Seigi’s desire to protect and his actual ability to do so are woefully out of line; will anyone save Seigi and his friends from the super-powered Schrodinger’s Cat?!
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Shinjiro
Translation: Christine Dashiell
What They Say
Enlisted by the American military officer Easy, Seigi trains diligently in an effort to master his Spell Crest. But when a friend and colleague of Easy’s is targeted in a war brewing over these superweapons, do Seigi and his partner even have a prayer of surviving their next encounter with the agents of Selinistan?
Content: (please note that content portions of this review contains spoilers):
Seigi has always been a strong fighter, but he is just outmatched when it comes to fighting warriors equipped with Spell Crests. Luckily for him and his friend, Touko, they were taken under the wing of the Japanese group lead by Easy, studying the Spell Crest phenomenon. They are trying to teach Seigi how to use his Spell Crest, but it takes time. This group is also on friendly terms with the U.S. force with similar concerns stationed in Japan. So Seigi and Touko should be just fine, right?
That would make for a pretty boring manga, so it doesn’t take long for the opposing force of the Kingdom to send their local strong arms after Seigi again. Only this time, the Kingdom’s powerful agent known as Schrodinger’s Cat decides to target the American force to lure Seigi out of hiding. The American force is taken completely unawares during their down time. Most are killed, but their leader, Lisa, is captured and taken as a hostage to be used as bait to get to Seigi.
Unfortunately for Schrodinger’s Cat, Easy and Lisa are very good friends, and Easy isn’t dumb enough to allow Seigi to jump into the fray. Easy goes after Schrodinger’s Cat and throws everything she has at rescuing her friend Lisa. It quickly dissolves into a massacre with Easy’s force proving to be little more than toy soldiers for the Kingdom’s agents. Will this be the end for Easy and Lisa, or will Seigi’s stubbornness throw him into the fray? Even if Seigi tries to fight, how can he hope to win against trained Spell Crest soldiers like Schrodinger’s Cat?
In Summary
Taboo Tattoo is shaping up to be a fun super-powers adventure story with decent artwork and interesting characters. The protagonist needs more developing, but some of the other characters like Schrodinger’s Cat are proving to have some depth to them. As the villain, Schrodinger’s Cat might normally not receive much of an examination, however, she proves to be a complicated killer. The author examines her very odd sense of right and wrong through a weak kitten abandoned on the side of the road. Now, if the protagonist Seigi can receive more character development like the antagonist did, this could prove to be a great series.
I’m looking forward to seeing more this series with hopes that Seigi’s development proves to have more failures mixed in with successes so it doesn’t seem to easy for him like too many series in the genre.
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: B
Packaging Grade: A
Text/Translation Grade: A-
Age Rating: Older Teen
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: April 26th, 2016
MSRP: $13.00
