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Posted in: Ablaze Publishing, Comics, Manga, Review | Tagged: ablaze, blitz, Cédric Biscay, Daitaro Nishihara, Garry Kasparov, Harumo Sanazaki, manga
Blitz is the Perfect Manga for Kids and Anyone to Learn Chess
The best thing about manga is that there is a genre about just about every topic you can think of, so of course, there's a manga about chess called Blitz. There may be others, but this is the first to be translated into English for the West. Chess grandmaster and World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov makes his manga debut in the series, written by Cédric Biscay and Harumo Sanazaki with artwork by Daitaro Nishihara.
Blitz follows the narrative model for many shonen (young boys) manga: a cocky young hero is determined to master the skills of his chosen craft or art or martial art, in this case, chess, based on the tactics and teachings of Kasparov. He joins the school chess club and plays against the officious and arrogant club president. He loses and is humiliated, and vows to learn how to play chess first properly, then "git gud" as he follows Kasparov's theories and teachings. Kasparov's words are interspersed throughout the comic as we learn alongside the hero. The first volume teaches us how to play chess from scratch, what the terms mean, and the rest of the series will take the reader through the progression and lessons of chess, explaining how chess is an allegory for warfare that teaches the player strategic and thinking, pattern-recognition, memory, and critical thinking. It is not just a game of puzzles but also self-discovery, as the young hero learns, which comes later. It also explains what "Blitz" means in chess.
Blitz is a Manga with a Rare European Perspective
The only difference Blitz has from most Shonen manga is the hero is learning chess to impress a girl in the chess club who's a genius player that even the president is in awe of. This might be part of co-writer Cédric Iscary's European perspective. Most male Japanese writers of Shonen manga tend to write their boy heroes still in the "Ew! Gurls r icky!" phase and hide their crush, their motivation purely on "getting stronger." The hero of Blitz has a more universal and relatable motivation for "gitting gud." The character's attitude also has a more reserved European attitude, especially the French ex-patriot baker who becomes a mentor figure to the hero. Daltaro Nishihara's artwork also has a more detailed approach to the characters' faces, making it look like a hybrid of both manga and European styles while retaining the quick-cut montage and sequential storytelling dynamics of manga.
Blitz Teaches, Which is What Manga Do Best
The joy of manga about a specific topic is that they set out to teach us about that topic from the ground up, especially if it's a topic we know nothing about it. There is manga about Shoji, the Japanese version of chess, wine appreciation (Drops of God), golfing, baseball, and how Science can save the world and create civilizations (Dr. Stone), so of course, there should be a manga about chess, hence Blitz.
The first volume of Blitz is a good start for young readers to learn about chess. There's the right amount of handholding as it educates readers through the story of its hero. Future volumes will probably bring more sophisticated lessons in chess as it goes along. If you're up for this, it can be a delight.
Blitz Vol. One is published by ABLAZE.
Blitz
7.5/10
Blitz is the perfect manga for teaching your kids and even yourself how to play #chess from absolute beginner to expert, its lessons buried in a fun story about a cocky middle-school boy learning to play chess to impress a girl who's genius player.
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