Title: Firefighter! Daigo of Fire Company M Volume(s): 20 Author(s): Masahito Soda Format: Unflipped; Right-to-Left Publisher: Viz Media MSRP: $9.95 Genre(s): Action/Drama Rated: Teen (13+)

Manga has become extremely popular and mainstream these past couple years. I know I must sound like a broken record by pointing this out, but it's true. The selection of manga...man, back in the early 90's who would have ever thought there would be so much manga being released. Bookstores are dedicating whole sections of the store to these comics, and (literally) pushing the American comics to the side...pretty crazy when you stop and think about it. When manga started to really catch on, manga companies could sell anything (and I mean ANYTHING). Series like "Paradise Kiss," "MARS," and "Jing: King of Bandits" became hits, despite the fact that these series were not huge names and (at the time) didn't have anime's to help market them. No, if it was manga people would buy it, and that meant a lot of really good smaller titles were being gobbled up without much thought, just because it was something to buy. Fast forward a mere two years later, and the situation is quite different. Now the manga market is being over saturated, with so much manga coming out a month, that it's getting hard to keep track of what is what these days.

These days you need a name attached to a manga for it to become an overnight success. The big guns these days are "Rurouni Kenshin," "Fruits Basket," and "Negima," with Ken Akamatsu, CLAMP, and Rumiko Takahashi being the celebrities of all the manga artists out there. It's this state of the manga market we're in where a series like "Firefighter! Daigo of Fire Company M" can easily (and criminally) be overlooked, as a series like this is just too easy to get lost in the shuffle. No millionaire author wrote it, there is no anime to back it up, and Viz didn't release this under the "Shonen Jump" banner. In other words, "Firefighter! Daigo of Fire Company M" is left to it's own guns to sell, and if it wants to find an audience, it needs to be a quality series that can generate some serious word-of-mouth. Well folks, I picked up the first volume of "Firefighter! Daigo of Fire Company M" in a bargain bin at my local Wal-Mart, and I have to tell you that this is one of the best series that (sadly) no one is talking about. The story of "Firefighter! Daigo of Fire Company M" revolves around a young man named Daigo Asahina. When Daigo was young, he was almost killed in a building fire. However he was saved by a fireman, who was doing nothing more then fulfilling his job as a fireman. Daigo was so inspired by the fireman who saved him, that he vowed to one day become a fireman so that he too can save people in the same way he was once saved.

Fast forward twenty years later, and now that day has finally come: Daigo is a brand new fireman who is confident and ready for action. But being a fireman isn't exactly what Daigo thought it would be. For starters he's been assigned to Fire Company M, nicknamed so because the station gets almost no calls for fires, so they gave the station the M for Mercy. Daigo is crushed. Not only because he's sees his fellow firefighters as being nothing but slackers, but because he desperately wants to start saving people's lives. Shortly after he arrives though, the station gets a call. But not for a fire, but rather a gas leak that has the potential to cause a big fire if let be. This is another wake up call to Daigo, as this mission puts the job of a firefighter into a new light for Daigo, as he walks slowly in the dark trying to turn off the gas, careful not to make a single spark so that the whole building doesn't explode. A second call in the night is a real fire, and Daigo starts to wonder whether or not he is in over his head with his lifelong dream. He pushes forward though, as he discovers the disadvantages to being a firefighter, as well the small treasures that no one else will ever be able to see. As I read this series, a movie I had bought recently came to mind. The movie is called "Ladder 49," starring John Travolta and Joaquin Phoenix. That movie attempted to put a human face on the firefighters of Ladder 49, showing their personal lives, their battles, their inner doubts, and everything else.

It did an excellent job of pulling this all off too. "Firefighter! Daigo of Fire Company M" does just as good a job, if not better. Since this is a manga and not a movie, there is more room for the story and characters to develop. It's interesting to see Daigo be this somewhat goofy kid when there are no fires, yet once there is a fire he springs into action, never sure whether this will be his last day to live or not. While the series may not be deep in story, the series is triple layered when it comes to character development. While the first book only gives serious screen time to Daigo himself, future books expand on the other firefighters, teachers, rivals, lovers, families, and almost all of these characters are lovable and worth getting involved with. Daigo has a rival in the form of fellow graduate Amakasu. While Amakasu definitely goes out of his way to make Daigo feel bad about himself, there are moments when you have great respect for Amakasu's skill as a fireman, and you can tell that the real reason these two fight with each other is because they respect each's others skills, and they want to be able to match up with each other. This is the kind of quality character development that you don't find everyday. I should also make special mention of the artwork. While Masahito Soda doesn't have a unique art style to call his own, he more than makes up for it by drawing what he can draw extremely well.

Facial expressions are vivid and extremely expressive, making it easy to understand what people are thinking without there even being any words anywhere on the page. There is a simple authenticity to simple things like the fire truck, the fire suits, and the characters themselves that strike just the right cord with you. And when the fires start...man, the fire scene's aren't thrilling because they are action packed, but they are thrilling because they are realistic. Like real life, in "Firefighter! Daigo of Fire Company M" there are big fires and there are little fires, and none of the fighters are too over the top for their own good. One of the problems with most firefighter movies I see is that every freaking time there is a fire for the firemen to put out, it's always, ALWAYS, a big fire! Might be the "Hollywood touch" that most movie studios feel they just need for some reason, but these fires never seem real. The fires in this series do feel real though. The scene with the gas leak is especially real, as everyone knows exactly what will happen to the firemen if so much as one spark flies in that room. The stakes are extremely high, however nothing has really happened yet. And yet, you can't help but be gripping the book as if you were hanging on for your dear life, as if you will die too if they fail to stop that gas leak. Very powerful stuff, and it's all drawn with a pure simplicity that makes it that much more realistic and intense.

In fact, the only real problem with the series is the fact that most of you are most likely not going to be able to find this series in book stores. Ever since I got the first book I've been to every book and comic book store I know, and no one appears to be stocking the book. Viz is still releasing new volumes of this series, but the only places I've been successful in finding them is online at places like Right Stuf International and Amazon.com. This doesn't count as a mark against the series, and I understand why circulation of this book is so small (there isn't exactly a huge demand for this series), but it will make checking the book out a chore at times. Despite the fact that finding these books may send you on a wild goose chase, "Firefighter! Daigo of Fire Company M" is one of the best series you aren't reading. It's a very human series with drama, some comedy, and intense action. There is a character in here that everyone will be able to relate to, and it's a reminder of just how good manga can be sometimes. It may not have the biggest marketing push, but it has the biggest heart over all the "Fruits Basket's" and "Inu-Yasha's" that are being marketed as if manga began and ended with them. For something that is so genuine and pure, "Firefighter! Daigo of Fire Company M" is the easiest recommendation I've made in a long time.

- -Review By Kevin T. Rodriguez- -