Git Good (The King of Fighters: A New Beginning vol. 1)

 A Commission for David Shevlin

…Shit.

The King of Fighters anime
was so much better.

This article was commissioned as part of a Kickstarter campaign for my upcoming book The Tower Through The Trees. This specific article was asking for a 2,000 word look at the manga The King of Fighters: A New Beginning vol. 1 from the perspective of an outsider. However, the problem with such an article is that, to put it bluntly, the manga doesn’t have enough in it to make it possible to write more than 500 words without filler paragraphs such as this.

The main issue with the manga is that it is very much one that is based on the assumption that the reader has already familiarized themselves with The King of Fighters franchise. As such, it doesn’t feel the need to introduce any of its cavalcade of characters beyond broad strokes and archetypes. The rival, the hero, the amoral assholes, Mr. Satan. There’s no sense of progression to the point where everything fits into place. There’s no build up to the fighting the way you would see in most sports manga (of which this could arguably be placed in, if you ignore all the Ka-Me-Ha-Me-Has and Sure-You-Cans). It’s just twenty pages of character names and archetypes, then fight scene. The volume doesn’t even end with the fight resolving, simply putting a “To Be Continued” at the exact moment when the “main event” is supposed to take place.

The art style utilized for the manga is reminiscent of the art style of the video game’s cover art. And while that is admirable in regard to sticking to an aesthetic vision, that vision is a bit… uninteresting. It’s the sort of art style you would expect from someone who had only read 90s shonen manga and nothing else. In terms of American comics, think not of Todd McFarlane or Rob Liefeld, but of their knock offs. A sort of generic version of an aesthetically arresting (if, at times, simplistic) art style that lacks the flare and attitude to get away with the worst excesses.

And therein lies the core issue with this manga: it lacks ambition. It doesn’t see itself as anything more than a mere throwaway comic tie-in to a fighting series that has a very paper thin plot as it is. It’s very much of the sort that thinks what makes a good story is the fight scenes. The sort of mentality that goes “I’m just here for Godzilla, can we fast forward through the human bits.” Now, there is an appeal to wrestling fiction where the plots are often paper thin and the fights are more important than anything else. But with wrestling, there’s at least some measure of set up. It’s a multi-decade story about a group of weirdos, bastards, and heroes fighting not only their opponents, but their image. Imagine watching The Reunion of The Golden Lovers or Childe Cena to the Firefly Fun House Came without the years of buildup, context, and so much more.

The King of Fighters: A New Beginning vol 1, ultimately, expects me to either already care about these characters or roll with the punches and enjoy the fighting. However, the fights are too uninteresting to fully invest in without those years’ worth of character development. I think I’ll watch Dirty Pair instead.