LBX (Little Battlers Experience) Volume 1

Reviewed by: Young Jeohn

Title - LBX (Little Battlers Experience) Volume 1
Author/Illustrator - Hideaki Fujii
Pages - 192

STORY
In the year 2050, LBX robots have taken over the title of the most popular and hottest toy around. This is the story of Van Yamano, the son of an LBX designer who suddenly finds himself in possession of an un-identified LBX with the key to saving the world. Can he and his friends stop the forces of evil from stealing this secret for their own sinister uses?

As the ultimate LBX fan who knows about every model in existence, Van is puzzled after receiving one he's never seen before from a mysterious stranger. Ever since then, it's fight after fight - first against masked men controlling powerful LBXs, then a huge battle in an LBX battle cube where he risks losing his new LBX yet again for a rare prize: an armor upgrade called the Achilles. With the help of his two friends Amy and Kaz, he fends off another attempt for his LBX made by the terrorist organization, New Dawn Raisers. 

It's after this fight he learns that the New Dawn Raisers faked his father's death and are keeping him in captivity. With continued support from Amy, Kaz and his new found friends in the Counter Intelligence Organization (or the CIO), he infiltrates New Dawn Raisers headquarters to free his father. The question is, will he succeed?


The world of LBX
LBX, short for Little Battlers Experience, are small robots made of fortified cardboard and the size of a large McDonalds coffee cup (20 oz size) that are remote controlled by what look like cell phones. Having worked at a cell phone company, it's funny to realize how close the controllers look to real-world flip cellphones, including one high-end phone brand "Vertu" (which can cost as much as US$30,000) which is paired with a high end LBX robot.

All arguments in this world are settled by LBX robot duels, with the winners left standing and the opposition being pretty much destroyed to nothing. In their quest to become stronger after each battle, the characters upgrade their LBX with different weapons, armor or shields that help increase their attack or defense. It's very much like a Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Oh game where you fight to win. It also feels like this manga was written for a big corporation to sell action figures, games and other toys, much like Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Oh.

ART
The character and mech designs are good with great facial expressions. The backdrop and setting are lacking however; grass, buildings, trees, desks, chairs... there isn't much there. But in place of that, action lines are well drawn giving a great feel for the truck that's coming this way, a weapon slashing that way, and rockets blasting the building across the street.

Having been an anime artist myself, it feels like a young person's version of Gundam mech and character design influence from Super Cat Girl Nuku Nuku.

FINAL SCORE
7 out of 10 / B

If you keep in mind that this is probably geared towards a younger audience, LBX is a fun read with clear winners and losers, good guys and bad guys. There's no confusion in the storyline and everything is pretty straight forward. 

Adults reading this manga will chuckle along the way because the very thought of using little robots to destroy a shopping center or take over the world will be a good laugh. The artist presents these LBX's as bigger-than-life and does a great job shielding the fact that these toys are really very small things indeed.