Synopsis
In a not-so-distant future of mystical martial arts and advanced intelligent robots, a family of brilliant scientists vanishes. They leave behind their eldest daughter, Ling Hoi, who escapes with the help of her A.I. robot pet I.i. In a desperate move, she seeks the assistance of her aunt, Wong Yam, at the Emei Mountain Spirit Power Academy, a training facility for women with great martial arts prowess. Now Ling Hoi and Wong Yam must put aside their differences to rescue the rest of their family.
The Visuals
One of Cyber Phoenix‘s most notable features is its stunning full-color artwork. Given that most manga are in black-and-white, a full-color manga is a rare and delightful treat. Andy Seto, the writer for Cyber Phoenix, also drew the artwork; his use of color enhances the book’s dynamic fight scenes, especially when the characters use special techniques.
Book Buddy Media’s lettering spices up the fight scenes further by using Chinese and English characters to highlight the special attacks in a style similar to subtitles for Japanese tokusatsu shows. Meanwhile, Seto’s character designs are reminiscent of Alvin Lee’s manga-style artwork on the Street Fighter comic books. Wang Yam, in particular, looks like a long-haired, slender version of Chun Li from Street Fighter.
The Characters
Wang Yam is an intriguing protagonist who plays multiple roles: martial artist, aunt, sister. Her fighting prowess is nothing to scoff at, as her spiritual martial arts training ensures that she moves fast and hits hard. Her strongest attacks produce energy that manifests in the form of phoenix.
Beyond her physical strength is a strong sense of duty and morality. While Wong Yam does not get along with her sister Wu Yong, she still goes looking for her after she disappears, all while protecting Wu Yong’s daughter Ling Hoi. That said, Wong Yam’s belief in her own spiritual and physical strength also leads her to reject the use of artificial gene enhancements to advance humanity, despite the friction this causes with her sister.
Wong Yam makes for a good contrast to Wu Yong as well as the book’s main robot antagonist Oxio. Unlike Wong Yam, Wu Yong believes that humans must be artificially enhanced with technology because genes will develop at a pace that humans can’t naturally control. Oxio, on the other hand, believes that humanity should be exterminated because humanity’s advancement will cause humans to take priority over everything else. Although the reader isn’t given much info about Oxio’s origins, his involvement in the disappearance of Ling Hoi’s family shows that he views humanity as a threat.
Technology VS Humanity
With the rise of generative AI in recent years, people are divided on whether generative AI should be used to help humanity with everything from childcare to video subtitles. But humanity was already taking on childcare and video subtitles before generative AI came to prominence. Capitalist society has made people so busy that they rely on gen AI to do their work faster, especially when it comes to creative pursuits. Some people also use gen AI for emotional support, either because therapy is inaccessible or because their friends and family are too busy to talk.
When you take all this into consideration, it is hard not to draw parallels between the artificial gene enhancement in Cyber Phoenix and the use of generative AI in real life. This doesn’t necessarily mean, though, that all technological advancement is bad. After all, combining tech augments such as mental endurance helmets with spiritual training improves Wong Yam’s mental ability without harming her.
Hey, It’s That One Guy
There was one aspect of Cyber Phoenix that confused me. Wong Yam trains at Emei Mountain Spiritual Academy, which prides itself on having all-female martial artists. Yet Wong Yam’s master is a male monk who looks like Tenshinhan from Dragon Ball Z, but without the eye in the middle of his forehead. I found the fact that a man rather than a woman was running an all-female martial arts academy to be disappointing. Still, he treats Wong Yam and the other martial artists with respect and trust, so he grew on me.
The Verdict
This was an entertaining blend of martial arts and sci-fi. There is the potential for a sequel in the future, and if it happens, I would be willing to read it. I recommend this to anyone who likes martial arts, sci-fi, and full-color manga. Cyber Phoenix soars high!
Cyber Phoenix can be purchased from Nakama Press.
If you liked Cyber Phoenix, you might also like:
- Street Fighter (Udon)
- Ghost In The Shell
Credits
Writer/Artist: Andy Seto
Translation and Lettering: Book Buddy Media
Editor: Kristen Simon (English Edition)
Production: Camilo Sánchez
Published in English by Nakama Press
A special thank you to Nakama Press for providing us a copy to review. Receiving access to this book has in no way altered the opinions expressed in this article.
Article edited by: Adam Wescott
The Good
- Vibrant full color artwork
- Complex female protagonist
- Entertaining Blend of Martial Arts and Sci-fi
- Commentary on human's reliance on technology
- Potential for a sequel
The Bad
- Emei's master being male was disappointing after seeing all the martial art students were female
Featured Sponsor - JAST
The sweetest romance and the darkest corruption, the biggest titles and the indie darlings; for visual novels and eroge, there's nowhere better.
Big thank you to our supporters
From their continous support, we are able to pay our team for their time and hard work on the site.
We have a Thank-You page dedicated to those who help us continue the work that we’ve been doing.
See our thank you page
