Review:

Gunsmith Cats Burst is actually the continuation of the adventures of the Gunsmith Cats. Dark Horse Comics has published the original adventures in comic issue format, collected format, and now a new Japanese style revised collected format that came out at the same time as they released Gunsmith Cats Burst. Saying that, you don’t have to have read any of the early comics to enjoy Burst.

One of the best thing about the author’s, Kenichi Sonoda, work is the attention to detail. Considering Mr. Sonoda lives in Japan, he’s done a lot of amazing research to get down the details of the buildings, landmarks, vehicles, and guns of the setting of modern Chicago. You can tall he’s a fan of the stuff he draws because the amount of information he gives about the guns and cars that are talked about in the book. I know I’ve taken what I’ve learned about firearms from Gunsmith Cats and I’ve been able to have a fairly decent conversation about guns.

That said about details, Kenichi Sonoda’s art is also very smooth, crisp, clean and sharp. Which is very good because the comic has a lot of wild and clever action (all plausible action, just requires a lot of skill and a little luck) and the art makes it very clear what’s happening from panel to panel. Kenichi Sonoda is a prime example of why speed lines are very good tool and how to use them right. With all the fast and furious fighting and gun play, there’s a very good sense of fluid action.

The stories themselves are very solidly entertaining, but it does fit into a specific genre so if you’re not into cop/crime high octane action stories, then this might not be for you. The characters are well rounded but not too complex to where you can’t just jump into the story and follow what’s going on. Also I mentioned about all the details above, the art on the characters faces is very much anime/manga styled (but the faces are always in-character as they don’t do the typical tropes of some manga where they make weird faces or even chibi forms). The stories are always smart crime dramas, but even when the plot is fairly guessable there’s plenty of action and tension to keep the story entertaining.

Now the bad thing for some readers is the amount of cheesecake. There is a good amount of panty shots, womens’ shirts have a habit of getting torn open, and some women are found in their underwear. Also the ages of the characters is really talked about which is a little questionable because the character Minnie-May is fairly young and it’s hinted at she used to be a prostitute and continues to be sexually active. I have to point those items out because with the violence, the drug and other criminal activities, and the adult themes, not everyone should read this book. I would say it’s for older teenagers but it’s always good to run it past your parents first (open communication helps you potentially be allowed to read other mature books that you show an interest in.)

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