Language: English
Direction: Right to Left
Pages: 162
by: Shoko Fukaki
Publisher: CMX
Type: Series
Genre: Shounen, Martial Arts, School LifeSynopsis:
Jin is a typical high school kid who lives with his chiropractor dad and homebody sister. But one day he discovers that he has abnormal martial arts powers (great fighting, leaping and running skills). Mysteriously, however, he only has these powers one day a month.
Jin has a core group of friends: an attractive girl named Fusano (who likes Jin but would never admit it) who’s also good at martial arts; former bad boy Choji; and brainy computer nerd Tomonori. After school one day, Jin and his friends go to an arcade, where he is called outside by some tough guys posing as cops. It seems they were hired to test his abilities, but unfortunately he doesn’t have any of his special powers on this day, so they beat him up until his friends come to help him.
Almost more mysterious than his occasional powers is the truth about the gang of bullies…who were hired by his estranged older brother.
I picked this up ages ago and forgot about it until i was unboxing some of my manga yesterday. When CMX closed it’s doors they released a few volumes starting new series off, this was one of them.
As a result of this the series is unfinished, so it’s not really one i can recommend for buying. That said this first volume was pretty darn good, all things considered.
The main character Jin, is frankly hilarious, his attitude and the way he acts are as outrageous as can be. The interaction between the characters is great, with each of them having a well defined and distinguishable personality. This means the first volume has a great flow and feel to it.
The art is also pretty good, with the character designs being well designed. The settings are well done as well, giving a good feel to the martial arts antics that go on. Jin spends most of his time hopping around the school buildings and stuff looking like a monkey rather than anything else.
We do get some interesting story developments in this volume, with a bit of history about Jin, and why he’s such a martial expert, once per month. the developments we get at the end of the volume leave you wanting more.
As a series i saw a lot of potential in this, right until the point i saw it was only three volumes long. I wonder how well the story could be progressed in just three volumes, but i sure would like to see. Hopefully someone will rescue the license and release it, possibly as an omnibus edition.
