After the excellent series Higher Than the Sky and The Cop of Roppongi, we had the pleasure of discovering Live Machine, a series mixing crime, assassination and terrorism!
Live Machine T01
Live Machine by Matsumori Tadashi and Caribu Marley is a seinen released in 1983 in Japan. In France, both volumes of the series were published in October 2021 by Black Box Edition.
Reiji Ariyama is a jazz pianist at a club in Roppongi, Tokyo. Behind this seemingly quiet daily life, the musician actually hides a heavy past: that of an overtrained soldier who survived armed conflicts in Africa. One day, he meets a mysterious man nicknamed "Q", who begins to offer him contracts designed to bring down important politicians. For these secret missions, the mercenary is adorned with a code name: Live Machine.
Two worlds that everything seems to oppose!
Live Machine transports us to two very different worlds, that of music and that of murder. We quickly realize that the professions of pianist and mercenary are not so opposed. Indeed, it seems that these two worlds come together quite quickly. First of all, the passion that drives our main character is felt in both areas. Some customers even call him "possessed" when he plays a frenzied song after an unfriendly encounter. In addition, it also happens that some people with questionable pasts also come to take advantage of his musical talents. Who said music and murder couldn't be linked? In addition, our main character seems to be extremely talented in both areas. Indeed, he is a virtuoso on the piano, turning the heads of all who listen to him. He is also a master in the art of assassination. Whether diving, handling a grenade or observing a situation, Reiji Ariyama is able to get out of all possible situations. However, although our pianist has multiple talents, we must admit that emotionally speaking, he left us indifferent. It is rather rare to feel no emotion towards a character, especially the main character. In general, we can appreciate, or on the contrary "hate" a character. But in this case, no emotion appeared to us. And so is Reiji. Apart from anger, he doesn't seem to feel anything. Is this the lot of any hitman? A lot of questions came to mind pretty quickly. Who is this organization? What is its real purpose? And although this first volume does not provide any answers, we hope to have them in the second. Indeed, one of the advantages of short series is that we do not have to wait months or even years before we can satisfy our curiosity.
Striking graphics!
On the graphics side, we enjoyed finding those of the series of the 80s. Indeed, these are very different from the current graphics. And we admit that going back to the past is very pleasant. In addition, we enjoyed discovering the backgrounds of many boxes. Indeed, some pages have no dialogue at all. The author has therefore relied on quality graphics so that the pace of the story is maintained. And although the story unfolds relatively quickly, the reader is not in a hurry to discover the volume. This mix of pages with and without dialogue imposes an atmosphere that allows you to enjoy the scenario even more intensely. Unlike Reiji, we also find emotions on the faces of the other characters. These can be fear, pleasure, joy or surprise, to name a few. In addition, scenes containing violence are accentuated. The strokes are more pronounced and the boxes are darker. And as with many series of the time, the author alternates between action scenes, musical moments and sex scenes. And for those who would have an attraction for the world of music, the author manages to make us feel certain notes through the graphics. The latter have not been translated so that they do not weigh down the boxes and it is a very good choice since it adds cachet to the work. Live machine T01 is a very good series that we recommend to seinen lovers. Indeed, the series brilliantly mixes incredible action scenes, quality graphics and a scenario full of mystery. What more could you ask for?
