Cannon God Exaxxion Stage 1

The Cannon God Exaxxion [砲神エグザクソン] #1

by Kenichi Sonoda, Dana Lewis (Translator), Adam Warren (Translator)

You'd be in shock, too! Let's say you're Hoichi Kano, typical high school student. Earth has been taken over by what seems to be a kindly, co-existing race of aliens. Your brilliant -- and depraved -- grandfather, whom you haven't seen in years, shows up to deliver a sexy android AND an integrated, armored, nearly indestructible gun-suit for your personal use. And just in time, because a ball-shaped robot with razor blade arms has just sliced through a wall like soft butter. Think that's a bit of a culture shock? Wait until you find that our alien friends aren't quite as friendly as we thought and that this mechanical monstrosity is just the tip of the invasion iceberg! From Gunsmith Cats creator, Kenichi Sonoda, comes Cannon God Exaxxion! Collecting issues #1-8 of the series.

Genres: Manga, Comics, Science Fiction, Graphic Novels

203 pages, Paperback

First published June 23, 1998

About the author

Japanese Profile: 園田健一

Sonoda Kenichi is a Japanese manga artist and animation character designer.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sonoda starts off with an awesome premise: on the 10th anniversary of alien contact during the opening ceremony of a space elevator, the Riofaldians reveal their hostile intentions. Because of the cunning ten-year plan that placed Riofaldians in high-level positions in both government and industry, and the prevalence of alien-designed microchips in common technology (which renders devices useless as the aliens choose), humans are powerless to stop the forced colonization of Earth.

But wait! There is one man prepared to stand against the aliens, although he plans to make his grandson do the real fighting. Hoichi Kano's grandfather was reviled for his opinion that the aliens were up to no good, but he has the last laugh when his reverse-engineered robot is the only weapon left to fight the invaders.

Like I said, an awesome premise. But Sonoda has a thing for guns and boobs, the bigger the better, and it kind of puts a damper on the storytelling. Grandpa's assistants are all freakishly buxom with Stepford Wife personalities--I think in a later volume you find out they're all androids, which seems like a highly questionable use of resources when one is anticipating an alien invasion. Sonoda's a gifted artist and storyteller; I just wish he didn't wave his fetishes around so much. But if you are equally obsessed with guns and boobs, you'll love this.

[Chris · Rating 1 out of 5]

Characters were unlikable and inconsistent (protagonist goes from grieving over collateral damage he caused to killing innocent people nonchalantly within chapters) and character designs were lousy. Couldn't get into it.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

(I'm coming back to review the first volume after completing the whole series, in order to give people a better idea of what to expect, without spoilers.) If it's not already clear to you, this is an escapist, wish-fufillment, self-insert fantasy for freedom-loving gun-enthusiats (to use the least pejorative phrasing I can come up with). You will only appreciate this manga if you can get invested in the technical details of the weapons used and the tactics employed. I certainly did. For example, the author goes to great lengths to explain why at no time can anyone in this war use lasers. Everyone must always use bullets. It's badass.

While the plot may seem like it's moving in a direction that it might critique itself and the tropes and themes it uses, do not hold out hope for this. The story makes it's moral claims early on. Gundam gundam gundam, with great power, war is hell. From then onward, it's full steam ahead, full genre, no self-awareness.

Some trigger warnings:
This story includes some disturbing sexual content. While anime and manga fans may be expected to be generally desensitized to seeing some mild female nudity (which this story is by no means short of), Exaxxion really pushes past what I was comfortable with by including a highly graphic depiction of sex between a prepubescent girl and a teenage boy, and also the rape of an adult woman.

[Jesse Slater · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun twist on the Super Robot genre. Similar to Getter Robo, a degree of realism is taken with "what sort of people would it take to make and pilot these things?" -- except here, the examination is of propaganda, the fact that civilians and the government aren't unilateral, and the reality of what being "A Big Damn Hero" requires.

Looking forward to reading more.

[Stephanie Bardou · Rating 5 out of 5]

une bonne histoire de science fiction!
bcp d'humour.

[Logan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It seems like your typical mech shounen at first, but I think there's enough hints dropped to let you know that things aren't what they seem. Stage 1 stops at chapter 8, which feels a bit abrupt, especially the cliffhanger ending.

[Unclebill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun stuff. Love the art.

[Magali · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bof bof bof... Intérêt plus que réduit... Passez votre chemin...

[Adam Duclos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, I've read the whole series now, and although it starts out strong, it has a very rushed ending.