ISBN-13: 9781613135679
Language: English
Direction: Right to Left
By: Shinji Hiramatsu
Publisher: Digital Manga Guild
Type: Series, Manga
Genre: Action, Seinen, Horror, SupernaturalSynopsis:
“MY NAME IS HERETIC MONK…I CAN SEE YOUR PAST LIFE!â€
TO KNOW WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS IS THE DESIRE OF MANY, BUT WHAT IF IT’S THE PAST WHICH DICTATES YOUR DESTINY?
CORRUPT POLITICIANS, CRIMINALS AND TERRORISTS—ALL FALL UNDER THE SCRUTINY OF HERETIC MONK. WITH HIS ABILITY TO SEE INTO EVEN THE DARKEST OF SOULS, HIS BRAND OF JUSTICE IS SWIFT…AND NON-NEGOTIABLE.
“IN THIS WORLD, AFTER ALL, WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND…WE’LL ALL ULTIMATELY BE PUNISHED FOR OUR WRONG-DOINGS.â€Please note this manga is an 18+ due to it’s mature content
This manga surprised me a bit, in that I was thinking it was going to be a period sort of manga, due to the cover art. However it’s set in modern day, which I think adds to it’s charm.
This volume is a bit confusing as there is no really story per-say, as of yet. The main character, who we only know as Heretic Monk, is rather interesting. What is the power he has that enables him to see people’s auras as well as their past lives. Why is that when he kills people it’s passed off as a suicide, despite on a couple of occasions him using a sword.
The volume contains five self contained stories, which have no tie in’s with each other beyond the Monk. What I rather liked was the varying ways the Monk came to interact with people. Some times it was the victim, other times it was him himself, and then we have the ghosts coming to ask for help.
This variance means the start of the chapters never really gets dull, yet sets a precedent on how things will usually go on getting the Monk.
The art is very much a seinen style, as in every other ‘seinen’ manga I’ve read, such as Souten no Ken and Salary man Kintaro have the same art style. It’s very sharp, powerful, and dark. Lot’s of deep blacks, and stark contrasts.
The violence is typical for these style of manga, lots of it, but very contextual, it’s not just violence for violence sake. This volume also does include the odd sex scene, but once again it’s not thrown in for the sake of it. While I don’t mind sex scenes, they need to have a purpose other than being there because it’s a ‘mature’ manga.
I really do like this art style, it fits the story and it’s content perfectly. It makes the villains really ominous and evil, and as you’d expect the women good looking. I wouldn’t say, babes, more a normal good looking, with proper proportions and looks. Again i find this very appealing honestly.
While it’s hard to judge a story solely on the first volume, this has something that will keep me interested for a while longer. I’m keen to see more of the Monk and to learn who he is and his history.
I have to admit I’ve never heard of Shinji Hiramatsu, and I’ve not heard of any of his other titles. So this was a complete new start for me with this manga-ka, I’m looking forward to seeing how this series progresses.
This is being published under the Digital Manga Guild label, and they have done a very good job. I had no problem read the volume on my Kobo Arc using the kindle app. The fonts used for the text was just the right size to be seen and followed. The translation felt good and flowed really well.
Overall I really enjoyed this volume and I’m looking forward to continuing it.
