“A murder on the London Underground and a mysterious bloody knife draw a regular university student and a grizzled New Scotland Yard detective into a web of crime and suspense…” (Yen Press)
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When mangakas look to tackle other cultures and styles, it poses an interesting prospect, familiar western structure in visuals and narrative getting a unique spin from another perspective. In this case, Shimya Shinya takes a look at crime, with London and its people as the backdrop– a rich history and a defined genre in which any creator can pull inspiration to make it their own. Sadly, the first volume of “Lost Lad London” is a pretty big swing and miss that leaves only a slight glimmer of hope for redemption.
Where the book does succeed is in tackling elements of “sleuthing”, casting a wide net to have its protagonist be drawn into a deep, dark conspiracy. However, the opening volume only presents itself as a series of unlikely coincidences that draws Al to become the central target of a wider conspiracy. The inaugural volume does little to say why he would be set up, even if there is a slight familial connection to those involved. From here, it is possible that Shinya will be able to reign back the story into a more concrete piece of crime fiction, especially when hitting the beats and flow of a good mystery in volume one. Ultimately, it is hard to say with any degree of certainty if the rather vague set-up will capitalize on the brief moments where Shimya Shinya does show an intelligent command of the murder/mystery genre.
The biggest failure of the work lies in the art direction. For a ‘gritty crime' drama, the aesthetic is very-westernized, with a commercial and ‘safe' approach to presentation. The opening panels that are digitally colored are particularly ghastly, lifeless hues that you would expect in an ad that is aiming to be as inoffensive as possible–attempting to sell you car insurance. Hitting the black and white pages, there is an initial impression of a style reminiscent of stand-out artist Natsume Ono (Not Simple, House of Leaves), a more rounded ‘western style' of drawing characters but keeping that unique manga aesthetic. However, Shinya lacks the edge and impurities that keep the work of Ono engaging and cathartic for her particular style of storytelling. Essentially, the mangaka's approach to gritty crime has the aesthetic of a Disney property aimed at ensuring to please everyone and offend no one–it is difficult to envision what kind of fan base would find the clash of style and narrative agreeable.
Given the backdrop of London, Shimya Shinya is unable to add anything unique to the bustling mega-city. In fact, it feels rather uninhabited, static, and uninspiring. Remove London from the title and the book could, essentially, be any city that has a subway system–even the underground lacks the identity to make it feel unique to the locale. It is a missed opportunity, in a work that already struggles with identity due to a sterile art direction.
Is “Lost Lad London” a lost cause? Certainly not, but Shimya Shinya has a lot of digging to do to capitalize on the glimmer of a competent crime drama in volume one as well as bring more depth to the artwork, or figure out a way to make the clean commercial style work within the genre. This series may be best to hold off a few volumes before diving in, though if the art style comes across as favorable to anyone checking it out, they are certain to find value in the work from the get-go.
