KOF 2003 Comics Summary, Part I
OK so this is the first part of my summary on KOF 2003 Comics, made by Wing Yan and King Tung. First of all I would like to apologise if I misinterpret several things; the comics that I have are the translated version (from Kantonese, I think) and the translator used such funny Indonesian - what I would like to call ‘Chinese Indonesian’, no offense intended, commonly used in translated versions of wu xia comics - that I have to force my rusty braingears to move so that I can understand the words well. So basically I’m doing a translation on translation.
The comics are compiled in what I would call two ‘tankoubons’ and they are rendered black and white. Yes, it saddens me too. (And it's harder to see the details in B&W!) And the translator got some of the names wrongly: ‘Hilton’ instead of Heidern, ‘Clack’ instead of Clark, ‘Maisma’ instead of Maxima, ‘Cambuk’ (!!!) instead of Whip (cambuk is Indonesian for whip, so, yeah…^^;) etc and the moves are in Indonesian. It all really makes me laugh my arse off.
The comics are the prelude for the KOF 2003 tournament (and it ends abruptly just before the tournament begins), and the details are generally the same with the official team stories provided online by SNK, but with differences here and there. The storyline focuses on Adelheid and Rose, Ash’s team (Ash-Shen Woo-Duo Lon), K’s team (K’-Maxima-Whip), Kyo’s team (Kyo-Iori-Chizuru), Ikari Team (Leona-Ralf-Clark, with Heidern). Other teams are mentioned briefly, such as Yamazaki’s (Yamazaki-Billy-Gato), Athena’s, Psycho Team, while some others (such as the Sakazakis, although I really love their story) are not even given the slightest mention.
So, on with the summary. Sorry this first part is short; I’ll post the next, longer parts ASAP.
The cover of the first 'tankoubon'.
The inner sleeve.
The series begin with a deadly battle between K’ and 'Kyo'.
K’ seems to be on the losing side, but actually he’s just waiting for 'Kyo' to lose his focus and show his weak side. And when 'Kyo' does, K’ without mercy hits him with Heaven’s Drive. (Funnily enough, K’ does Chain Drive first… I mean, I think it should be Chain Drive that finishes 'Kyo' off!)
Lying bleeding and half-dead, 'Kyo' asks K’, "Now that you’ve gained your memory back, what more are you looking for?"
Surprised, K’ asks whether 'Kyo' knows the whereabout of Maxima, Kula, and Diana (he hasn’t seen them since the last battle against NESTs). 'Kyo' says that when searching for NESTs leftovers, he has heard about the presence of ‘someone’ in Siberia. 'Kyo' then philosophically questions K’ where will his ('Kyo’s) soul go to after he dies, heaven or hell?
"You’re going to hell," answers K’.
"I don’t mind if it’s hell as long as I can rest. I’ve been too tired all this time." 'Kyo' closes his eyes.
"Then I’ll help you go to hell."
K’ gives 'Kyo' a final blow and leaves him.
Ten minutes after K’s departure, Chizuru appears at the spot. She performs a ritual that raises 'Kyo', saying that "It is not over yet. You still have things to do."
Suddenly, when he’s walking away with 'Kyo', Chizuru turns around, thinking that there’s somebody spying. But no-one’s there.
"Strange. These last few days, I’ve been thinking that somebody’s tailing me. And my head is often aching… and I even often times forget what I have done. It’s as if I have lost some of my memory and some parts of myself. That person is like a shadow tailing me, incorporeal, impossible to touch. Will something happen to me? But whatever happens, everything must go on… Yes… I have to finish my mission."
At a distance, a woman-a puppeteer-is watching Chizuru and 'Kyo'.
At the same time, in Shanghai, it’s December 1st, 6:50 am. The frenzy of the upcoming KOF tournament has already gripped the city. A blond boy (OK, it’s Ash) is sitting under a tree, playing with green flame that his hand produces.
"OK, it’s time."
to be continued
NEXT: Ash meets up with Shen Woo and Duo Lon; K’ searches for Maxima in Siberia.
Questions, suggestions, corrections welcome.
[ETA: Revision] Oh well I cannot sleep before I straight this out. If you follow the discussion below between janegray and me, you'll see that we doubt that the 'Kyo' whom K' fights in the beginning of the comics is the real Kyo. janegray suggested that it might be Chizuru-made Kusanagi, and I think she's right. The question of whether it's a real Kyo or not haunted my mind that I decided to delay my sleep to check the two volumes of KOF 2003 'tankoubon that I own.
And it seems that it IS Kusanagi, not the real Kyo… because later in the second volume, a servant of Kagura finds the real Kyo and asks him to come to see Chizuru and… Iori. And this Kyo - the real Kyo - seems very optimistic and cheerful, not the pathetic 'OHKILLMEKILLMELETMEGOTOHELL' Kusanagi that K' fights.
While the 'many things you have to do' that Chizuru proclaims to the first 'Kyo' appearing in the comic seems to be Kusanagi's 'atonement' to his 'sins'…
I suppose that in the coloured version, the colour of Kusanagi's skin is a bit darker, yes? Oh golly, that's another minus point of the black and white version, I really cannot tell the real colours. Ergh.[/ETA]
The comics are compiled in what I would call two ‘tankoubons’ and they are rendered black and white. Yes, it saddens me too. (And it's harder to see the details in B&W!) And the translator got some of the names wrongly: ‘Hilton’ instead of Heidern, ‘Clack’ instead of Clark, ‘Maisma’ instead of Maxima, ‘Cambuk’ (!!!) instead of Whip (cambuk is Indonesian for whip, so, yeah…^^;) etc and the moves are in Indonesian. It all really makes me laugh my arse off.
The comics are the prelude for the KOF 2003 tournament (and it ends abruptly just before the tournament begins), and the details are generally the same with the official team stories provided online by SNK, but with differences here and there. The storyline focuses on Adelheid and Rose, Ash’s team (Ash-Shen Woo-Duo Lon), K’s team (K’-Maxima-Whip), Kyo’s team (Kyo-Iori-Chizuru), Ikari Team (Leona-Ralf-Clark, with Heidern). Other teams are mentioned briefly, such as Yamazaki’s (Yamazaki-Billy-Gato), Athena’s, Psycho Team, while some others (such as the Sakazakis, although I really love their story) are not even given the slightest mention.
So, on with the summary. Sorry this first part is short; I’ll post the next, longer parts ASAP.
The cover of the first 'tankoubon'.
The inner sleeve.
The series begin with a deadly battle between K’ and 'Kyo'.
K’ seems to be on the losing side, but actually he’s just waiting for 'Kyo' to lose his focus and show his weak side. And when 'Kyo' does, K’ without mercy hits him with Heaven’s Drive. (Funnily enough, K’ does Chain Drive first… I mean, I think it should be Chain Drive that finishes 'Kyo' off!)
Lying bleeding and half-dead, 'Kyo' asks K’, "Now that you’ve gained your memory back, what more are you looking for?"
Surprised, K’ asks whether 'Kyo' knows the whereabout of Maxima, Kula, and Diana (he hasn’t seen them since the last battle against NESTs). 'Kyo' says that when searching for NESTs leftovers, he has heard about the presence of ‘someone’ in Siberia. 'Kyo' then philosophically questions K’ where will his ('Kyo’s) soul go to after he dies, heaven or hell?
"You’re going to hell," answers K’.
"I don’t mind if it’s hell as long as I can rest. I’ve been too tired all this time." 'Kyo' closes his eyes.
"Then I’ll help you go to hell."
K’ gives 'Kyo' a final blow and leaves him.
Ten minutes after K’s departure, Chizuru appears at the spot. She performs a ritual that raises 'Kyo', saying that "It is not over yet. You still have things to do."
Suddenly, when he’s walking away with 'Kyo', Chizuru turns around, thinking that there’s somebody spying. But no-one’s there.
"Strange. These last few days, I’ve been thinking that somebody’s tailing me. And my head is often aching… and I even often times forget what I have done. It’s as if I have lost some of my memory and some parts of myself. That person is like a shadow tailing me, incorporeal, impossible to touch. Will something happen to me? But whatever happens, everything must go on… Yes… I have to finish my mission."
At a distance, a woman-a puppeteer-is watching Chizuru and 'Kyo'.
At the same time, in Shanghai, it’s December 1st, 6:50 am. The frenzy of the upcoming KOF tournament has already gripped the city. A blond boy (OK, it’s Ash) is sitting under a tree, playing with green flame that his hand produces.
"OK, it’s time."
to be continued
NEXT: Ash meets up with Shen Woo and Duo Lon; K’ searches for Maxima in Siberia.
Questions, suggestions, corrections welcome.
[ETA: Revision] Oh well I cannot sleep before I straight this out. If you follow the discussion below between janegray and me, you'll see that we doubt that the 'Kyo' whom K' fights in the beginning of the comics is the real Kyo. janegray suggested that it might be Chizuru-made Kusanagi, and I think she's right. The question of whether it's a real Kyo or not haunted my mind that I decided to delay my sleep to check the two volumes of KOF 2003 'tankoubon that I own.
And it seems that it IS Kusanagi, not the real Kyo… because later in the second volume, a servant of Kagura finds the real Kyo and asks him to come to see Chizuru and… Iori. And this Kyo - the real Kyo - seems very optimistic and cheerful, not the pathetic 'OHKILLMEKILLMELETMEGOTOHELL' Kusanagi that K' fights.
While the 'many things you have to do' that Chizuru proclaims to the first 'Kyo' appearing in the comic seems to be Kusanagi's 'atonement' to his 'sins'…
I suppose that in the coloured version, the colour of Kusanagi's skin is a bit darker, yes? Oh golly, that's another minus point of the black and white version, I really cannot tell the real colours. Ergh.[/ETA]