Gun Blaze West
Gun Blaze West is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Nobuhiro Watsuki. It was serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from December 2000 to July 2001, with its chapters collected in three volumes. The story follows Viu Bannes, a young gunfighter on his journey towards Gun Blaze West, the place where the greatest gunmen go to test their strength. Viz Media published the series in English in North America.
Plot
In the American West, Gun Blaze West is a fabled sanctuary, a place beyond the reach of law and outlaw alike where all may live free from violence. The journey to this legend is only possible once every decade during the Zero Year, and travelers must first obtain a Sign to the West, a pass bearing the sanctuary's unique insignia that is only valid in the year it is acquired.The quest begins for Viu Bannes, a young boy who wins a gun belt in an arm-wrestling match. He is trained by a wandering drifter named Marcus Homer, who promises Viu that once he can run to a distant cliff before sunset, he will be strong enough to attempt the journey. When their town is attacked by the Kenbrown Gang, Marcus is killed in a duel with the leader. Viu avenges his mentor and discovers a Sign to the West and a partial map hidden within Marcus's revolver, vowing to complete the pilgrimage.
Five years later, Viu departs for the West. In St. Louis, he meets Will Johnston, the bouncer of a struggling saloon, who possesses a compass also marked with the Sign. After Viu helps defeat the thugs threatening Will's business and uses a reward to pay off his debt, Will agrees to join the quest. Their journey leads them to a traveling circus where they encounter Colice, a Japanese knife-wielder who fled her homeland after the Boshin War. After aiding the circus ringmaster against a violent former partner, Colice elects to travel with Viu and Will.
The trio arrives in Fort Smith, Arkansas, where they are to meet a guide on a specific date. There, they have a strange encounter with an eccentric, heavily armored man known as Armor Baron. When the guide appears, it is revealed to be the Baron himself, who declares they must defeat him or his men to earn their passage. Viu chooses to battle the Baron directly. During their fight, Viu employs his ultimate technique, Concentration One, which destroys both the Baron's Gun Sack device and his own cherished revolver. Victorious, Viu secures passage for his group. They are assigned a new guide and Viu is seeded first among all candidates for the final leg of the journey to the legendary sanctuary.
Characters
Main characters
;Viu Bannes;Will Johnston
;Colice Satoh
Antagonists
;William Kenbrown;Target Kevin
;Carlo
;Guallarripa
;Uno Dos
;Sarge Thunderarm
Other characters
;Cissy Bannes;Marcus Homer
;Carol Johnston
;Robert Rodriguez
;Armor Baron
;J.J.
;Jim
;Myra
Production
Gun Blaze West was written and illustrated by Nobuhiro Watsuki, who began working on it after the completion of his previous manga Rurouni Kenshin in 1999. Watsuki became inspired to write a manga about the American frontier upon visiting the Arizona desert and seeing its wild cacti.Watsuki revealed in an interview with One Piece author Eiichiro Oda, who briefly worked for him as an assistant on Rurouni Kenshin, that he had considered making a one-eyed protagonist for Gun Blaze West. However, to avoid accusations of plagiarism from the media, Watsuki scrapped the idea when he found out that Oda had early plans to have his One Piece character Roronoa Zoro lose an eye at some point in that manga. Watsuki intentionally shortened the overall dimensions of his characters in Gun Blaze West, a technique he carried over while drawing children in his next manga Buso Renkin.
Publication
Written and illustrated by Nobuhiro Watsuki, Gun Blaze West was serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from December 11, 2000, to July 31, 2001. Shueisha collected its chapters in three volumes published from June 4 to November 2, 2001. Shueisha re-released the series in a two-volume edition from August 18 to September 16, 2011.In North America, Viz Media announced the acquisition of the manga in July 2007. The three volumes were published from April 1 to October 7, 2008. The series is also available to read on the Shonen Jump app and website.
Reception
Gun Blaze West was generally panned. Specifically, the hook was panned for being uninteresting, with multiple reviewers saying if they had been reading it weekly in Weekly Shōnen Jump, they probably would not have read beyond the first chapters. Later parts of the story were panned for being the typical [Shōnen manga|] plot. One reviewer even said the manga feels like "Ash Ketchum get your gun". In contrast to that, the final fight was generally praised for being an intense, over the top fight, perfect for the premature ending.The art was generally given mixed reviews with some critics praising it for being clean, crisp, and simple, while criticizing it for not trying anything new or spending time to appreciate the backgrounds. Carlo Santos from Anime News Network panned the art at the start, saying it felt like Watsuki had no idea what to draw. He also noted that while some characters look great in battle, out of battle they look impractical. However, he praised the angular art saying that it made it easy to follow the action from panel to panel.
The characters were generally given mixed reviews. Some critics, like David Rasmussen from Manga Life praised the characters, calling them likeable. Other critics, like Ed Sizemore from Comics Worth Reading panned the main character, Viu, calling him "one note". However, he praised the secondary cast, specifically their involvement in the plot.