Manga Review: Fire Punch, Volume 2, by Tatsuki Fujimoto

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: VIZ Signature (VIZ Media)

Release Date: April 2018

Volumes: 8.

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 3.

Goodreads Synopsis:

In a frozen dystopia where inhabitants eat flesh to survive, can the destructive powers of fire bring salvation?

In the not-too-distant past, the Ice Witch blankets the world in snow, starvation, and madness, leading the inhabitants to seek their salvation in fire. With that, an unusual destiny unfolds for two young orphans, Agni and Luna, blessed with the ability to regenerate. But will this ability prove to be more of a curse than a blessing?

Following the fight with his longtime enemy Doma, Agni is beheaded, and it’s decided that his head is to be taken to the sea. However, during the journey, a mysterious person named Togata appears, and their madness-tainted filming begins!

Review:

I missed the first volume of this, but it looks like the plot moves pretty quickly. From what happened in this volume, and what was mentioned to have already happened, it seems like a lot probably already happened.

From the first half of this volume, I was kind of hating it. There were several moments where I just did not want to read more. There's a rape scene that's kind of stopped, and then we meet an even worse character than the rapists, and then almost everyone we've met is killed.

It was a very graphic first half. And it was extremely disturbing.

Then we move onto the second half, where Togata is determined to help Agni get stronger to get his revenge, but really he's intent on filming all of it. Togata is a disturbing character, and he might even be my main distaste for this series. I've met messed up, realistic characters like this before (Mars, E.S.?, Golden Kamuy), and it just turns my stomach. This might even be the worse I've read to this point.

But then again, the filming parts in the middle are kind of interesting. And I liked Neneto, the camera-girl, and how she follows along with it. There were some sad topics surrounding her, like how she wasn't surprised about what almost happened to her, and how a lot of the men around her before this thought so little of women. There was also a surprising mix of characters surrounding Togata, like a gay couple. These aren't things we see much unless the whole story is about them, so it was odd—and kind of nice?--to have it just be another mention.

Togata gives a not-really-surprising twist at the end of the volume, right after we get to see what is really happening in Behemdorg. It's possibly even more disturbing, what they're doing to Blessed people under the city.

It all turns my stomach.

I kind of hate what I read so far, and yet I have another volume to read waiting. I'm offset and disturbed. This series is graphic and gross and awful. I'm almost glad that I didn't go looking for it when it was first released, as I didn't realize it would be this awful. But there were a few elements of this volume that intrigued me, or that I appreciated.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!