EXEcutional

EXEcutional

Characters from EXEcutional.
Publication information
Publisher CartoonThai Studio
Format Manga
Genre Action/Adventure
Publication date July 17, 2005 (ongoing)
Number of issues 27
Creative team
Creator(s) Panuwut Wattanukul

EXEcutional (Thai: เอ็กซีคิวชั่นแนล Èk See Kiw Chân-Naen) is a Thai language comic book written by Panuwat Wattananukul (Thai: ภานุวัฒน์ วัฒนนุกูล). The comic is serialized in the Thai version of Weekly Shōnen Jump, C-Kids.

Introduction

The story takes place in an online game called "Neo Universe," which has 7,000,000 people around the world participating. Players can participate via headphone; neither keyboard nor joystick are needed. The players connect a headphone to the game hardware and close their eyes; they enter the game automatically, controlling the game through their minds. Although this sounds dangerous, the game administrator guarantees that it is safe. The game became popular in a short period of time, with the number of players increasing daily.

Ganda, a boy protagonist, is one of the players. The story focuses on the war between the game-masters (GM) group and the anti-game-masters group, to which Ganda belongs. The story also touches on how Ganda and his friends are doing and their relationship in the real world. Unlike other online games in which players are separated into different servers, Neo-Universe keeps all 7,000,000 players in one server. In the game, there are four planets on which the players live:

There are thousands of weapons, items and jobs in the game. Cliched professions from other role-playing games such as magician, knight, or healer are rare in this game. Instead, there are unconventional jobs assigned to each player, ranging from randomizer to princess. The game is expansive; there is much data for readers to discover.

Plot

Neo Universe was an online game popular in the story. Ganda participated in the game, hoping to become a GM like his brother Vissana. However, Ganda was tricked by an anti-GM member named Waipoj, and became one of the anti-GM members. He learned later that the anti-GMs were not evil, as he thought. The real evil were the GM members themselves, since they could kill any player for their own purposes. The anti-GM group was the only group brave enough to challenge them, and it became an army with the addition of allies.

Ganda (accompanied by Passorn, a kind girl; Waipoj, a wily person; Mr. Rabbit, a muscular quasi-person with a rabbit head; Majsha, the leader; Assada and Kasem) helped to complete the assigned missions. He also made new friends in the game, such as Mint (an active girl who helped Ganda with investment and fighting the Eric Herb Company). The climax of part one was the battle between the anti-GMs and the GMs in the Winchester War, in which Ganda fought his brother Vissana. The winner was the anti-GM army, which drove the GMs away.

Characters

Anti-GM Army members

Ganda

Ganda is the protagonist of EXEcutional. His initial goal was to become a Game Master like his elder brother Vissana (Thai: วิศนะ), but a bizarre encounter with Waipoj makes him leader of the first division of the anti-GM faction. He is energetic, optimistic and full of willpower, making him a likeable figure within the anti-GM army. Throughout his time as commander Ganda has shown great skill in battle (which he owes to his class ability), and has gained the respect of other members of the army. In the real world Ganda studies at Passorn's school, and is in his second year of high school. He lives alone, with his brother absent most of the time. Behind his house is a haunted banana forest, and Ganda had several comical encounters with ghosts when other characters are sleeping over.

The name "Ganda" literally means "beautiful young lady", and is supposed to be a girl's name; the author may have chosen this name ironically.

Passorn

Passorn is a cheerful, lively girl, a member of the first unit. She is Ganda's assistant when he joins the army, and uses a long gun skillfully. In the real world, she is a shy girl who is in love with Ganda. She never shows her feelings; she blushes when Ganda is around, and all she can do is look at Ganda from behind him in the classroom. The picture in the infobox shows Passorn above in the game and below in the real world.

Waipoj

A wily boy, who lured Ganda to become the first-division captain of the anti-GM army. He is creative, full of strange ideas but good nevertheless. His skill is genetic engineering, creating a new monster to support him in battle by mixing genes from other monsters. He has many monster cards, and when he throws out some of his cards the monsters on the card undergo a fusion reaction to become a new monster (for example, an evil eye, turtle shell, and iron dumbbell become an iron evil eye). After defeating Ghost Master (chief monster in the Winchester house dungeon), he returns to the anti-GM army.

Monsters


Wiriya

A muscled rabbit, who also is in the first unit. What everyone does not know is that Mr. Rabbit is really a woman; she is the army's advisor. She seems to like Ganda; whenever she meets him, she greets him with a tight hug. When she improves her class, her name changes to Hero. She uses a spear (a rare item) skillfully, and is a secondary-school student like Kasem, Nanthagorn and Majsha. She is close friends with Majsha (the chief), both in the real world and in the game, but she seems to also owe Majsha something.

Assada

Assada is the captain of the second division. He is quiet, and his face does not show much emotion; according to Passorn, he is very shy. His forté are sword tricks. Because of his great battle ability he is respected by everyone in the army (especially his vice-captain, Kasem). Assada was defeated in a conflict with a GM; after a temporary withdrawal from the anti-GMs and a training stint in the Winchester Maze Dungeon, he returns during the Winchester War and defeated a GM.

Kasem

Assada's vice-captain despite his childishness and hot temper, Kasem is a member of the second unit whose skill is bare-knuckle fighting. Invited to join the army by Assada, Kasem once said that he entered the army because he wanted to live near a person he liked. He is possibly bisexual, always seen near Assada wherever he goes. He is also fond of Passorn, however, although he knows she loves Ganda. In the real world, Kasem is very short (148 cm—four feet eleven inches tall). He attends school with Majsha, Nanthagorn and Wiriya.

Majsha

Leader of the anti-GM army despite her young age, Majsha is their smartest and strongest member. She is a gifted strategist, and an exceptional leader. Her name means "fish" in Thai. In the first few chapters of the comic, she does not show her face when communicating with the other members; instead, the picture of a goldfish is used as her avatar. In the real world Majsha studies with Wiriya, Nanthagorn and Kasem, and declares her love for Ganda. As one of the twelve Key Masters, her event-horizon weapon is the Justice Ray.

Nanthagorn

Appearing to Ganda as a duck, Nanthagorn says he is a monster controlled by a player but in reality he can change from human to duck at will. He does not get along with Ganda, and competes with him in the army. In real life he studies with Kasem and Wiriya (whom he calls "Fried tofu"). Wiriya does not like Nanthagorn because she knows that he likes her best friend, Majsha. Kasem is his best friend.

Game Master (GM)

Neo Universe differs from other massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) in what a GM can or cannot do. GMs of Neo Universe can do whatever they please, as long as it does not violate the rules. As a result, GMs can abuse their power for their benefit.

Ruler of the World

The Ruler of the World is a program that keeps Neo Universe running; the "Creator" left instructions.

Chilli

Chilli's real name is Vissana, and he is the only GM who has his real name revealed; his code name is Chilli. He loves his brother so much that he bought Neo Universe for Ganda, because he knew Ganda had no money to buy it. Vissana does not appear in the real world; he is only known as an administrator of Neo Universe. In the game, he is an impetuous player who destroys every opponent who defies him. His skill is the Distortion Flame, a large fireball which can destroy everything within a certain radius. He invited Ganda to become a GM like himself but since Ganda has already joined the anti-GM forces, they are enemies.

Lettuce

Lettuce is a GM with long blond hair who wears a coat and specializes in using fields created from his weapon. Lettuce fought and killed Assada the first time they met; however, Ganda killed him in the Winchester War. His weapon is the Force of the Century, a device similar to a Nintendo Famicom. Lettuce inserts cartridges into his Force of the Century, creating fields corresponding to each cartridge from which he will gain abilities. For example, the Bomber Cartridge creates a Bomberman-like maze, and Lettuce can use bombs to attack his opponent. These fields can stack; as the battle continues, Lettuce becomes stronger. His strongest weapon can inflict damage valued at 24,000 (24 K). When Lettuce uses his skills, the pupils of his eyes become invisible.

Onion

Onion always wears a cap and eye scope; his weapon is called the Violence Killer. There are two weapons in a set: a flashlight and chopsticks. His flashlight (unlike an ordinary flashlight) produces a dark light to blind his enemies and while his opponent cannot see, Onion will destroy his opponent's weapon with the chopsticks.

Tomato

Tomato is bald, and wears two pairs of glasses: one on his eyes and one on his forehead. He is sadistic, and likes to kill people in the game; he enjoys seeing his opponent's blood and hearing them scream. His weapon, Chainsaw Massacre, is a three-bladed chainsaw. When Tomato takes off his glasses, he becomes more powerful. His death-blow is a power wave with gravity force; opponents cannot evade it unless they have a high-speed move or warp skill.

Lemon

Lemon is an old man with glasses. He is a skilled inventor in the GM group and invented the GMs' transportation, the spaceship Nexus. Lemon always carries a backpack filled with construction blueprints.

Pumpkin

Pumpkin is tricky and full of guile, a classmate of Assada in the real world. In the game, he likes to fool the opponents into thinking they are all on the same side. When the opponent's defenses are down, he moves in. His weapon is Raging Pain (a whip). Pumpkin's appearance and personality are similar to Ichimaru Gin in Bleach.

Carrot

Carrot specializes in magic and is an expert on star magic, which is the rarest and most powerful kind of magic. His older sister is married to Holy Order in the real world. His weapon, Star Bridge, prevents Carrot's spells from being canceled. All damage received during casting, and the knock-back effects from attacks received, will be nullified. His skill is with the Quazar, which sends opponents to the center of the universe where they are killed; since their bodies are far away, it is difficult to resurrect them.

Broccoli

Broccoli is a GM who looks like a boy wearing a lion costume. He acts like a young boy, showing emotion directly, wanting someone to cheer or comfort him and talking a lot. He encountered Majsha in the pass and was almost defeated by her, resulting in his fear of the Justice Ray. His weapon is Spartan X: a small knife whose attack power varies according to how much force Broccoli puts into it.

Holy Order

The master GM, Holy Order appears as a middle-aged man with short blond hair. He seems to enjoy mentally dueling with Majsha. He is relaxed, but can turn serious when needed. His weapon is the Creature Master, which has a touch screen, clam-shell design and a stylus. Holy Order has no offensive skills, only has support ones used through Creature Master (by drawing skill-signs on its screen). His skills include Sacrifice Vision (a risky healing skill) and Chain Vision (which joins attacks).

Other Characters

Mint

Mint's job is a monster dealer, being able to buy items from monsters; the items she gets from monsters are always cheaper than market price (and sometimes rare). She is skilled at fast calculations, and becomes a successful investor; she and Ganda invest in the Eric Herb Company. Mint was tricked into joining the GM force after the Winchester War with her code name, GM Mint, and was defeated by Majsha.

Eric Herb Company

Eric Herb Company sells herbs which can increase life points or battle ability. The company's owner is Kan, a sharp-tongued businesswoman accompanied by three boys her age: Kitti (an angry-faced farmer), Ei (a cocky-faced plant researcher) and Samart (a sleepy-faced surveyor).

Browser

A bully, who likes to tease weaker players; his first (and last) appearance is in chapter one, where Ganda and Waipoj teach him a lesson.

Merchant Committee and Barbarian Group

The leader of the merchant committee is an intimidating man, approximately 5 metres (16 ft) tall and accompanied by two similar-looking characters. His skills are "Shop remote" (a skill forcing a weaker player to buy him a common item at a high price) and "Shop remote arrange" (forcing a weaker player to sell him their own (possibly rare) item for a low price. His deathblow is "Shop fusion" (making a battle tank with an accomplice).

The Barbarian Group is another belligerent group of merchants appearing in volume one. They have a conflict with the merchant committee, which is invading their trading area. They fight and, with the help of Ganda and his friend, win the battle and get their area back.

References

    External links

    This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, November 20, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.