Adventure Kid - The Original Manga - Book 2: Hard Driveby Alysson WyattReviews may contain information that could be considered 'spoilers'. Readers should proceed at their own risk. Publisher
Credits Grade: 7 This novel contains two main plot chapters. First, Norikazu and his girlfriend Midori manage to return from the Gaming World, and bring back a few new friends with them, including the lusty demoness Eganko and Kingan (Horny), an ogre who ends up as Midori's slave. They also bring back an old professor from the past and a demonic spirit that's been haunting the computer. Now the vengeful spirit seeks to wreak havoc on the old man's life, and whatever world he happens to be in, and Norikazu and Midori get caught up in trying to stop him. The aging professor decides to use the computer to travel back in time in hopes of luring the spirit along, but will it be enough? In the second chapter, the mischievous Eganko tries her hand at tempting Norikazu away from Midori — any way she can! Another student at their college, Kimoto, seeks to win Midori's heart (and the rest of her), and will do just about anything to get his way. Meanwhile, a little demon named Shijin appears with the purpose of bringing the ogre Prince Kingan back to the Gaming World, but the Prince is too busy playing around with Midori to care.Toshio Maeda is a popular hentai manga artist with a special talent for portraying the weird and grotesque amongst sexual storylines. Strange? Definitely. Crazy? Quite possibly. But it's in print, and it's on my desk, and I had fun reading it. Imagine that. There are a few major differences between Adventure Kid and Maeda's other hentai series, as far as I can tell. Here's my biggest question: Where's the sex? No really, where is it? I see oral sex, sure, lots of fooling around, masturbating and blow jobs galore, but no penetration in this entire book. I stand utterly amazed. The only time two characters ever actually get it on is merely suggested, and referred to a bit later in the story. This sorry post-reference to what should have been at least one nice centerfold among several pages of rough, kinky sex between Eganko and Kimoto was one unfortunate and extremely disappointing aspect of this novel, especially when they happen to be the two most interesting characters in the plot, at least in my view. But no, Maeda SKIPS the ENTIRE scene and jumps ahead to whenever they're finished! I mean, what the hell happened here? Maeda's not the type to just leap over something so downright juicy. In my opinion this could have been the best scene of the novel. And — incredibly — it's missing. There is no actual sex in this book. Mind you, the lack of sex itself does not disappoint so much as it appalls. It appalls not because I actually need 100% sex in my story so much as what I expect in the material from the mangaka himself. Therefore, I am not condemning this book for its absence of penetration, or its lack of entertaining material whatsoever. On the contrary, AK Book Two is at least as thick as the other Maeda novels, and the strange, perverted humor seems to more than make up for whatever might be lacking in entertainment. This brings me to the second major aspect of Adventure Kid that makes it different from some of Maeda's other series: Maeda manages to make fun of himself like, every three pages. Adventure Kid is less serious than Demon Beast Invasion or Urotsukidoji (which aren't that serious to begin with). Adventure Kid is an interesting series more bent on kinky comedy than hardcore sex. If you prefer this to actual penetration stuff in your hentai, by all means read AK. And there's plenty of comedic action, although the first plot, while a little weak, is serious and tragic enough to get my attention for the rest of the novel. There are still sexual references and lots of kinky THINGS, acts, nude shots, creatures, etc, etc. I've realized why this book appears much bigger than either La Blue Girl or Demon Beast Invasion, despite the fact that the others have about the same number of pages according to the table of contents. The pages of Adventure Kid are made of much thicker, better quality paper than the other graphic novels I've seen so far from Manga18, something all hentai readers should be happy about. The covers of this book are nice, but the synopsis on the back is misleading, and doesn't accurately describe the plot. But then, the plot is pretty hard to describe anyway. I still am not sure if the demonic spirit of the old man is a program he made, or a future incarnation of the old man himself from another dimension. Whatever you call him, he doesn't generate sexual urges in people or things at all, quite contrary to the book's description. Norikazu and Midori are lustful enough as it is. The character files and the Story So Far section are helpful in catching up on the plot, including only what matters to the characters. The art is impressive, sometimes attractive, sometimes silly and often just gross. The female body is drawn beautifully most of the time, and the giant floating severed head of the demonic computer spirit gives me chills. As for the English translation, I call it a job well done. Who ever translates these hentai novels needs to keep doing what they are doing, because those guys rock! There were times the dialogue had me rolling in fits. Favorite example: Midori: *points downward, looking gravely concerned* "Do you want to see it now so we don't have problems when we're married?" Norikazu: *looking pretty happy* "Yeah!" My take on the characters of Toshio Maeda's stories vary from series to series. By the looks of it, I see Norikazu as a cheater who doesn't think twice about getting blow jobs from just about any willing hot girl in the vicinity. In hentai, most boyfriends at least stop to think for ONE moment about their girl ... but not Norikazu. He's a guy any self-respecting girl would have dumped long ago, but Midori's got her sights set on him. She doesn't want him to have sex with other women, so what does she do? Does she ask him to cool it, or threaten to leave him? Oh, no. She gives in and "caters to his needs", so to speak. I find it pathetic that she continues to put up with him, but her character is sadly realistic. Kimoto is actually better at staying faithful to Midori than her boyfriend ... that is, until he gets drunk. This book contains a lot more story here than other hentai. For those who like a little sex with their story, or a whole lot of story with their hentai, and of course plenty of comedy, Adventure Kid is chock full of it. This may not be a good novel for beginners, but then I always find myself saying that for Maeda's books, and this is less hardcore than the rest of his series I've read so far. I laughed again and again, and you will too if you read this manga. Written: July 1, 2003
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