For those interested, 3x3 EYES is a Manga by Yuzo Takada and is a strange but fascinating mix of a supernatural adventure, tibetan religion, and a whole lot of other things too. Based loosely on Hindu legends, this is a fairly popular Manga series in Japan which has been running for several years, and has been collected in 26 massive (that's an exaggeration) volumes so far. The Anime, however, hasn't fared so well. Yuzo Takada is my idol. I worship his work. Some of this other work includes Nuku-Nuku The All-Purpose Cultural Cat Girl (or something. I think I copied it down wrong), Blue Seed and Everyday is Sunday. You don't find out why the title is the title until the 11th volume of the series; the EYES part definately refers to the third eye, while the 3x3 bit refers to the fact that you need 3 Sanjiyans to be able to make Ninka no Jutsu work. It's that complicated.

STORY

3x3 EYES is a story about an ordinary Japanese school boy Yakumo; a 16 year-old who works part time in a gay bar ever since his Yakuza father walked off to Tibet four years ago. When flying down the street on his scooter one day, Yakumo meets a girl (or runs into one), Pai, who had come all the way from Tibet to give Yakumo a letter his now-deceased father had instructed her to. The letter reveals that Pai is actually 300 years-old and the last (supposedly) of a race of beautiful ancient beings with spectacular psychic powers called the Sanjiyan (which sounds exactly like the Chinese pronounciation of "the three-eyed"), or to translate it, the Triclops.

The Triclops have the ability to make someone immortal (but at a price), hence they are constantly under attack by nearly everybody who wants to be immortal. Pai herself has a split personality to deal with this; her third-eyed counterpart, Parvarti is completely opposite to what Pai is in terms of personality and attitude to Yakumo. The letter asked Yakumo to help find a way for Pai to become human and told him to go to Hong Kong to find a company called the Yougekisha (a ghost busting squad) which will give him the info he needs.

Yakumo was understandably skeptical about this, but he is convinced otherwise when killed stone dead by a gigantic spectral harpy, Takuhi, Pai's "pet". Pai then resurrects him with her magic; but at a price. She turns him into a Wu; an indestructible zombie which has to protect the Triclop from harm. The price poor Yakumo has to pay is that he not only has to give up his normal life to go romping all over the world looking for a way to become human, but he has to spend every moment protecting Pai as once the Triclop dies, so will the Wu. As expected, the first enemies Yakumo encounters are the ones lusting after his immortality; he eventually manages to dispose of these "lower order" monsters. It is believe a Wu exercises their "endless power" when their Triclop is in danger.

But Yakumo's troubles doesn't end there. You need a statue called the Ningen no zou and a spell called Ninka no shuutsu to be able to turn a Triclop into a human. As Yakumo looks for the statue, he realises that a much more powerful presence is also looking for the statue for similar purposes. This force is Benares, the Wu of Kaiyanwan Shiva which is the ruthless tyrant of the Triclops. As Yakumo later learns, to activate the statue and use the spell at all, 3 Triclops is required, and hence the name 3x3 EYES. All Triclops except Pai and Shiva disappeared 300 years ago, so at this rate it would be impossible for Pai to become human. But there are, once again, no end to Yakumo's troubles.

Ninka no juutsu works in a way in which one Triclop out of the three absorbs all the energy from the other two, causing the energy absorbing one to become far more powerful than before, and the other two to become human. The Triclop which is going to need this energy is Shiva, who is in a weakened state, but if Shiva gets all this energy and Pai and Yakumo becomes human, Shiva will literally blow the world to pieces with no one to oppose him as Yakumo will lose all the powers he had gained. So, what is the outcome of the story? (It's not that I don't want to tell you, but because I'm waiting for an outcome too).

Iron Mouse's Comment

A must-see (or read). Not because Yuzo Takada is my idol, but because the manga is excellently drawn, the storyline is fascinating and unusual, and you can tell that the author has planned this all the way as every seemingly irrelevant part of the story fits into place perfectly later on. Yuzo Takada also seems fairly well-learned and had researched the topic before he starts the ball rolling; I mean he knows what he's talking about and where he is leading. This is a very action-oriented manga, and involves aspects of the paranormal many people wouldn't understand. This manga is not for everybody, especially those who may be offended by the violence and the idea of the supernatural. If you are into complex plots, the supernatural or blood 'n' guts spilling all over the floor, this one is for you.

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