Cloverfield Manga

Something is emerging from the deep. What's worse is that the dude in the glasses is getting angry. Oh no!

History shows us that Japan loves giant monsters and giant monster movies, so the appearance of a Cloverfield manga should really be no surprise. The manga is titled Cloverfield: Kishin and the first chapter was uploaded onto Kadokawa's Shonen Ace site (via Wizard Universe's Anime Insider). While its all in Japanese, that shouldn't stop you from looking at pictures of random Japanese people that might have something to do with the Cloverfield monster.

To read / look at the pictures of the manga yourself go to the Kadokawa Cloverfield page and click the big blue OPEN button. You'll then wonder what the hell this manga has to do with Cloverfield. A student named Aiba getting harassed by a guy in a school bathroom. Some other guy shows up to help beat up Aiba. Aiba then looses his pants which end up in the hands of some girl. Thanks to the girl, the two dudes decide to let Aiba go... for now. Cut to a Tagruato ship in the ocean with chains dangling from deck that might be dragging something. On the ship, a crewman is chatting about his pregnant wife with another crewman. Back at the school Aiba has been locked in a small building by the two jerks from earlier. He pulls a photo of his mom from his pocket. Aiba has a flashback of a time when he was young and his mom gave him something good to eat to cheer him up, but then he remembers that she died. The manga panels then inter-cut with Aiba getting angry and something coming up from the water behind the ship. Do Aiba and the monster have something in common?

According to Anime Insider, the subsequent chapters will be uploaded monthly, with the first chapter being taken down when the second one hits. Japan does have many unofficial manga books, but this one looks to be part of the overall Cloverfield experience. The copyright belongs to Paramount Pictures, it has the Bad Robot logo and credits Producer J.J. Abrams and Scriptwriter David Baronoff. I'm sure it will all make sense when the other chapters are released and / or translated. If the film is successful it won't be long before the manga is brought over here so kids can crowd the graphic novel / manga aisle in Borders reading the thing.

- Shawn - 01/16/08