Drifting Dragons vol. 1

It has an art style that owes a deep debt to Hayao Miyazaki’s work on “Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind.”  There’s also the fact that it makes a big deal out of making meals from fantasy creatures like “Delicious in Dungeon” does.  Which means that “Drifting Dragons” is kind of a mash-up of two of my favorite manga. Given that, I can’t help but feel that I should’ve enjoyed this first volume more than I actually did.

Let’s start with the setup:  The series follows the crew of the Quin Zaza, one of the last draking ships operating in the world.  Draking ships and their crew are in a very specialized hunting business. They’re out to hunt the various kinds of dragons that live in this world.  It can be a very profitable business, what with selling dragon meat, oil, and other spoils from a successful hunt. Which is why the Quin Zaza has attracted a crew with their own individual quirks as it sails the skies.  However, none are quirkier than Mika, the reckless daredevil hunter who’s out to eat from as many different dragons as he possibly can.

While “Drifting Dragons” is set up as having a large ensemble cast, Mika is first among its equals.  Not only does he have a prominent role in all of the chapters, but he has the most distinctive personality in the book.  After we’re introduced to him ziplining onto a dragon to put a spear in it, we find out that his off-duty personality is a lot more laid-back than that action would suggest.  Mika is more of a good-natured slacker whenever the discourse isn’t about the dragon-of-the-chapter, though he usually finds some way to annoy and or endear himself to the other members of the crew with his thoughts on that subject even when they’re not hunting.

The rest of the crew consists of greenhorn Tika, strong-but-silent Vannabelle, serious-to-a-fault Jiro, and… that’s about it.  Unless you want to count Gibbs, who’s defining characteristics at this point are that he’s kinda big and got bit by a tiny dragon.  There are a few other named characters, but they’re not given much to distinguish themselves here. Which means that you’ve got one real distinctive character in Mika, a few one-dimensional types floating around, and several other members of the cast who might as well be faceless goons at this point.  This might be forgivable if the series was set up with Mika being a genuine protagonist to carry the story, but it’s not really a good start for a series that feels like it’s meant to be an ensemble piece.

Then you get to the actual stories and they feel alright for a series just getting started.  Just about every chapter focuses on the crew encountering some new kind of dragon and to mangaka Taku Kuwabara’s credit, they’re pretty varied.  Most of them don’t look like the traditional one that graces the cover. We get weird tentacly ones with vertical mouths, tiny ones whose mouths open up like the critter from “The Thing,” and big graceful glowing ones that light up the night sky.

While the dragons themselves are distinctive, the stories surrounding them aren’t really.  The opening story introduces the concept well enough while also mentioning that the profession of draking isn’t regarded as being all that respectable.  Subsequent chapters serve as spotlights for Tika, Vannabelle, and Jiro while also tacking on some dragon-related subplot to help flesh out their characters.  These are just okay since the subplots aren’t usually that memorable and the characters in question aren’t fleshed out beyond their above-mentioned character traits.  The final chapter does have a bit of snap to it as it involves the ship’s crew fighting against some sky pirates.

Though the storytelling for the series is pretty standard-issue at this point, the art from Kuwabara helps it stand out a bit.  While its look and setting may remind me of “Nausicaa,” the series has much less of a sci-fi bent than that one. The world of “Drifting Dragons” feels more like one that has hit its industrial revolution and has decided to take to the skies.  It’s a look and setting that helps distinguish it from other titles out there and it’s refreshing to see.

There is one other thing that probably bears mentioning here, regarding the concept of the series.  Some of you may have already realized this, but the concept of “Drifting Dragons” is essentially “Fantasy Whaling” what with the crew of a ship harpooning a giant creature to harvest its meat, oils, and other spoils.  If this is a problem for you, then I’m not sure that the series offers up storytelling that’s strong enough to warrant getting past those objections. If you’re like me and the fantasy setting of this series offers you enough distance from the idea of genuine whaling, then it’s easy enough to acknowledge and move on.

Oh, and as for the food that’s made from the dragons… much like the rest of the series, it’s just fine.  A steak sandwich, butterflied dragon fried up like chicken, a rustic layering of dragon meat, potatoes, and cabbage, and some dragon fatback on rye.  Ryoko Kui doesn’t have anything to worry about when it comes to competition in the realm of memorable fantasy cuisine at this point.

So while it’s very clear that “Drifting Dragons” isn’t nearly as good as the series it appears to draw inspiration from, it does get some points for attempting it at all.  The stories may be just average, but they’re done in a setting and with art that’s distinctive if nothing else. It doesn’t get my imagination going, which is too bad. What’s here is still good enough to get me to come back for vol. 2 and see if things get better from here.