Togari, Vol. 1
This entry into the demon hunter genre is the story of Tobei, a feudal-era ne'er-do-well damned to hell for his transgressions, but he's offered a way out; if he can collect 108 sins roaming the land of the living in corporeal form in the present day—known as Toga—within 108 days, Tobei's own sins just may be pardoned. All of that is set up in the first nine pages, and from there the story wastes no time getting down to the action. With the mystical Togari cudgel as both his weapon and receptacle for collected sins, a butt-naked Tobei begins his mission in earnest, doling out the violent, speed line–laden carnage expected within the genre. With a talking dog to keep an eye on him and the culture shock of finding himself in the modern world, Tobei merrily beats a bloody swath through his quarry and takes the reader on an exhilarating ride into sheer chaos while wasting little time on such considerations as plot, characterization or even basic logic. The occasionally murky illustrations move the story along at a rapid pace, and the reader could do far worse for brain-optional manga kicks.(July)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.