Pumpkin Scissors Volume 1

The echoes of war are often just as devastating as the war itself. Simply because a cease fire over a three year long war was called was no reason to believe that the pain and suffering would end. Former soldiers roam the world as vagabonds and bandits, taking what they need from others who may need it more, as they know no other way to survive.

Pumpkin Scissors is set in a very bleak environment, but don’t let it fool you. This little gem is far from depressing. Amongst the remnants of war, part of the military is there to try to make things better: The Imperial Army State Section III, unit name Pumpkin Scissors, is dedicated to war relief and reconstruction and their exuberant leader is not about to back down against any odds.

Lieutenant Alice L. Malvin has just graduated from the Military Academy, and is about to be sent to the field when a cease-fire is called on the war.  Rather than waste her efforts, she’s assigned to a special unit dedicated to war relief and boy, does she take her job seriously. A chance meeting with a mysterious veteran, Corporal Randal Oland, leads to trouble and adventure – something the unit hadn’t seen in quite a while. Alice embraces the change, even managing to re-enlist Randal and make him part of the team. There are several other characters in their unit, but unfortunately, their stories are left for another day.

The real interest lies in who the Lieutenant and Corporal are, whereas the young lady is also a young noble, and the Corporal… well, author Ryotaro Iwanaga doesn’t get too into that right away. What we do know is that Randal was once part of a special unit, one that doesn’t even exist in the military records anymore. It’s even alluded to that he may have been a test subject of some sort. But again, the author leaves us wondering what exactly went on during the war.

Pumpkin Scissors reminded me tonally as somewhere between Trigun and Full Metal Alchemist – slightly goofy main characters who are just the right amounts of badass when they need to be, in a world full of violence and corruption. People are suffering all around them, and all they want to do is help where they can – whether that’s because of their naivety or because of a genuinely good heart. Likely, the answer lies in a bit of both. I will say, however, that the actual violence in the book isn’t to be taken lightly – when it gets bloody, it gets downright gory, so its rating of 16+ is well-deserved.

Story-wise, you get three chapters out of the first book, and it’s exactly enough to keep you hooked and wanting to know more. Much like the beginning of most series, the first three chapters are all individual stand-alone stories to introduce the main characters and setting – there’s no direct main antagonist introduced, so the plot seems more internal concerning the cast in that regard.  

As far as the art goes, there are definitely scenes that jump right out at you, and you can just picture the action in full motion. There must have been no doubt that this would, eventually, get its own anime. However, some of the sequences end up a little stuttered and confused, and there were, admittedly, a few times when I had to go back and figure out what exactly happened, or wondered if a page was missing. Despite the slight upset in composition, it’s still a pretty good read.

My biggest complaint, really, was that this manga was nearly impossible to find! I had been looking for a copy for several weeks at this point before a friend of mine who had heard my woes finally tracked it down for me. Lucky for me, I also managed to finagle Volume 2. If you can manage to find a copy, I whole-heartedly recommend picking it up. I know for certain that I look forward to seeing more from Section III – they’re a heart-warming bunch, and I can’t wait to see where adventure takes them.