Takeru Susanoh Vol. #01 Manga Review

The one thing readers ought to know before diving into Takeru’s first volume is the story’s origin: it is an adaptation of a play put on by Gekidan Shinkansen, a popular theatrical troupe that puts on kabuki plays.   And, so, it’s very fitting that this opening volume unfolds like the first act of a play, introducing our heros and offering some tempting insights into the grand, far-reaching plot.  The three main characters, Izumo-no-Takeru, Kumaso-no-Takeru, and Oguna-no-Takeru, are each searching for the legendary sword of Susanoh, which is said to have belonged to the gods.  Though they each have their own motives to find the sword, they end up joining together to search for it.  Their personalities stand in stark contrast to each other, which works out well as they travel together.  Izumo is outwardly laid-back and generally nonplussed, Kumaso works more with his muscles than his brain, and Oguna is mysterious and disapproving of the antics the other two often participate in.  It’s easy to see their characters having emerged from a play; each is based on a simplistic trait, likely expanded by the adaptation.

Their adventuring takes them to Jagara, a kingdom whose battle maidens call to mind the Greek legend of the Amazons.  There, three sisters–the coincidence of the number is not lost on the characters–rule as the queens of the country, and suspect that the three Takerus are the individuals foretold by the prophet Sagame.  Unsurprisingly, the three young men must each undergo a trial set by the First Queen that tests their abilities, or else be executed.  It’s a very traditional “quest story,” to be sure, and the adaptation doesn’t really bring anything new to the table–but then again, it doesn’t have to.  Kazuki Nakashima, probably most familiar to fans for his work on Gurren Lagann, captures the grandiose scale of the story without making it trite or over-the-top.  It’s still very much a volume designed to set up the rest of the story–the most tantalizing scene comes in the final dozen pages–but I imagine that it will be well worth it.

Takeru’s opening volume is clearly a set-up for things to come.  The mythology it creates–or at least starts to establish–feels fully-formed, and I have no trouble believing that the manga’s original incarnation was a theatrical play given the grand, world-changing implications of the story.  Yet, perhaps because of these theatrical origins, the focus is on the story and the mythos, not the characters themselves.  Those looking for a character-driven tale should look elsewhere, but for readers willing to sit back and watch the story unfold, this first volume offers a lot of promise for the rest of the series.