OUTSIDERS VOL. 1
TITAN COMICS/Titan Manga
WRITER-ARTIST: Akira Kanou
TRANSLATION: Molly Rabbit
LETTERS: Bendidi Ayoub
DESIGN: Matt Bookman
EDITOR: Louis Yamani
ISBN: 978-1787745711; paperback (June 17, 2025)
176pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $16.99 CAN, £9.99 UK
Age: 12+
Outsiders is a manga created by writer-artist Akira Kanou. It was originally published in France by French manga publisher, Ki-oon, in 2021. Titan Manga, the British manga imprint of Titan Publishing, is publishing an English-language edition under the series title, Outsiders, beginning June 2025.
Outsiders, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 4, plus a “Prologue”) opens nearly two decades ago in West Germany near the French border where an important battle between “demihumans” comes to a close. The threads of that incident carry over to present day Tokyo, Japan.
Meet 16-year-old Ema Asano, a high school student who is about to discover that her older sister, Yuko, is involved in something both dangerous and fantastic. She discovers that her sister's boss, Tamaki Utsunomiya, CEO and chief designer of the interior design firm, Topos, is a 300-year-old vampire or “Aeternitas,” as they prefer to be called. One of his employees, 33-year-old Taiga Wakaki, is a craftsman for Topos... and also a werewolf.
Now, Ema, who is a curious and brave girl, has found herself in a side of Tokyo that she did not know existed. She has stepped into the city's shadows where she has started to uncover the secrets behind the ancient feud between Aeternitas and werewolf. Full of energy and determination, Ema will navigate this dark fantasy world, a perilous path that will challenge her beliefs and reshape her destiny. In the meantime, Ema has informed Tamaki and Taiga that she will keep them from killing each other, even if it might lead to her demise...
THE LOWDOWN: Since October 2023, Titan Manga started providing me with print and PDF copies of their manga publications for review. One of the latest is Outsiders Volume 1.
Outsiders Graphic Novel Volume 1 is deep inside my wheelhouse. I am a huge fan the 2003 vampire vs. werewolf film, Underworld, and its sequels (although most of the sequels are inferior to the original film). Whereas Underworld features a gun-wielding assassin, Outsiders' female protagonist, Ema Asano, is a plucky, determined girl right out of shojo manga. So, Outsiders is probably closer to the much more popular vampire-werewolf film coupling that began with 2008's surprise hit film, Twilight, and that was adapted from Twilight, the 2005 novel that was the first of Stephenie Meyer's blockbuster series of novels.
As for Outsiders, readers can pour themselves into Ema and follow her into the world of the supernatural. Like her, the readers will find themselves caught between the arrogant Tamaki and the sullen Taiga, whom I believe is the one of the two males leads to whom Ema is most attracted. I find myself drawn to this dynamic, a kind of awkward love triangle that will both take us into a world that I love – the world of vampires and werewolves – and into the realm of young romance.
Akira Kanou's art is slightly more impressionistic than it is representational, but it is pitch perfect for depicting the world he is creating – a world beyond the natural where conflict and chaos reign in the shadows of Tokyo. Kanou's storytelling moves along quickly, with flourishes of comedy and violence, centered around a heroine ready to do battle, to save lives, and to do right by everyone. This first taste of Outsiders has me wanting to be on the inside of this dark fantasy manga. After all, I believe that many readers will want to experience this eclectic take on the creatures of the night.
I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Fans of vampire comics and of shojo manga will want to try Outsiders.
A-
★★★½ out of 4 stars
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
OUTSIDERS VOLUME 1 is available at Amazon.
SAMPLE PAGES FROM OUTSIDERS VOL. 1:
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