The Far East Incident looks at Unit 731, one of the most sinister organizations to have raged during the Second World War, in Asia. His crimes have inspired many works of fiction whether films (Doctor Wai, A wife of a spy), novels (The Shiro Project) or comics-Manga (Maruta in the universe of Block 109, Inspector Kurokochi). This new series mixes real history and anticipation to describe a secret struggle in a post-war Japan that has not yet faced all its demons. This first volume thrilled us with its tone, its drawing and its dynamism.
The age of variants
September 1945, the Japanese Empire has just capitulated, after 8 years of a deadly war, started by the invasion of China in 1937. The country, devastated, is under US administration. It must help install a legal government while supporting the reconstruction of Japanese cities reduced to ashes. Added to this are the millions of homeless, the prosecution of war criminals and the threat posed by nostalgic empire people unable to accept defeat. The Kiheitai militia is indeed one of those dark forces that dream of revenge. To achieve her goals, she can rely on variants, superhuman beings designed by the scientists of Unit 731. To counter its increasingly spectacular attacks, the Supreme Command of the Allied Forces, the GHQ has assembled a team to eliminate the variants. Around Saika, a variant child, this group relentlessly hunts down its enemies and will meet Kankurō Konoe, a Japanese soldier, just repatriated, and thrown against his will in this fierce struggle. 
The Far East Incident: Japan, Year Zero
This manga offers the French reader to lift the veil on a part of Japanese history: the years of occupation following the capitulation. Indeed, this volume 1 opens on a scene that sets the framework: Japan is under the protectorate of Washington. In the cities, it is the military police of Uncle Sam who replace, supervise the local police. Power is in the hands of the SCAP, a US military government that accompanies the political transition of the archipelago. The rest of this first volume continues to immerse the reader in an atmosphere that is reminiscent of the final scene of the Tomb of the Fireflies. The occupiers had to manage thousands of homeless, feed a population shocked by war and defeat, and care for more than 2 million now-useless Japanese soldiers. And on this point the story chooses an atypical hero, a soldier, war hero, but without medals. Without revealing the reasons, film lovers will have perceived the reference to the film Under the Flag of th the rising sun, an anti-militarist firebrand castigating the fanaticism of officers. 
A clever mix of fiction and history
The Far East Incident, like the previous historical fictions reviewed on our site (Bomber boy, Manchuria Opium Squad) plunges with delight into the fictional imagination. It is the work of scientists, doctors of Unit 731 that will inspire the emergence of variants. Endowed with an extraordinary resistance, they are the ultimate weapon of fanatical officers ready to do anything to restore the imperial order. This volume presents us with these guinea pigs, 1000 in all, lurking throughout Japan and stirring up the lust of different groups. Like a Wolverine, the story still keeps all the mystery about their creation and motivation. Are they just tools or have they retained an ounce of humanity? What makes this story captivating is the solidity of the historical background. The creators evoke pell-mell General MacActhur, Minister Tojo and point out the ambiguity of Emperor Hiro-Hito. They will also recall the fate of Manchuria, a Chinese province conquered by the Japanese and scene of many abuses (opium trafficking and experiences of Unit 731). They also rely on events that have long remained unknown: the impunity of the members of Unit 731 after the war in exchange for their work, the Kyujo incident which saw, on the night of August 14 to 15, fanatical officers attempt a coup d'état to prevent capitulation. These references nourish the story and multiply its strength. 
The Far East Incident: Action and Reflection
Do not misunderstand the primary meaning of this manga. The Far East Incident is presented as an action story mixing espionage, powers and combat. This volume perfectly fulfills this mission by offering unbridled action where augmented men and women confront each other to the death. The superb drawing is served by a very inspired layout. It helps to create an atmosphere "of the in-between" where one navigates between the shonen spirit (see the superb cover) and the seinen spirit (in the description of a ravaged Japan). In any case, the story is devoured in one go. This dynamism does not prevent the authors from subtly slipping a reflection on the meaning of the reconstruction of a country after the war. Who should be judged, forgiven, reinstated? Is collaborating with the occupier synonymous with betrayal? In reality, the characters, whatever their camp, are for the moment all ambivalent. With the exception, however, of the former soldier who paid a high price for the war rhetoric of his country and must, in a scene worthy of the Tomb of the Fireflies, learn to live with the mourning of his family. The story also allows itself a non-caricatured treatment of Americans who are also confronted with a complex mission: to help a country rebuild itself without humiliating it, to forgive its former enemies. One sentence underlines this very subtle treatment of the occupiers "we are not here to loot". Vega-Dupuis continues its exploration of the richness of manga by offering an excellent series using entertainment and action to question a pivotal moment in Japanese history while questioning the notions of justice and responsibility.
