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This is the story of the Kagura Security Company: five women and one man who act as detectives and handle cases that are bizarre or out-of-the ordinary. Whether the cases are supernatural or technological in origin, they can all be solved by using computers, magic...and big guns!” – From the book cover Yeah, that seems to be what Geobreeders is about. I must say, though, it can be a bit hard to tell. See, Geobreeders Book One sort of throws you out into the deep end of a story, and lets you thrash about for a while trying to figure out what’s the what. Kinda like how I learned to swim… That is to say, there is pretty much no exposition given whatsoever. It is an axiom among writers that the telling of backstory in a way that doesn’t screw up the narrative can be painfully difficult, and when done well, is a thing of beauty. No matter how difficult it may be however, most writers do not see fit to provide none whatsoever. All is not lost however- we are given a few pages of character profiles to at least help us out in the “who the hell is this?” department. The book opens with what is apparently a flashback to 1984- a young man walking down a rainy street at night, comes upon a box with a kitten in it. Next page, 1995, the present, a young man named Taba, presumably the one the previous flashback, goes for his first day of work at Kagura Security Company, and is immediately thrust into a battle between his new boss, Yuka, and something later identified as a Phantom Cat. Phantom Cats, it would seem, are evil little beasties who can take human form and travel through computer systems and phone lines at will. Yuka gives Taba a weapon and tells him to get busy. Of course, the weapon is really only a stop gap measure. In order to actually get rid of the thing, four magical seals need to be placed around the offending cat in order to seal him on a computer disk. In the next chapter, Taba and the "Red Shooting Star", aka Maki Umezaki, are tasked with taking down a Phantom Cat on a train. Maki is an interesting character- she gets off on tough guy flicks and has a distinctly Michael/Janet Jackson fashion sense. Her white suit, fedora, and western tie certainly set her apart from the rest of the cast. Taba proves himself to be a capable fighter, but at the end of the chapter, the girls of Kagura Security all already starting to fight over him. Next we meet Takami Sakuragi. She is your standard all too cute huge glasses wearing computer geek. Sporting a butterfly knife and rollerblades, Takami is a capable fighter, but unfortunately, she cant take pain too well- in fact, she passes out at the merest hint of it. Takami and Taba hunt down a Phantom Cat in an amusement park, resulting in the near total destruction of the place. Eiko Rando, the next Kagura employee, is tracking a cat in the sewers. She acts as the firms accountant most of the time, but when a fight come to her, she whips out her brass knuckles and gets in the mix. Taba hooks up with Eiko in the sewers, and they attempt to lure the cat to a place where they can capture it. Meanwhile, Maki is hassled by a cop after drawing her weapon. She manages to get a way, while Taba runs into a female cat and an impressive figure calling himself the Black Cat. He tells Taba, who has been threatening to quit Kagura since the moment he entered the building, that he should stay. He says that he is brewing a plan, and he wants Taba at Kagura to see it. Finally, we meet Yu Himehagi. Yu is the driver for the firm, and also their obligatory Big Breasted Vixen. Yu is a chain smoker who has a bad habit of falling asleep at all the wrong times. She's driving Taba and Yuka along when they're spotted by the phantom cats, and the battle is on. Also, a paramilitary group called the Hounds gets into the fight. Yu’s expert wheelmanship gets the group out of the scrape, but they lose the cat to the Hounds, and Taba ends up with a broken leg. Taba is stuck at home injured, so Takami comes to his apartment to help him out. Meanwhile, the Black Cat takes over a nuclear power plant. Irie, a man who works for the Ministry of Health and Welfare, is watching him, but it seem he has also taken an interest in Taba- he has bugged his apartment. Overall, Geobreeders is a witty and amusing read, though not terribly deep or original. This is not necessarily a bad thing, however, as the formula is one that is well tested and approved, and the lack of depth makes Geobreeders just the thing when you need to pass some extra time. - Ed -
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