Gun Blaze West

Infobox animanga/Header
name = Gun Blaze West


caption =
ja_name = ガン ブレイズ ウエスト
ja_name_trans = Gan Bureizu Uesuto
genre = Adventure, WesternInfobox animanga/Manga
title =
author = Nobuhiro Watsuki
publisher = flagicon|Japan Shueisha
publisher_other = flagicon|United States Viz Media flagicon|Indonesia Elex Media Komputindo flagicon|Germany EMA
demographic = Shōnen
magazine = Weekly Shōnen Jump
first = June 4, 2001
last = November 2, 2001|
volumes = 3

nihongo|"Gun Blaze West"|ガン ブレイズ ウエスト|Gan Bureizu Uesuto is a manga series by Nobuhiro Watsuki and published in Shueisha's "Weekly Shōnen Jump" in 2001. The story follows Viu Bannes, a young gunfighter on his journey towards a Gun Blaze West, the place where the greatest gunmen go to test their strength.

The manga is collected in three volumes and released in Germany and North America.

Plot

"Gun Blaze West" is a place of legend where everyone, lawmen and outlaws, would be able to live in peace without fear of violence. The journey to Gun Blaze West may be undertaken at the end of every decade ("Zero Year"), but each hopeful must first earn the "Sign To West", an item with the Gun Blaze West insignia that is only valid on the year it is acquired.

Characters

Main characters

;Viu BannesViu is a cheerful, optimistic, and adventurous nine-year-old boy who dreams of becoming a gunman. He acts before he thinks and, because of his rash nature, takes on risky challenges without considering the consequences. Viu is determined to become Marcus Homer's apprentice in order to become strong enough to make the journey with him to Gun Blaze West. But after Homer is killed in a duel against Ken Brown, Viu is forced to train on his own and his journey to the West doesn't begin until five years later.His weapon is a pistol, inherited from Marcus homer, that has an enhances cartridge dispenser, as well as a Sign to the west on the hilt. He demonstrates remarkable ingenuity with the weapon, learning how to "fan" all by himself, discovering the hard edges you can club someone with, and, after using up the bullets, learning to fight by recoiling the hot spent cartridges. He has been described as the Volaitional of the characters, and his youthful counterpart was derived from "Johnny boy " in the provider O commercials in Japan at the time.

;Will JohnstonWill first encountered Viu in a bar in St. Louis, where he was working as a bouncer and promptly threw both him and Target Kevin out for causing a disturbance. Will lives with his little sister in a small cabin (which was later burned down by Kevin in retaliation for the earlier incident). Later on, after defeating Target Kevin, he joins Viu in his quest to fulfill his father's dream of finding Gun Blaze West. Will is unique in that he uses a lasso as his weapon of choice instead of firearms, with his two named techniques being "Wave" (flicking a 'wave' of rope at Target Kevin's eyes) and "Tendril" (which he used four ropes to grab all of Kevin's limbs and shattered them with a powerful tug). In his training to master his "Rope Special", Will gained incredible arm strength, allowing him to toss around his opponents like weightless ragdolls when they are collared by his lassoes. He carries a trick compass that points west, with a Sign to the West emblazoned upon it. He was described as the more intellectual of the three main characters, calculating and thinking things through where the others tend to act impulsively. His intellect is proven when he states that he has memorized his father's books to the point where he can remember all that he's read from them. It is possible that he possesses a photographic memory. He was reportedly based on Quentin from October Sky.

;Colice SatohColice is the daughter of a family of samurai. She works as an acrobat and knifethrower for Robert Rodriguez's circus to repay him for taking her under his wing. Colice teaches Viu "Concentration One", a special eye technique to focus his aim better.

Allies

;Cissy BannesViu's older sister and the school teacher of his hometown. She despises weapons. Marcus had a thing for her.

;Marcus Homer Viu's mentor who taught him the skills needed to make it to Gun Blaze West. Believed to have been gunned down by Bill Kenbrown, he is revealed to be alive in the series' final page, where he is seen reading the note Viu left him in the hope that they both make it to Gun Blaze West together.

;Carol JohnstonWill's helpful kid sister. She at one point risks her life to rescue Will's compass when Kevin set fire to their house. The creator acknowledged that she turned out very weak.

;Robert RodriguezCircus owner. Robert is Guallaripa's former partner; their relationship ended when they caused a town's destruction and caused the deaths of a mother and daughter. Robert possess incredible strength as well as the ability to catch bullets with his bare hands. He was formerly a strong outlaw in the Territory of Utah, known as the "Western Phantom."

;Armor BaronThe First Messenger of Gun Blaze West. It is his duty to eliminate the weaker candidates to ensure the strongest make it to the next stage of the journey. His armor, Siegfried, is a special model with a built in rocket pack to give it short bursts of incredible speed, effectively turning him into a human missile. Viu manages to pierce his armor, thus earning his respect and a new Sign To West to continue his journey.

;J.J.A cocky gunman traveling to Gun Blaze West with his gang. Carries specialized bullets named Drill Lock to penetrate the armor worn by Armor Baron's men. Watsuki describes him in his notes as being a "cooler version of Marcus Homer".Fact|date=April 2008 "J.J." stands for Jesse James.

;JimOne of J.J.'s Gang. His full name is Jim Younger.

;MyraOne of J.J.'s Gang and one of the only two female Gunman searching for Gun Blaze West. In real life she is Myra Maybelle Shirley Reed Starr(alias Belle Star)

Villains

;William KenbrownThe first villain encountered in the series. Responsible for wounding Marcus Homer and apparently killing him, which set Viu off on his quest. Nobuhiro Watsuki acknowledged that he should have been spiced up more. He and his gang ravaged the state of Arkansas before being driven up to Winston Town. He is such an expert he can handle the local militia without even firing his gun (he hides behind his horse while they shoot, throws a whiskey bomb into the midst, and throws a set of Cartridges into the fire; while handling Marcus in a duel, he uses wrist knives to feint Marcus before shooting him twice in the torso and once in the head).

;Target KevinAn insane looking gunman who uses special sextuple-barreled shotguns to cause as much destruction as possible without regard for bystanders or property damage. After setting fire to the Johnston place to draw will out, he Fought Viu in a special "Target Fight" match, where both participants paint bull's eyes on their bodies and win by hitting their opponent's bull's eye first.

;CarloTarget Kevin's employer, the owner of the Bella Donna Saloon, he says Will's employer's Saloon is an eyesore, so he hires thugs to harass the Saloon. He tolerates all sorts of things within the Bella Donna. After Winning the Target game, Viu destroys the Saloon with the special guns provided. Carlo is known to be very generous with his money, offering will and Viu 20 times Kevin's pay, with many fringe benefits, casually.

; GuallarripaEx-partner of Robert Rodriguez and Father of Uno and Dos (which are also his teammates on his journey). His weapon of choice is the shield-pistol, that he wears under his hat.

;Uno and DosGuallaripa's twin sons who are determined to help their father on his journey. Uno uses a pair of large spurs as a pair of roller skates which grant him increased speed and an added edge to his kicking attacks, while Dos uses a large circular disc as a razor edge throwing disc for long range attacks.

;Sarge ThunderarmAs a United States Army Cavalry soldier, Sarge was once noted to have fought nonstop for 3 days and 3 nights, averaging 10,000 rounds per day. He had no qualms about killing enemy soldiers even if they had surrendered or have been taken as prisoners of war. He was believed dead after he took a hit from a cannonball, but was rebuilt as a cyborg in service of the U.S. government in order to find Gun Blaze West, on orders of the President. He was meant to be the first Super Soldier

External links

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