Books: Gunsmith Cats

Fan·ser·vice \fanˈsɜrvɪs\ n [origin unknown]

1 : Elements of a plot (usually in manga or anime) designed to excite or titillate the viewer, with little or no relation to the story as a whole

2: Gunsmith Cats, by Kenichi Sonoda

Maybe I'm being a little unfair, but "Gunsmith Cats" is one of those manga series that is hard to take seriously. Just look at the two (female) protagonists - Rally Vincent, an expert driver and world-class marksman who also happens to be a good-looking brunette, and Minnie May, a 17 year-old explosives expert who easily passes for a 10 year-old girl (this part of her character is probably the most unsettling - she engages in some near-explicit sex acts during the series which were edited out of the U.S. release IIRC). Rally operates a gun shop, but really the two are dedicated bounty hunters, and the books invariably deal with their pursuits and the fallout that these pursuits generate.

That's not to say it's bad. There's nothing wrong with watching two bounty hunters engage in car chases, gunfights, and the occasional bout of slapstick humor. Everything, from the classic American muscle cars (though the author seems to have a Ford fetish :-P) to the various guns the characters use, is lovingly detailed and obsessively researched. Rally's CZ-75 pistol in particular is incredibly realistic. This is especially impressive considering the author is stuck in Japan where firearms are illegal for common people to possess.

But, aside from the rock 'em-sock 'em action scenes, the bounty hunting and emotional entaglements the pair get involved in (there are some recurring friends and enemies) are only average. Still, it's worth taking a look at if only for the visceral pleasure of the images.