21/04/2020: Manga We've Been Reading Lately

Dear readers,

We're not going to do any particular theme today, but we'll just throw out 4 manga we've been reading over the last few weeks.

1) Chainsaw Man (Tatsuki Fujimoto)

In this world, there are Devils (monsters) that go around and make trouble for everybody. These Devils are associated with an item, so there are zombie-devils, gun-devils, scissors-devils, etc. (and their fighting power is somewhat influenced by the item they're based on). Thus, there's a booming industry for Devil-hunting. Most of these Devil Hunters (humans) make contracts with Devils to augment their fighting power so they can take on stronger Devils. Our hero, an abandoned child who's just turned 16, made such a contract with a chainsaw devil and they live from meager paycheck to paycheck and dream of having a nice bed or being able to eat toast with condiments. However, the hero gets killed one day but the chainsaw devil fuses with him to save his life, which drastically increases his fighting power. Our hero's roped into the Devil Hunting Bureau, which is basically a higher-level Devil Hunter organisation that works with the police, to hunt down stronger Devils. There's an overarching plot line about hunting down the strongest Devil, the Gun Devil, who killed millions of people and some of our hero's new friends have deeply personal reasons for this. The art is really good and it's pretty action-y and gory, which is usually a selling point. The cast of characters is very interesting because the author explores their backstories very well (with just enough detail, not too much) and it's really sad when someone dies. There are a lot of cute characters in this, like Makima (the mysterious and ruthless boss Devil Hunter who's the main love interest and has a super mysterious, cool power that isn't explained yet), Himeno (a cool senior Hunter who's like a big-sister character), Kobeni (a rookie who's super cowardly and cheapskate but is sometimes useful, I usually feel bad for her because she's the butt of most jokes), Reze (a mysterious woman who appears around Chapter 40 but I won't say too much - I really like her!!!) and Power (a crazy but likable Devil with horns - a bit of a Unit-02 rip-off but she's funny and cute!). Of course, a shounen manga isn't complete without a handsome and brooding side-hero who's angsty about everything, a "legendary" Hunter who trains up the heroes, and a few other well-executed cliches. Very compelling action manga!

2) Takarakuji de 40-oku Attandeakedo Isekai ni Ijuu Suru (Suzunoki Kuro)

A normal guy wins 4 BILLION YEN (that's like SGD$5m???) in the lottery and takes shelter in his isolated family home in the mountains to avoid all the people trying to get his money. However, there's a strange passageway in the basement and leads to a strange, new fantasy land! He meets a poverty-stricken village and decides to use his knowledge of farming, modern engineering and some useful tools from modern Japan to help them out. I like that our hero isn't stuck in the fantasy world but can make regular trips back to the modern world to pick up new supplies, which makes it more feasible for the hero to be of use (since if he were stuck there with nothing but his wits, then he'd have to be damn bloody smart to be of use forever). There are a few promising love-lines so you don't really know who the hero will end up with, and all the love interests are quite likable. The star of the show is still the modern "science" bits, which are alright but they're not as in-depth as something like "Suicide Island" or "Sengoku Komachi Kurou Tan!" (manga I'll talk about, next time).

3) Ikenai Kanojo no Otetsudai (Kaihei Nakahara)

Our hero, a typical 16-year-old Japanese boy with blonde hair, is the son of a shrine family and has the power to see ghosts! He doesn't like it very much so he just tries to ignore the ghosts. However, he discovers a long-haired ghost on the roof (a la Ring or something like that) named Rinko but it turns out she's just desperate to make friends! He decides to be Rinko's first friend and he starts hanging out with her on the roof and they're gradually joined by more ghosts like a toilet ghost with a crush on Rinko and a girl with a second mouth on the back of her head. It's a fairly standard and enjoyable "harem" manga, but without the distasteful bits like the main character committing emotional cheating or the perverted stuff.

4) Spy x Family (Endou Tatsuya)

A top-secret agent adopts a young girl and marries a young woman so he can go undercover in an enemy country. However, the young woman is actually a master assassin who's agreed to marry the agent (she doesn't know he's an agent) so she can better do her work; and their adopted daughter is an ESPer who knows both of their secret identities! The manga follows their new lives as a mismatched but loving family as both parents try to accomplish their missions while the daughter helps them from the shadows. We hope these manga will help you relieve some stress until finals are over!!!