MW

I think nowadays it's customary to introduce Tezuka as the godfather of manga. And that's rightfully so. Without Tezuka, Manga wouldn't be the Manga that we know and enjoy. Tezuka's influence over the medium is palpable. A prime example of this: MW. The story MW would go on to inspire Naoki Urasawa's mystery/thriller series and opus, Monster...

The Similarities between Monster and MW are almost exclusively to the antagonist of Monster, Johan, and the protagonist of MW, Michio Yuki. Both are a product of humanity's experiments in war. While Johan was a biologically altered human created to succeed Hitler, Michio was a casualty of a gas weapon of mass destruction. Both have lost their human emotions and are entities of pure nihilism due to their brains being altered. I say that but at first, it seems like Michio's story is a revenge story. However, as the plot unfolds, he heads towards nihilism and the same mass destruction which created him. As a result, they will both go to great lengths to achieve their goal, a perfect suicide, by murdering and even cross-dressing. All of this, executed perfectly like a master plan. While their ideas of a perfect suicide were different, the main principle is the same. Please don't take me comparing them as, the stories being a substitute to each other. Monster is told through Dr. Tenma's point of view and has much more of a mystery tone while MW is told by Michio's point of view. The best way I could put it is: if Monster was told from Johan's perspective. I recommend you read both and formulate your own opinions as they are different stories with differentiating plots. Also, I want to say that it is not confirmed that Monster was inspired by MW, but the similarities are too many to call it a coincidence. Also, Urasawa is a fan of Tezuka. Having written pluto, a take on Tezuka's classic, Astro Boy. So I can say with confidence that Urasawa is at least familiar with Tezuka. Now I will stop comparing and get onto my review of the story... The character of Garai Yutaro, the lover of Michio, and accomplice, is quite the interesting one. While he is a catholic priest and is supposed to be a holy person, he has a dark past with the MW bomb. Michio serves as a reminder of that past as well as another faucet of sin. Which in this case is a gay relationship. The best comparison I can give is that of Mozgus from Berserk. Both are people who turn to religion for affirmation while not exactly being a saint themselves. That sort of hypocrisy and his internal conflict result in a pretty fascinating character.

My only complaint is that you can tell the story is somewhat outdated by modern standards, but considering when it was written, it holds up pretty well. Overall a decent story with great themes. All things considered, it's one of my favorite Tezuka short stories. I give it a really good score of....