least. I can feel you guy's feelin' me here. I'm sure you all, too, at one point having read "Kenji"(assuming you, the reader knew what was up.) have found yourselves mimicking the moves and phrases in this hella famous manga!!! Oh snap, my bad I'm straying off course a bit. Allow me to get back on track.

七月作品で有名なのをもう一つ。大作「ARMS（皆川亮二）」。当時は凄い人気でしたね。この名作に原案協力で参加してます。ちなみに「D-LIVE!!」にもそんな感じで絡んでたはずです。

Another popular one by writer Nanatsuki that I want to introduce to you is "ARMS", illustrated by Ryouji Minagawa. Back in it's heyday, this was a real big seller. One other great project that Nanatsuki was involved in was "D-LIVE!!".

と、いう訳で、七月原作だからまぁおもろいだろう、と。これは買いでしょう、と。
つまりそういう事でした。
気になったのが、作画の梟（ナイトオウルNight Owl）。初めて聞く名前だったので、このブログ書く前に調べてみましたが、あらゆる情報が不明なんですね。アメリカの小説家トマス・ピンチョンみたいな感じです。
ですが、この方の作画レベルは非常に高いです！　素晴らしい画です。ぼくはすんなり入れました。ほぼ新人のようですが、それでも実績のある七月さんと組んで作品を作るだけの説得力を感じますよ。

Be sure to check that one out also. Which brings me back to my first point, which is why I initially bought "The Arms Peddler". Knowing that Nanatsuki was involved in so many other dope works, I kind of instinctively knew that this was also going to be the shit. One other thing that I was really curious about was the artist, Night Owl. This was the only time I'd seen his/her name in any of the books that I'd read. And what kind of name is Night Owl anyhow? Prior to me writing this blog, I did a bit of investigation on this matter. To my dismay, I couldn't find a single piece of info on this cat. Nothing. The last time I felt this empty was when I was trying to find out more on Thomas Pynchon. Another elusive brother. But back to Night Owl. He's definitely in a high class of illustrators if not in a class of his own. His work is truly mind blowing and as I was being pulled into his world, I went along willingly. Although "The Arms Peddler" is the first and only one of his works up until now, there is no debate as to the level of skill this guy has. They are few who can claim to working with a super famous writer on his/her first project.

まだ三巻までしか発売されてないので、内容を語るのはどうかと思うんですが、家族を皆殺しになれた少年と女の武器商人が出会う所から物語が始まります。ファンタジー要素溢れる冒険譚といったところですか。どう説明したらいいんだろ？
毎回言いますが、とにかく読んでみてください！！

Since there are only three books out thus far, I wonder if it's appropriate to give away the story and the answer is, NO. But that don't mean that I can't tell you all what this shit is about. A fantasy adventure story about a youth, stripped of his family who crosses paths with a female arms peddler. I know I always say this, but I highly suggest that you all read this. Take it as a light order. Again, you'll thank me for it later.

translated by glen-O.