Sep 20, 2015
While I have always liked science, and presently research it for a living, I only got into science fiction books in the last 3 years. I discovered that scientific knowledge differs wildly among authors. In fact, many great sci-fi writers didn't necessarily need a good scientific base, as Harry Harrison's work demonstrates. Thus, I was excited to read a science fiction manga.
Unfortunately, the manga's author, Kuji, possesses less scientific knowledge than a bright 8 year-old, and his scenario is crappy shounen potboiler.
The premise is simple. A team of three astronauts must stop an electrical system that has
...
gone haywire on the Moon because of damage from an unexpected meteor shower five years ago, which also killed three astronauts. Of course, the main character on our team, Tyco, counts her father among the casualties.
Right away, we are plunged into idiocy. The manga informs us that electricity has "nowhere to go" without an atmosphere. Really? Have they ever heard of grounding? This has absolutely nothing to do with a lack of an atmosphere. The electricity wouldn't be freely crackling in the air; it would have been absorbed into the Moon's surface.
Moreover, if there was significant damage to an electrical system causing it to pump out far more electricity than normal, it wouldn't still have plenty of current five years later. The fuses would have blown out.
But it becomes even more moronic, if that's possible. Because, in that same speech bubble, we are informed that the electricity is becoming "more powerful". What in the blue fuck?! This is impossible for the same reason perpetual motion is impossible; where is the system obtaining this steady stream of new energy from?
Kuji isn't done. How do you think our intrepid astronauts decide to get rid of this impossible, magically increasing electrical storm? Do they ground it somehow, perhaps even with something as simple as a very long pole? Of course not. Do they, even if ignorant of any and all science, send in a robot to turn off some switches? Considering this story takes place well into the future, where it only takes 3 days to make it to the Moon, and we actually had these robots when this work was published, 2012, the author surely would have thought of it, no? He did not.
Instead, the only apparent solution is to have an astronaut manually go inside the magical electrical building to turn the switches off. (I guess they were NOT damaged that badly by the meteorites, huh?)
Of course, this leads to the typical hot-blooded shounen bullshit of the main characters suffering injury and pain, but angrily gritting through. In particular, our heroes note that they have to do this for the reputation of astronauts, and fuck those asshole journalists on Earth who doubt them! (Seriously, that's the rationale given by this manga)
Even forgetting Kuji's shameless ignorance of science, this is a scenario many teen fanfic writers could improve upon.
Kuji the Dunce even chickens out on having anyone die; everyone makes it out safe and sound. This is a wretched, terrible, and downright embarrassing manga. Sad, because I would love to read a good science fiction work.
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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