Lastman - a French combination of Fullmetal Alchemist and Jojo's Bizarre Adventures

  Having seen the French animation film Mars Express, a combination of Asimov's robot stories and Blade Runner, which I enjoyed very much, I tried to find something else written or directed by the same people and so I found Lastman, an animation series with two seasons so far and a third to be released sometimes in the next years. And I loved it!

  Imagine the emotional drive and mystical mystery of Fullmetal Alchemist, but combined with the satirical view on society and monster of the week feel of Jojo's Bizarre Adventures and you get Lastman, only with the irreverent French touch enhancing the experience. Yet, while those shows were quite content to keep the same feel and story throughout their run, Lastman's plot evolves, the characters change, time passes in a meaningful way.

  The moment the second season, quite different from the first and perhaps even better, ended, I immediately went to read the comics. Used to the Japanese manga, I expected to find the comics being the exact same story and drawn characters as in the series, with all I would have to do would be to find where the anime ended and continue the story. Yet, as soon as I found them, the Lastman comics were very different from the anime! At least at first glance, maybe there will be some overlap in the middle or something, but I was surprised - pleasantly so - because now I have an entire new story with new characters to enjoy.

  So the story is about a lone boxer who stumbles upon a mystical mystery and has to take care of an orphaned girl, while supernatural monsters are hunting them down. There are also some fight tournaments, criminal city kingpins, magical drugs and a decadent and hypocritical society. A lot of characters, all of them having their own motivations, growth and occasional foray into the other side (villainous allies and heroic fuckups). And there is a lot of profanity, violence, humor and satire.

  Bottom line: I absolutely loved the series. Was one of the better highlights of my life in the last months.

  P.S. I am sure the idea of a powerful fighter protecting a girl named Siri from otherworldly magical monsters is just as new to you as it is to me.