Throw the “One Flash Spinning Gale Style” and the “Imperial Dragon Style” in the same room and you got a Battle Royale between Mototsumitama!
Creative Staff
Story: Dall-Young Lim
Art: Sung-Woo Park
Translation/Adaptation: Christine Dashiell
What They Say
With Mana on board, Keita is outnumbered five girls to one guy in the modest Tokyo apartment. Although Mana has been welcomed in as part of the “family,” her disdain for humans and mototsumitama who ally with them is more than evident. A glimpse into the past reveals the cause: Mana’s beloved older sister abandoned her right to clan leadership — and her little sister — to raise a family with the human she had fallen in love with. Can Mana set aside her resentment to help Kuro and Keita find and defeat the elusive Ghost?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The Shiryuu clan is very powerful and the only clan remaining in the city that hasn’t submitted to Reishin and joined the Shishigami. So they seem like the best allies for Kuro and Keita, but the Shiryuu hate humans and they detest Mototsumitama that “lower” themselves to live and interact with humans. In the end, the threat of the Shishigami is too great for the Shiryuu and they find themselves forced to form an alliance with Keita and Kuro. With just one condition; the Shiryuu are prepared to lose their whole clan to war in an attempt to find Reishin but Kuro has to be the one to assassinate her brother.
In the end, Kuro has been trying to prepare herself for killing her brother, but as a reader I still question whether or not she will be able to go through with it. Keita on the other hand, hates Reishin and has no connection to him, but I worry that when the time comes Kuro will falter and they will both fall to Reishin.
The Shiryuu send their best fighter to work with Kuro and Keita, which means there is one more girl living in Keita’s house. That of course creates its own conflict and simultaneous humor. Mana may be a young girl, but she may also be more powerful than Kuro synchronized with Keita. Meaning, Mana would be incredibly powerful if she had a partner but she detests humans. On the surface she seems like a total pain in the ass, but credit to the writing in this series, Mana’s character development kicks right in and we quickly learn why Mana hates humans even more than the average Shiryuu.
It doesn’t take long for Mana to have her first run in with some Tribal End guys from the Shishigami. Tribal End’s are punks and no match for Mana or any Mototsumitama, but they are also underhanded and manage to take her down with a sedative. Here in lies the problem; Mana can easily defeat them when she recovers from the drugs, but can she recover before they turn her over to stronger Shishigami agents? Can Kuro and Keita find her before this happens?
In Summary
I freaking love Park’s art style! Black God’s fight scenes are always cool, the girls are cute and there is enough variety for every fanboy’s tastes, and Park is a master of conveying a broad range of character emotions through their facial expressions. This last thing seems like a no brainer, but many talented artists only have the ability to draw a few expressions and then transfer those between the characters. And lastly, Park has a foot fetish, so bonus for people that like seeing bare feet!
One of my favorite aspects of this series is the constant infusion of new characters. Not just amorphous placeholders, but characters that get fleshed out and given a reason to behave the way they do. Mana is that latest character, and while she is rude to everyone around her, she has an understandable reason for being that way. Even better, that reason involves her older sister and plays a similar role in her life to Kuro’s relationship with her older brother. But where Kuro’s older brother betrayed their clan and killed everyone she loved, Mana’s older sister betrayed her clan by running away to live a peaceful life in the human world. All good stuff.
Highly Recommended!
Content Grade: A-
Art Grade: A
Packaging Grade: A-
Text/Translation Grade: B+
Readers Rating: [ratings]
Age Rating: 17+
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: October 25th, 2011
MSRP: $11.99
