#jio holst

[arkus-rhapsode]

So having read 4 chapters of Galaxias so far I can say it’s… Fine. Not bad by any means, the art is good and the premise is solid. I think I just prefer the one shot’s premise more, but that’s just me.

All that said, Galaxias kinda feels like an improved version of Fairy Tail.

I know I know, rich coming from the guy whose blog was basically dedicated to FT for a few years. But like-this is an action adventure series, about looking for a dragon father, with a girl character inspired by stories and not a physical fighter, teamed up with a fight happy not very smart dragon boy. Obviously there’s no guild or anything like that but hey it allows the cast to be mobile and visit other places. Hell building the combat system around dragons and how ridiculous their elements can get.

It’s just kinda wild to see after all these years.

[s3-studios]

Jio Holst

[arkus-rhapsode]

Galaxias Chapter 1 Impressions & Discussions

So this is kinda a rare occasion. So people already know that many manga series start out as one shots. Which are then adapted and adjusted into being full blown series. The one-shot can often be a prototype for a series with the general idea that undergoes significant alterations or a pilot for the series where the one shot is essentially the first chapter.

This is one of those time where I was aware of the one shot way before it got serialized. And how could I not. After all, look at this! Of course I had to read it.

Well much to my delight I heard it was being picked up for serialization in Weekly Shonen Magazine (A magazine that could use anything that wasn't romcoms) and heck even their K Manga app (Which is a whole different mess) was kind enough to upload the one shot officially translated. That's something you don't normally see and it could actually be an effective way to hype something up.

Now the Galaxias one shot is... pretty solid. An island dwelling man who lives in a light house on a world besieged by kanju dragons discovers and adopts and mysterious girl named Jio with no real memories. She is revealed to be a dragon capable of transforming into a human. The lighthouse keeper, Nereid, seems a bit distant from her due to his hatred of dragons. With Jio transforming into one to protect them from a different dragon too strong for the military. Jio knows Nereid would probably be happy without her, but he blasts the foghorn of the lighthouse during their fight and assists her. The two joining together in their new home.

Again solid. Easy chapter 1. Obviously a few tweaks would probably be necessary for serialization like a hook for a more ongoing storyline. Maybe some more fleshing out of characters. But nothing too different.

Well something I should've realized is that if K manga was cool publishing this one shot before chapter 1 was out-that means they're not gonna be the same.

So with all the preamble out of the way lets look at chapter 1 of Galaxias and the changes it made

So lets start with a simple summary: Jio is a young human girl living on an island filled with dragon folk, a race of humanoid looking people with tails coming out of their back. Jio wants to leave her island and be a great explorer like her hero Yuri Holst. But her dragon folk dad is against it. He's harsh with her but can't seem to stop her interest in the outside world.

Jio meets a man washing up on her island with no name and no memory. As such, she gives him the name Neraid after the protagonist of her favorite book penned by Yuri Holst: Galaxias. Neraid is an energetic and gogetter guy who takes to the new name, but when he asks Jio about her plans for the future she bemoans she'll probably stay on this island. Neraid tells her she's boring and that she should actually try to follow her dream.

Jio and Neraid say goodbye, but Jio find her father nearly dead at the hands of another dragon folk, a dragon knight named Yerkes. Yerkes reveals that he's hunting down Yuri in the name of his government because Yuri killed the previous dragon king. For this he is to be executed. Along with his daughter, Jio Holst. Jio's father had merely been a friend of Yuri protecting her and trying to rise her to be a good human. But now she'll die at the hands of Yerkes.

Jio is against a wall but manages to damage one of Yerkes's eyes with gunpowder. Though now it looks like she's out of tricks, Neraid comes into protect her, telling her that she's not as boring as he thought and reveals he's a dragon folk himself and defeats Yerkes.

Jio knows she can't stay on this island, but Neraid reveals he's also been looking for Yuri Holst for an undisclosed reason. So the two will team up as adventures to find Yuri and learn the truth of the previous dragon king assassination.

Now if that summary had a few things stand out to you, its that Galaxias the one shot and Galaxias the series are two totally separate beasts. So Im gonna start with the obvious differences and how I feel about them:

So bullet points

So the world power structure is way different as dragons seem to be the ones who rule the world instead of being invaders

The other big change is some MC role reversal. The dragon girl Jio isn’t a dragon and grew up on this island and Nereid is a dragon with amnesia.

Neraid is also not as grim as he was in the one shot. Rather he's seemed to have a complete attitude realignment to be closer to a shone protagonist Lot more energy to him.

Jio has also seems to have changed from a somewhat otherworldly infantilized daughter-esque power house to a more spunky energetic girl character

Surprisingly no Kaiju fights yet. Though leaning into the tail combat is an interesting idea so you don’t need to blow your load with full Godzilla transformations.

The doctor from the original one shot Ziess is completely gone as well as the lighthouse as a narrative marker

Noticably the art is a bit softer and thinner than before. At least, on some of the characters

These are certainly some drastic changes. And there are things that because I know of the one shot, do make me lament a bit. The more energetic Neraid defiantly doesn't bounce of Jio are the more straight man type he played originally. I think it added a level of diversity to their dynamic. Jio herself now being the weakest I also am not quite a fan of. Perhaps some think a young girl who can become a mystical creature kinda crosses too much into mascot territory, but I do generally prefer the exploration of weaker and unsuspecting characters who have a lot of power and learn new ways to use it effectively. Also just having a female MC be the powerful one in the relationship whose powers aren't harvested off by a man is still a bit rare in modern shonen. But of course I'm writing this with the knowledge of a one shot. Can't I look at this with eyes as its own thing? Yes I can.

Completely separating myself from already informed perceptions of the series, Galaxias is still a promising start. The art is good, the characters while still raw do feel defined, I like the idea of a bunch of dragon people fighting with their weird Tokyo Ghoul tails, and I love any type of modern shonen that actually tries to be a unique fantasy land and not RPG inspired fantasy or urban fantasy. Overall, much like the one shot Galaxias chapter 1 is Solid. I hope the best for its future.