Getbackers, Volume 5

by Yuya Aoki and Rando Ayamine

Book Overview

The Thirteenth Sunflower, a newly discovered Van Gogh painting, has been stolen by the mysterious art thief Clayman. Despite knowing exactly where the painting is, Hachisu from Takaoka Department... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1591826373
• ISBN13: 9781591826378
• Release Date: October 2004
• Publisher: TokyoPop
• Length: 1 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.1" x 7.5"
• Age Range: 16 years and up

Customer Reviews

VAN GOGH'S 13TH SUNFLOWER

GetBackers Volume 5 is divided into two Acts. In the first, Gin and Ban are hired by a department store museum to get back a stolen Van Gogh sunflower painting from a mysterious thief named Clayman. Clayman is also getting help from Lady Poison, Ban's enemy and ex-lover. What makes the painting so valuable is that it is the 13th sunflower painting that was done by Van Gogh. Up until this time, there were only twelve in existence. Whether it's a fake or not, the owners are paying big yen for its return. In the second Act, almost all the major heroes and villains introduced in the series so far are brought together for Hevn-san's next assignment. The team has been hired to retrieve "I.L". The masked group that employs them doesn't give them a clue as to what I.L. is but they do give them its location. Within the Infinity Fortress. A building in the middle of the crime ridden slums of Underground Shinjuku, from which a vicious gang rules the turf. A gang, by the way, that Gin used to lead. GetBackers is the nearest manga I've seen that comes close to a Western style super-hero comic in the tradition of the Fantastic Four or the Avengers. The difference is that no Western comic would put two idiots like Ban and Gin as the main characters and also rely on humor equally with action to power the comic. The art by Yuya Aoki is magnificent and ultra-realistic. It is never cluttered and the action is always clear. The story could use a little work as it too often falls into battle after battle with no character development in between. But you almost forgive this fault for now, because the manga is so exciting. Hopefully, the writer will come to a slower movement in the future, because we've come a long way since the first volume when Ban and Gin were homeless, carless, and clueless.