What's the point of making a dream come true?
I've always dreamt of reading Mizu no Tomodachi Kappaman. When, in 1989, I had my first chance to hold a real Shonen Jump in my hands, I'm not going to replay the scene of the little Western otaku who feels like he's holding a little piece of Japan in his hands. It was a time without internet when a Japanese manga pre-publication magazine guaranteed you happiness and prosperity in the playground.
My first manga trauma was Anjuro - Jojo's Bizarre Adventure
I was impressed by 3 titles in Japanese VO, Mizu no Tomodachi Kappaman, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure and a title about Nobunaga where the characters' teeth were too white to be honest. I was able to discover the other two titles afterwards, and there's no going back on the legend that is JOJO, but the fact that the Kappa Man was unavailable on all digital platforms and in all physical bookshops gave him an air of mystery that placed him among the legends. Not to mention Oda Eichiro's training as Masaya's assistant on this title, and given the classic that One Piece has become, we could only have had high hopes for Kappaman. Well, no.
The Cannot Man
But, you should not hope, you had to remain in doubt in order to keep dreaming. Because Mizu no Tomodachi Kappaman is so bad that you do not even want to mention the author's name. The character design and the powers of the characters hinted at a good little fan-service shonen that would please fans.
Kawataro, the hero who brings good luck by doing good deeds. Lame. According to Nekomata, Kawataro wastes his youth. Void
According to classic folklore, Kappa is a lustful monster. His appetite for women is infamous for knowing no bounds. Null.
Good characters, nices ideas, bad story
Mizu no Batarade Kappaman
Nekomata, the cat who feels the energy of the Yokais. Lame
The worst is that the basic idea of the manga isn't bad at all. Linking the increasing scarcity of yokai to the pollution destroying their natural environment, highlighting the effects of pollution in a shonen nekketsu manga in 1996, was incredibly innovative because it was ahead of its time.
But, it is so badly written that you canot tell the story. It just falls apart. By reading this manga, you understand why Oda became so strong, thanks to this first experience, he understood everything he shouldn't have done or everything he should have done to ruin a story. You grow faster in adversity.
And then, what's so surprising about an artistic shipwreck giving rise to one of the finest pirate stories of all time?
