FormulaTech

FormulaTech (FT) is an ongoing manga created by mangaka William Alexis and is currently being published by Borneo Comix magazine since 2006 in East Malaysia. The story is set in a somewhat futuristic world where a new motor sport/tournament of the same name is being held. The protagonist is Hanzo Juliano, although there are other main characters. The fighters participate in teams, much like the concept of F1 racing.

Helmets
The design of the helmets worn by the characters is based on real sports cars. On the first chapter, it is mentioned that there are 5 teams. So far, 3 helmets have been introduced. The cars which they are styled after are: Ferrari F60, Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren and Porsche 911.

Characters
The characters in FT are consisted of the athletes and the non-athletes. They are all named after fashion designers.
: Hanzo Juliano (named after Enzo Ferrari and designer John Galliano) Helmet styled after: Ferrari F60, Team: Unicom, Logo: Unicorn, Team Color: Red

Hanzo is the protagonist. The story is about him fighting through the competition.

: Paul San Loren (named after designer Jean Paul Gaultier and designer Yves St. Laurent.) Helmet styled after: Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, Team: Pegasys, Logo: Pegasus, Team Color: Silver

Paul is a rival to Hanzo.

: Ester Kenso (named after Easter and designer Kenzo Takada)
Helmet styled after: Porsche 911, Team: Robit, Logo: Robotic rabbit, Team Color: White and Red

Ester is the only female participant.

: Jil Weswood ( named after designer Jil Sander and designer Vivian Westwood)

Girlfriend to Hanzo.

: Max Dahil ( named after Alfred Dunhill)

Max is the commentator of FormulaTech. He also serves as the narrator of the story.

Mechas
The participants of FormulaTech fight each other in transformable mechas. These mechas are able to transform into futuristic vehicles which are similar to F1 cars.

Influence
The main influence of FT according to Alexis is the anime Gun Sword or GXS. “In GunXSword, the creator tries to blend everything that is great in anime together. I want to do that too, to mash everything I like into a comic.”

Portraits
On every 4th and last page of each chapter, a realistic hand drawn portrait is featured as billboards or posters in the story. Alexis revealed that he applies his own drawing technique named Scale System Drawing Technique or ALESYS to create these portraits. He got the idea for ALESYS from building Gundam model kits.

Criticism
Critics have said that FT lacks dialogues and too gimmicky. It has also been accused of trying to cash in on the current car trends, specifically car customization and drift racing, with the helmet designs. While others have praised the helmet designs as creative and unique.

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See Also

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