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Gon
Manga Review
Dinosaurs once roamed the planet until their ultimate demise; nowadays the only time people get to see dinosaurs is by visiting and viewing bone remains at museums. What happens though if one dinosaur survives and lives? How would other animals react to this reality? Masashi Tanaka's Gon explores this.
If you happen to get the chance to read Gon in Japanese, don't worry about not understanding it, because other than repackaging the cover and making it available for sale in the United States. There is no text to be read, Gon is a story completely told in pictures, and is strongly depended on Tanaka's stunning artwork. This is quite like watching a silent film, and that is quite the unique feature. If you are an animal lover, then this is a story to not be missed.
This is a series that is great for storytelling with children of young ages. Children with their inquisitive minds can definitely see the spark of life that Gon embodies. He is after all living his own path, sleeping in unlikely places and eating his veggies and meat. After every chapter, there is a picture and identification of the animals that Gon interacted with. Reading this glorified picture book told in manga style, leaves readers interpreting just how the fellow animals react to this small yet motivating historic lizard.
Though there are only seven books in this series, Gon is a well known dinosaur world wide, for his cameo inclusion in the virtual reality fighting video game, Tekkan 3. Gon was originally licensed by CMX, an imprint of DC Comics prior to their closing. As of now, the original Japanese company is releasing this in the U.S. By the way, this is Masashi Tanaka most successful title as of yet. The life, of this dinosaur is not going to be ending as of yet, with anime or movie adaptations to be spun about.
Reviewed by Linda Yau, June 2012
Below: Scenes from Gon .
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