Dark Horse Arrests Readers

Recently, Dark Horse has taken a good amount of flak for its treatment of the Oh! My Goddess translated manga series. A recent bad judgment call regarding the use of Peorth cover art on an issue that did not even feature Peorth certainly has not helped. And though Dark Horse has repeatedly tried to reassure fans that they plan to run the entire series, both continuity issues and the fact that we still have yet to see most of the volume 1 stories linger. On the other hand, Dark Horse's treatment of another recent title, Gunsmith Cats, has been admirable. Despite initial fan complaints regarding the change to Minnie May's age, Dark Horse has since put out a relatively faithful effort to preserve the integrity and continuity of the Japanese original, including most of the splash pages.
So, when Dark Horse and Studio Proteus announced they would release AA! MEGAMISAMA creator Fujishima Kosuke's first manga series, TAIHO SHICHAUZO, under the name YOU'RE UNDER ARREST, it was safe to assume that its treatment would be no different from any of their other long series, like VENUS WARS or OUTLANDERS. Alas, this is not the case.
The first hint of disappointment is the first issue cover, itself, which comes not from the first volume tankoubon artwork, but instead, the sixth. Sure enough, the first of two stories in Dark Horse's issue one corresponds not to the original series' File 1, but to File 53. (Oddly enough, File 53 appears in the fifth tankoubon volume, not the sixth.) Thankfully, despite the late entry to the series (There are 79 Files in total.), Dark Horse then proceeds to follow Fujishima's original continuity of tankoubon volume 5.
This still begs the question: Why? The reasoning behind the story hopping that occurred with OH! MY GODDESS was the cross-promotion with AnimEigo's anime release and the consequent need to introduce characters and stories that paralleled the OAVs. But, this is not the case with YOU'RE UNDER ARREST / TAIHO SHICHAUZO as the OAVs are original stories not based on the manga. Moreover, the decision to begin with volume 5 is an ill-chosen one. For example, in File 54 (the second story of the first issue), the story revolves around Natsumi's attempts to finally obtain an automobile driver's license. It should come as no surprise that her lack of a license is instrumental to more than a handful of stories before volume 5. How will Dark Horse handle this when it is time to go back to the earlier stories?
Even more critical in its omission is character development. By starting past the halfway point of the series, Dark Horse skips all the character introductions. And while new readers who are unacquainted with the original manga, but have seen the OAVs, can be expected to know who supporting characters like Yoriko and Nakajima are, they certainly will be at a loss regarding the quirky characteristics of manga-only character, Futaba Aoi.
It would seem as if the only semi-plausible region for Dark Horse to start so far into the series would be the artwork, as Fujishima's character designs undergo major changes across five volumes. To wit, the initial designs afford both principals short hair making it easier to mix them up. Perhaps Dark Horse felt the need to start their series with the same designs that OAV character designer Nakajima Atsuko used as a base for her anime designs.
One of the problems with being a purist is the predisposition to allow niggling details to cloud the big picture. That said, most of the complaints so far regarding Dark Horse's translation of YOU'RE UNDER ARREST certainly fall under the realm of the purist. To the average non-purist reader, ARREST is simply a delightful, light-hearted series which has been commendably translated by Studio Proteus and released by Dark Horse. Moreover, since ARREST is what would be called a "slice of life" series, it is less episodic than a romance series like A!MG or a political drama like VENUS WARS. Thus, continuity issues in plot become a minor concern.
Therefore, discarding purist pretensions, what we have here is a wonderful, light series on the lives of two Tokyo policewomen: the normally quiet and technically savvy Kobayakawa Miyuki and her more spirited, live-for-the-moment partner, Tsujimoto Natsumi. Throw in a full supporting cast from the precinct and what we get is a lively character-driven series with fun plots and likable characters. GUNSMITH CATS this is not. On the other hand, the stories are not quite as simple as the OAVs, thereby reaffirming the stereotype that the manga original is superior to its anime adaptation. It is rough-edged at places, but then again, this is Fujishima's first series -- and the aforementioned problems in lack of character development stories certainly do not help.
The artwork is superb. Certainly, Dark Horse chose the best point to begin the series from an artwork consideration. The fifth tankoubon is about the point where Fujishima's designs start to jump out at the reader. Miyuki has grown her hair out into that distinctive ponytail while Natsumi's rough edges (literal!) are softening up. Over the remainder of the series, these designs will continue to improve ever so slightly. The only problem in the art department is a seeming callous disregard for splash pages. In many cases, the first story of the issue is missing its splash page altogether, while in the second issue, for example, the splash pages for the two stories were swapped.
Studio Proteus puts out another fine translation effort. In a third issue story, a crossword puzzle refers to a popular Japanese idol singer probably not well-known to North American readers. Studio Proteus changes the reference to well-known anime fan and musician Matthew Sweet. A nice touch.
In spite of a dubious decision to start two-thirds into the series, Dark Horse's effort proves to be more in line with its earlier history, thereby lending credence to the idea that the initial blunder that led to the story-skipping in O!MG is a fluke rather than the norm. Almost all of the shortcomings are minor, indeed; normal readers are not nearly as nitpicky as purists. If you're looking for another well-thought out series in the same vivacious spirit of its anime analogue, then YOU'RE UNDER ARREST will not disappoint.

--Roderick "Agitator" Lee