Manga Review: Juni Taisen: Zodiac War, Volume 3, by Akira Akatsuki, Nisioisin, and Hikaru Nakamura

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)

Release Date: February 2019

Volumes: 4.

Spoilers?: No.

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

Volume: 1. 2. 4.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Twelve fighters enter, one fighter leaves—who will win the 12th Zodiac War?

Every 12 years, 12 fighters take the form of the Chinese zodiac and engage in a battle royale. With their strength and mysterious powers, they fight to the death and the sole survivor is granted the ultimate prize—any wish.

With half of the fighters down for the count, the Zodiac War rages on! Usagi—the fighter of the Rabbit—and his undead army continue to rampage across the battlefield, intent on destroying anyone who stands in their way. For an honorable fighter like Ox, Rabbit’s desecration of and complete disregard for human life is unacceptable. To obliterate this heretical army, Ox teams up with an unlikely ally—the drunkard Tiger!

Review:

This series is crazy af. I really don't even know where to guess it's going at this point.

They've narrowed down the contestants severely. There's more at the beginning of this volume than there are at the end. One of them is not a big surprise to me, once we meet the characters more. The other one, though, I'd kind of hoped would last longer. Especially once we got to see their past a bit more—I was kind of becoming intrigued in their character. But oh well on that one I guess.

I'm also a little confused behind the Ox's motivation. It feels a little off to me. He claims that he's killing the others so they won't be turned into zombies. I didn't think Rabbit had to kill them himself, they just had to be dead? Why wouldn't Ox just go kill Rabbit?

This series is weird and disturbing, and throws in a lot more surprises than I expect. Whenever it feels like we're going to get to know a character, they die.