トップウGP 1

Toppu GP #1

by Kosuke Fujishima

世界最高峰のバイクレース「MotoGP」で世界チャンピオンの最年少記録に挑戦する18歳の若きライダー・宇野突風。7年前、トップウ少年は憧れのお姉さん・新井真音のレース姿を眺めていた。父・鉄平と真音にバイクに乗ることを勧められた突風は、天性の観察力と身軽な身体を武器に、瞬く間にバイクレースの面白さに魅了されていく――――。天才日本人ライダーの伝説が、ここに幕を開けた!

Genres: Manga, Sports, Comics, Graphic Novels

192 pages, Paperback

First published November 22, 2016

About the author

Kōsuke Fujishima (藤島康介, born July 7, 1964) is a Japanese manga artist.

Born in Chiba, Japan, he first came to public attention as an editor of Puff magazine, his first job after completing high school. Fujishima originally intended to be a draftsman, but took the editorial role after failing to get a drafting apprenticeship. He later became assistant to manga artist Tatsuya Egawa in the production of the Making Be Free! manga, and in 1986 began his first original manga series You're Under Arrest. His second manga series Oh My Goddess!, also translated as Ah! My Goddess, is extremely popular and has made Fujishima a household name in Japan. In addition, he is also well known as the character designer for several games in the Tales RPG video game series and Sakura Wars.

He is known for his love of automobiles and motorcycles, and several of his series and their characters reflect this, such as in éX-Driver and Oh My Goddess!.

Reviews

[Ya Boi Be Reading · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would imagine if you were more informed about Motocross this would be a better read. Sports and hobby based manga tow a line in readership between those looking for an approachable read as they are uninformed about the hobby (me) and fans of the hobby which are looking for something with genuine "meat" on the topic. Some works can appeal to both quite well (the MMA manga Red Blue does this quite well). Toppu GP is more on the side of those already in the hobby. It does try to explain elements of motocross but not enough that uninformed readers will still have questions.
Once you get across that hurdle though you're left with a neat manga about motocross. The storyline is fun with a gifted genius that uses his analysis of his friend Myne's riding to race. What follows is a genuinely fun story about a guy who knows a lot about motocross and can imitate more experienced riders but gets tripped up on the differences of his bike and race compared to those he is imitating.
The art is hit and miss. Some things are drawn really well and some aren't. There is a level of consistency which is appreciated. That which needs to be drawn well for this sorta manga is drawn well. As a motocross manga vehicle detail, momentum, and biking outfits are key. And Fujishima draws them excellently. Their drawing of momentum is especially nice as the you can feel the energy and speed coming off the still panels. But backgrounds get a bit lacking. Their isn't also a lot of variety in the art. The entire volume takes place at raceways and such. Everyone is constantly in their racing outfit or pre-race outfit. Near the end Fujishima starts using some visual representations of certain things like how weight affects the MC's motocross. This is really nice (and no doubt probably added since his editor told him those with little knowledge about motocross will need some help through imagery to understand) but the drawing of such imagery falls a little flat. It's servicable but I don't know... just a big old hand feels generic and their are a couple of times you can't tell if the hand is pushing, pulling, or standing still .
The characters are fun. The MC and Myne are a fun duo although the rising fanservice between the two of them is unneeded. Myne constantly is gazed on as beautiful which considering her age is creepy. Admittedly, those perving on her are around her age but the constant talk of her body and beauty is gross. This sucks since Myne is a fun character but the experience of her in the story is marred by the fanservice given to her.

[Chelsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jump on your bike and rev your engine, because this motocross manga is about to storm in. (Okay, even I am a little sickened by how cheesy that just was.)

Toppu is an 11-year-old pushed into racing by his "big sister," a skilled racer herself. He discovers he has an innate talent for motocross, which bugs the heck out of all the other racers. This manga was fun, expertly-drawn, and easy to follow. I really liked how technical the descriptions of motocross were, and this is jam-packed with action. I'd happily read the next volume, although I'm not dying to figure out what happens next.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm much more of a classic car fan than a motorcycle one, but even I really got into Fujishima's detailed bike drawings. I can only imagine how awesome this would be if I was a biker!

[Emi · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't care about motorcycle racing, or any motor sports, so I was surprised that I actually found this manga fairly engaging. The races are exciting, the art is fantastic, and although I don't really have a clue, I feel like this has a solid basis in how these races actually work. I also liked that each race is fairly brief for a sports manga, so we get several in this one volume. A lot of other sports manga would draw each race out into three or even four chapters, but this one keeps the same brisk pace that I would expect from an actual race.

[Joshua · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a Sports manga that really hooked me again. Racing on bikes is an intriguing sport and I loved how this first volume was set up. It felt like it was going in a good direction. Something fun and enjoyable and not too deep. The character designs are top-notch.

[Jandel]

Eee

[Antonio Herrera · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is excellent! It gets back to the emotion from races, and the beautiful drawings for the characters and machines.