“Rhinoceros Beetle vs. Riokku”
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Tomohiro Hasegawa
Translation: Paul Starr
What They Say
Third-grader Shota Aikawa’s pet beetle evolves from a larva to a pupa to a superhot human! The wacky adventures of the Aikawa family and the fabulous beetle who would be king now begins! You’re gonna LARVA this new comedy manga!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The Hoshiking tournament gets underway with this installment after a brief break with some fun downtime material. Tomohiro Hasegawa is leaning into the tournament pretty well here while still keeping to the things that amuse the fans and have kept us around. They’re not going for just action on top of action but rather making sure the comedy is still at the forefront here. Which is good as Hasegawa plays on things in interesting ways – though this chapter goes a bit further than some of us would care for – and delivers the goods. Through it all, we get the kinds of visuals we’ve had since the start which means it looks good and is a fun and easy read.
The tournament for this is pretty public and we’re introduced to Riokku early on as the opponent. An Indonesian cricket that can get pretty biig, it’s a hungry bug and she’s joined by a bodyguard bug with an amusing mask on its face. Not that it does much during this match besides stand there but that’s more than Moriking does. The chapter goes moves quickly to set up the fight after the introductions which is delightful. The initial elements are made clear in that while Moriking sees his place as protecting people as the ruler, Riokku sees their position as ruler to treat everyone as food to fill its vastness. With it being one of the largest bugs out there, Riokku simply views the world as her plate and all the beings upon it tasty morsels.
So… the ramen eating contest starts off the tournament! I did have to laugh because Moriking is so bad at this as he doesn’t care for food and a glass of water fills him completely. With him taken out of the picture, it’s an easy win for Riokku but that can’t be the end of the game. Thankfully, Oka paired up with Moriking on this one against Riokku and her bodyguard and Oka loves to eat. And can eat an immense amount of food as we see, though Riokku is definitely making it a challenge. It’s a good match that goes in some really dark places toward the end as we get introduced to the horsehair worm that is inside of Oka and gives her the edge, once removed, to win. It’s really quite disturbing since the worm is a bug that can take human form
In Summary:
Moriking moves through the first stage of the Hoshiking tournament pretty easily and the best thing is that the match isn’t carried over to the next chapter. I continue to like that they’re most one-off fights and matches instead of something that’s dragged out a long time. Of course, we do have other matches to come that may expand past the one-off side of things a bit but this is a series that isn’t playing by the old ways of drawing things out forever and ever. I’m definitely curious to see what’s to come and what’s beyond this tournament.
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: B
Text/Translation Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Shonen Jump
Release Date: November 22nd, 2020
