Gon

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Gon is easily one of the most unique manga ever made and I am so glad I discovered it. Telling of the wonderful misadventures of an adorable yet fierce dinosaur who does whatever he wants wherever he wants, I would say he looks a lot like Baby Dragon from Yu-Gi-Oh, but Gon actually came first! Depicted only with art and not a single line of dialogue, some awesome stories are told that fully showcase the power of comics as a medium. Don't be fooled by the goofy cover, Masashi Tanaka has created one of the best drawn manga ever made and a masterclass of visual ... storytelling.

Gon is a fascinatingly constructed tale. It's almost entirely episodic with each chapter starting with Gon ending up in a different location and getting up to all kinds of shenanigans. Over the course of the manga, we visit all kinds of biomes - European mountains and forests, African savannah, barren deserts, snow-covered artic wastelands, the Amazon rainforest and many more. What is really captivating is how realistically life in nature is depicted, with all the creatures partaking in their usual activities. That is, until Gon gets involved. Then, this Animal Planet documentary quickly transforms into Tom and Jerry-esque slapstick mayhem. I didn't expect to laugh as often as I did while reading this, but it cracked me up on multiple occasions. Beyond the absurd skits, there are many dramatic moments and there is more than enough tention in every chapter to keep things interesting. Gon himself is a more nuanced character than one would expect and there are tons of pleasant surprises along the way.

Obviously, the art is the main focal point of Gon and it is truly a feast for the eyes. All of the art is stunningly beautiful and superbly detailed, while also being very energetic, dynamic and clearly readable. All of the backgrounds are breathtakingly picturesque. All the animals are drawn in an almost flawlessly photorealistic manner and juxtaposing Gon's very cartoony appearance serves to greatly accentuate the absurdity of the events depicted. It's amazing how expressive the art is too. Without ever fully anthropomorphizing them, all the animals have superbly expressive faces that help sell the story and showcase emotions without any words needed. Some of them are also downright hilarious.

The most appealing thing about this manga is of course it's lack of words and that to me perfectly showcases the power of comics as a storytelling method. Tanaka's art is so perfectly expressive and fluid that despite the lack of dialogue, not a single time is it unclear what is happening. The emotions of the characters are perfectly clear and the action is flowing and epic. A manga like this is a celebration of human imagination and how a story full of rapid motion, vibrant colour and dynamic action can be fully expressed through nothing but black and white artwork. And magnificent artwork at that.

Alright, I've rambled on long enough. Point is, Gon is incredibly unique. I can't think of any other manga this focused on wild animals just existing in their natural habitat, without a single human every appearing. I can't think of any other manga that is so fluent and easy to enjoy without ever needing words. I can't think of any other manga so confident in its art, that it lets it do all the talking. Truly, Gon is a one-of-a-kind experience and one of the finest works in the manga sphere. It's even quite short and thanks to its lack of dialogue, it goes fully beyond any borders and language barriers. Do yourself a favour and give it a read!

*Warning! This review contains minor spoilers*

There is no point on going into the story in details, since there are no continuing story (until the last volume), neither question or address how he appears in different parts of the world since it shouldn’t matter. I enjoyed how all the locations of his adventures takes place in many familiar yet unknown places. You will see them in an entirely different way!

The artwork is really amazing, so much details on every animals and landscape. Just search “Gon manga” on google or other search engine with images and you will understand what I mean. The animals looks so ... gorgeous and environment really make it looks much bigger than it already is! Masahsi really did a good job by mixing the the realistic look of the animal with some cartoonish looks.

Now that are the pros, now for the cons.

Gon character lacks consistency.
Sometimes he is smart that he could come up a tactical plan with a lion to catch prey, sometimes he is totally clueless that he doesn’t notice. Not only does his intelligence seems to sway through chapters, but so does his personality. In one chapter he helps infant/young animals to survive in the bloodthirsty wild, standing out as a hero, and in another he destroys an eco system just for his own pleasure. It kind of makes me confused whatever not to consider him good or bad. This is why I consider that it should have been more than one Gon so that we could get a variety of Gons if we are gonna have these differences in intellect and personality.
Now I don’t say its bad, but he should have used a better transition to those things. You may or may not agree that he does look cute on some parts, but I hope that you can see this as problem of knowing why I should like him beside that.

Same thing could said about its theme. Most of the time it plays out as an gag manga with cute animals, but there is one chapter that takes a dark turn with killing of young cubs with blood and all. I don’t want hate it (infact it one of the best chapters of the manga), but again, he should have used better way of transition it.

This work contains no dialog or onomatopoetic words. People always ask me why I have done this. From the beginning, I didn't think it was necessary. Manga should be without grammar. I also think that it is strange to give animals human language and make them talk. What I set out to do with Gon was to draw something that was more interesting than anything you could say in words. Manga still has great potential that does not exist in other media. I plan to continue developing the art of expression." - Masashi Tanaka

What he said is true that you don’t need those things to make a great series, but then why would he have this on a manga? This could work so much better as a shorts on TV, just imagine it with all the colors. Now that I mentioned it, Masashi could have got away and Gon would have been much more.

I guess that the other reviewers are right, this doesn’t seem to meant for people at my age. But it should apply to everyone who likes western cartoonish humor and character, which this one doesn’t feel like to me even if I always enjoy cartoonish show like Tom and Jerry in whatever age.

Speaking of Tom and Jerry, I want to draw an example. As you might now, Tom and Jerry has changed its animator/style of drawing for all its time. Yet, you still enjoy the show whatever what it looks like right? Now imagine if Gon didn’t have all those beautiful details and had an average artwork. Would you then still enjoy it? I wouldn’t.

When I see the other reviews rate this manga at 9 or 10, I feel like they don’t want to dare rate this any lower due to its art style.
I think this series needs some tough love.

I give the look of the manga a 9.5/9,5 while overall 5.5/9,5

I will remember the art work and Gon, but will I have no recollections off the rest.
If you like drawn animals and landscapes in high quality, then this manga is for you. Otherwise, I say this is something you can skip.

Gon – Spoiler Free – Not Recommended

TLDR
Overall: 3/10

Disclaimer: due to the nature of this work – a visually highly experimentalist manga – my normal parameters of Story, Art, Characters and Enjoyment with a weighted average won’t be applied. Instead, a global overview will be offered.

Gon is an experimental manga by Masashi Tanaka. It is a compilation of short, episodic stories with no dialogue, with a small dinosaur as a common thread, called Gon.
Not much can be said about this manga: although it is seven volumes long, one can read the entirety of it in a very short time. There are one-volume mangas that are longer ... than Gon.
These stories are also incredibly simple, and for good reason: there is absolutely no dialogue, not even a single speech balloon. The characters are the animals that Gon interacts with. Moreover, it lacks any semblance of plot.
The art style is functional and well-conceived, as it is the only medium of communication between the manga and the reader. Gon is also adorable. Animals and landscapes are drawn in a very realistic – and quite impressive – fashion. The manga also has good page composition and flow.
There are no characters, aside from the animals that appear in the stories, and thus, no character background, depth, or development.
Gon is certainly a quick read, but it doesn’t amount to much else, in all due honesty. It is boring and dull, and one certainly didn’t grow as a person or an otaku in reading this. It is an interesting thought experiment – almost like a radical-out-of-touch Tsutomu Nihei, a mangaka that uses very little dialogue as well –, but that doesn’t amount to much else. It is, without a doubt, unique, but again: this does not make it automatically good. One should read it for their education as an otaku, but one cannot conceive any other reason, for the stories ended up being uninteresting.