"Blue Giant Manga" Outstanding

     I'll be the first to say, my brother has been recommending this manga to me forever. I mean he loves it, he has stickers from this series, shirts from it, and as someone with a background in music he just loves the idea of a manga about jazz. Me on the other hand, well frankly I'm not the biggest jazz guy, but what I did need was something to read while I donated plasma, and honestly I was hooked. I'm a big slice of life guy when it comes to stories. I don't constantly need big events or crossovers, I just need characters to get hooked onto. And I'll be damned, Blue Giant did it for me. Really, the only thing I hated was the ending, I just felt like considering all they built up this band to be, the fact that it turned out the way it did really frustrated me. So let's talk about it.

    I would consider at the very least this arc of the series two halves. The first on involves Dai in his hometown of Sendai, trying to prove that he is more than just someone passionate about jazz, he can become a real saxophone player, he can make a real career out of this, because not only does he have some natural talent when pouring his heart out, he has heart, and that's what matters. I mean yeah it's a little cheesy, you watch this dude literally play his saxophone every day without fail, and whenever he faces an issue he just plasters a grin just begging to have reality punch it's naivety out of it. But it works. Yes, I do admit I have my biases towards hope, but for the most part Dai is a relatively good guy.

    Which is a real shame that one of the main themes of this series is not letting anything hold you back. Leaving things behind to pursue greatness. Not in a super depressing way like Whiplash, where its quite clear the means don't justify the ends. Dai understands the sacrifices he has to make, but for better or worse this manga focuses on the music, and honestly kind of glosses over the interpersonal stuff going on in their lives. For better or worse Dai is always talking about pouring his heart out, yet he's alone, doesn't want to see his family, and they spend about like one issue with him letting his old crush go in a pretty disappointing manner. It's hard to talk about emotion in music when I feel like more could have been done not only with the interpersonal relationships of the bandmates, but the way the outside world has an effect on the way they play.

    Don't even get me started on the ending. Free my boy Yuki is all I will say. I get having him play at So Blue by himself and playing his heart out "like it's his last." But also, I just think you could have had the same effect of the ending if Yuki got injured right after Jass played together as a trio at So Blue. Yuki still would have told Dai not to let him hold him back, and Tamada would have done the same as well. I thought it was cool they played in his honour, but I think they should have all played together at the very least one time at the top of the apex. I mean the entire series they keep on hammering home these kids are special not just because they're players, but because they're trying to bring Jazz back, they're young and have a special sort of energy these older folks just simply don't have anymore. They're young, they're hungry, they're ambitious, that's what Jass represented, bringing back the same energy and spirit. So to have them not all perform together at So Blue, basically the pinnacle of Japanese jazz, was quite disappointing, especially when it could have easily been remedied.

Final Score: 85/100

    I'm going to be honest I've been a bit down lately. Though, this series has got me a little hooked on hope once again, and perhaps that's why I so voraciously read through 10 issues without breaking a sweat. Really, my only wish is that they localize the other parts of the series. It's a real shame that Tamada doesn't seem to show up again. I thought it was neat that he was hard work, Yuki was talent (and hard work of course), while Dai was sort of like a good mix of both. I really thought we'd be watching Jass together as this blue giant that took the world of jazz by storm. I also really am disappointed they didn't do more with the love interest. I'm not saying everything needs a love interest, but he just kind of dropped her and they moved on with little consequence.