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There're some Mamoru Oshii book lists on the Internet, but they don't have detailed explanations about the contents. My Mamoru Oshii book collection is far from complete, but I'd like to write some short summaries for each of those books.
I apologize in advance for grammatical errors and misinformation.
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title: 西武新宿戦線異状なし
(Dragon Retriever)
release: 02/01/1994 (Complete Edition: 05/01/2002)
publisher: Nihon Shuppansha (Complete Edition: Kadokawa Shoten)
[contents]
*Complete Edition
ACT 1
ACT 2
ACT 3
ACT 4
ACT 5
ACT 6
ACT 7
ACT 8
ACT 9
ACT 10
ACT 11
ACT 1 1/2
tips about ACT 1 1/2 by Yasuyuki Ohno
analysis of M32B1 Kai
character design sheets by Yasuyuki Ohno
character sketch by Mamoru Oshii
afterword by Yasuyuki Ohno
[review]
This is a manga series written by Oshii and drawn by Yasutomo Ohno.
The story takes place in alternate Japan where a civil war and a schism occurred. It doesn't explain much about the background. The protagonist says that JSDF launched a coup like the Patlabor OVA’s episodes. The war fell into a deadlock, and people got used to the endless suspension.
The protagonist is a high school boy who loves tanks. He joined a voluntary army to become a tank soldier. However, he was assigned to a weird ARV/ Armoured Recovery Vehicle unit. The members are undisciplined, almost rogue soldiers. They steal food and luxury items from abandoned buildings and sell them to illegal markets. The protagonist didn't like their behaviors, but he gradually got used to them.
One day, a beautiful female political-commissar gives them a secret order. Their new mission is to retrieve "something" that the US army left in Japan. The protagonist and the ARV unit go on a journey to find the US army's secret item.
It was written by Oshii, so naturally, it has a dog metaphor. This manga focuses on a "tank retriever", and Oshii put the "fetch and retrieve" metaphor into it. In the final chapter, Oshii put a short text about dogs' autonomy. Dogs sometimes think that their owners might take away the toys. That kind of dogs' autonomy is compared to the protagonist's decision at the end. (That part was quoted from Vicki Harne’s book called “Adam’s Task”. Oshii likes this book so much. He even tried to quote it in JIN-ROH.)
Oshii is not an animator nor manga artist, so he needs to team up with other artists. Like Kazuchika Kise or Mizuho Nishikubo, he always employs the same group of people in anime projects. Oshii himself says it is easier to make anime with the same team.
In manga, however, Oshii teams up with a different artist every time. That style has its own merits and flaws. Oshii's manga is unpredictable in terms of art style and quality.
Oshii and Ohno are probably the best pair in his career. Ohno is good at military manga, so he fully understands Oshii's military tastes and turns them into realistic visuals. Plus, his characters' facial expression is very lively, comical, and charming. (Kamui's art is sophisticated and gorgeous, but it's too dry as Oshii said.)
Dragon Retriever is probably one of Oshii's best works. The action, drama, political suspense, and Oshii's metaphorical philosophy are well-balanced. It's recommendable even to non-Oshii fans.
There are two versions of this manga. The complete edition includes a side story written in 2002.
*This manga was originally drawn by Kazuhisa Kondo. Kondo’s Dragon Retriever was serialized in a magazine called B-CLUB, but it was canceled for some reason. It was never collected into a book, so it’s a bit difficult to read Kondo’s version today.
