Manga Review: Black Torch, Volume 5, by Tsuyoshi Takaki

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)

Release Date: August 2019

Volumes: 5.

Spoilers?: No.

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

Volume: 1. 4.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Ninja and animal lover Jiro Azuma’s life is changed forever when he finds himself in the middle of a war of ninjas vs. demons.

Jiro Azuma is descended from of a long line of shinobi, and he also can talk to animals. One day, he rescues a very unique black cat named Rago, a supernatural being, and is dragged into a secret supernatural war.

With Jiro’s ability to fully awaken and use Rago’s power, the final battle with Amagi is about to begin. Will Jiro and his friends be able to stop the rampaging Amagi in time? Don’t miss the thrilling conclusion!

Review:

They've figured out what Amagi is doing and what his plan is, and then the fight basically comes to them. Jiro and Rago take the reins here, and everyone else is backup to help them get to the main fight.

It feels like maybe this series was cut short, because there was a lot of potential with these other characters, who could be considered main characters and plot lines were started for, and yet we didn't quite get enough. I really wanted to know more about them, honestly, and for the relationship to reach something more real. But there wasn't enough time to go further with them, I don't think.

And I don't mean that this was rushed, either, or that the characters weren't fleshed out. It feels more like they were fleshed out and then weren't given anywhere to go.

This volumes wraps things up relatively well, though. The big fight happens, and the team is made up, for the most part, and clearly needed. I will say that when Rago and Jiro form together, they look a lot like Venom.

This was a fun, short shonen series. I think there was more potential here than was given the space for, because I really wanted to know more about the side characters, in particular. But sometimes it can be nice to have a short ending to a shonen series, which are known to never end.

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

Manga Review: Black Torch, Volume 4, by Tsuyoshi Takaki

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)

Release Date: May 2019

Volumes: 5.

Spoilers?: No.

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

Volume: 1. 3. 5.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Ninja and animal lover Jiro Azuma’s life is changed forever when he finds himself in the middle of a war of ninjas vs. demons.

Jiro Azuma is descended from of a long line of shinobi, and he also can talk to animals. One day, he rescues a very unique black cat named Rago, a supernatural being, and is dragged into a secret supernatural war.

In order to save Jiro’s life, Rago pledges loyalty to Amagi, his sworn enemy! But Rago has no intention of letting his power be used by evil forces, and so when he joins Amagi, he leaves all his power behind in Jiro. Outraged at the unexpected betrayal, Amagi unleashes his wrath upon Rago!

Review:

As the other Mononoke are clearly after Rago and want to separate Rago from Jiro, they have to decide how to attack back. Rago wants Jiro to be okay, and Jiro wants to fight everyone. Rago throws in a surprise here, though, that not even the mononoke had considered.

With this new power, the bureau is having a hard time keeping hold of Jiro, and Jiro needs to train to figure out how to handle it all.

Jiro meets a new mononoke in the second half of this volume. It's a mononoke woman, who has made an agreement to live peacefully and unbothered in this forest, along with her husband who used to be human. I really liked getting to see their dynamic and history, how they came to be in this position. It's a really sweet story, and I was pleasantly surprised to meet these characters. I kind of want more of them.

The next volume is the last, which seems to mean that there isn't a romance in the forefront, and I appreciate that. Jiro only formed some light friendships with all of the characters, including the women, and I like that. The plot line was more important to him, at least.

Now, saying that, I kind of ship Ichika and Roren? It's so odd to me, and yet I'm kind of into it.


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

Manga Review: Black Torch, Volume 2, by Tsuyoshi Takaki

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)

Release Date: November 2018

Volumes: 5.

Spoilers?: No.

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

Volume: 1. 3.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Ninja and animal lover Jiro Azuma’s life is changed forever when he finds himself in the middle of a war of ninjas vs. demons.

Jiro Azuma is descended from of a long line of shinobi, and he also can talk to animals. One day, he rescues a very unique black cat named Rago, a supernatural being, and is dragged into a secret supernatural war.

There’s a new squad at the Bureau of Espionage—code name: Black Torch. The squad, run by Shiba, consists of Jiro, Ichika and one more rookie named Reiji Kirihara. However, Reiji has no intent of working with a guy who fused together with a demon! Will this squad ever be able to work together?

Review:

 Now that Jiro has officially agreed to be part of the Black Torch squad, he gets to meet his new teammates. Mainly, Reiji, who he instantly dislikes. They get to fight it out, and they're pretty evenly matched.

We meet a couple of other mononoke in this volume. I'm intrigued by both of them—one bad, and one good. The good one gives the three a test; a hallucination/mental test that they have to get past to wake up. We get to learn a bit about Reiji and Ichika during this, as the test features something bothering them from their past. It looks like Jiro might have a tougher one, though.

I haven't read a good action shonen series in a while, like this one. I'm enjoying it. I like the banter, and I'm enjoying the characters; I'm even intrigued by where the plot is going. And the artwork is very nice.

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

Manga Review: Black Torch, Volume 1, by Tsuyoshi Takaki

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)

Release Date: August 2018

Volumes: 5.

Spoilers?: No.

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

Volume: 2.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Ninja and animal lover Jiro Azuma’s life is changed forever when he finds himself in the middle of a war with ninjas vs. demons.

Jiro Azuma is descended from of a long line of shinobi, and he also can talk to animals. One day, he rescues a very unique black cat named Rago, a supernatural being, and is dragged into a secret supernatural war.

Although he may appear rough-and-tumble, Jiro Azuma’s compassionate side emerges when it comes to the furry critters he can communicate with. But Jiro's soft spot for animals gets him in major trouble when a suspicious stray cat fuses with him, granting him exceptional power but also dragging him into humanity's hidden battle against powerful Japanese spirits, mononoke.

Review:

At the start of this volume, it gave me the feeling of Black Cat and Bleach. The former I've read none of, and the latter I've read very little of. But in a good way. Sometimes action shonen are just fun.

Jiro is a ninja who can talk to animals, and he stumbles into a fight between Mononoke. This has a surprising twist that I didn't expect, but that I appreciate. Jiro meets his to-be-boss Ryosuke, and his potential partner Ichika, but then he has to finish some things, take care of some loose family ends, before he agrees to join them.

I really enjoyed this first volume. It's very action, supernatural shonen, and I liked that. I'm looking forward to reading the next one.

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