What makes a man?

Creative Staff
Story: Tsuina Miura
Art: Gamon Sakurai
Translation: Ko Ransom

What They Say
High school student Kei Nagai is struck dead in a grizzly traffic accident, but immediately revives to learn that he may not be like every other human. Instead, he may be a mysterious almost immortal being granted not only the powers of rejuvination but the abilities to see supernatural beings. Scared, Kei runs away, and is aided in his escape from society by his friend. Unfortunately for Kei, the manhunt is on and he will soon be caught within a conflict between mankind and others like him as they prepare to fight a new war based on terror.

Technical:
The cover here is a fantastic yet simple image showing off the eerie, mummy-like creature that’s connected to Kei in the book. The back cover takes a different approach but is similarly appealing, creating a collage out of scenes from the book. Paper quality feels solid, text reads smoothly, honorifics aren’t used, and sound effects are left in their original format and translated. A few color pages are included at the start, but that’s it as far as extras go.

The art used in the book is absolutely great. For the most part it’s nothing too complex, but it has a definite confidence and firmness to its strokes, giving it some power. Furthermore, the horror and gore elements are especially well done, giving the Demi-Humans a creepy feeling that really works well with the contents of the story. It also helps that backgrounds appear often and can get rather complex at times. In addition to being a great read, this book is also one that certainly isn’t hard on the eyes in the least.

Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Kei Nagai is a perfectly normal high school student, just trying to keep his grades up and become a productive member of society. In doing so, though, he ends up ignoring Kai, his childhood friend who’s a bit too rough to fit into his plans. Though Kei doesn’t have much interest in the subject, though, there is one big thing that separates his world from ours: the existence of “Demi-Humans.” The Demi-Humans are immortals who can emit a “peculiar voice,” but are otherwise human. Around the world, 46 have been discovered, with 2 coming from Japan, and there are no cases of them harming humans. Later on, while thinking back to a childhood encounter with some sort of strange creature, Kei ends up walking in front of a truck. Rather than bringing our story to a close though, this kicks things off, as the dead boy’s body reforms and he comes back to life.

Under fear of being captured and experimented upon, Kei flees for the hills. Though he treated him like crap earlier, Kei decides to trust in Kai to help him escape. Thanks to Kai being a great friend and showing up just in the nick of time, they’re able to go on the lam together. Along the way, they have some close calls, but they’re able to slip away each time, and Kei slowly awakens to his abilities as a Demi-Human. Meanwhile, some eerie agents of the government and equally creepy people opposing them begin sniffing around, looking into the case of our fugitive hero.

Will Kei be able to make it to safety with the whole world seemingly against him? And will he truly end up cutting Kai loose for his own good? And just what is a Demi-Human, really?

In Summary
With a ton of action, human drama, and a touch of horror and supernatural elements, this book makes for a stunning opening to the series. With a start with the literal impact of a truck, this volume hits hard and just keeps on going. With a ton of intriguing characters and relationships, Kei and Kai being the central example, there’s a lot to keep your attention. Furthermore, the book does a great job of balancing its mysteries, drip feeding just enough information to keep readers tantalized to figure out more. It will definitely be interesting to see if the series can maintain this level of quality throughout, but for now at least this book absolutely deserves a look.

Content Grade: A
Art Grade: A
Package Rating: B+
Text/Translation Rating: B+

Released by: Vertical Comics
Release Date: October 14th, 2014
MSRP: $12.95