I Reads You Review: SHIKI TSUKAI, VOL. 3

Creator: To-ru Zekuu (story) and Yuna Takanagi (art); Mayumi Kobayashi (translation and adaptation)

Publishing Information: Del Rey Manga, paperback, 200 pages, $10.95 (US), $12.50 CAN

Ordering Numbers: ISBN: 978-0-345-50415-9 (ISBN-13)

Rating: “T” for Ages “13+”

Shiki Tsukai is a shonen manga (comics for teen boys) from writer To-ru Zekuu and artist Yuna Takanagi. The Shiki Tsukai are supernaturally powerful people who control the seasons through the use of magical objects called “shikifu.” Shikifu are magic cards from which the Shiki Tsukai derive their powers.

Teenage Akira Kizuki discovers that he is a Shiki Tsukai. In fact, Akira may be the great “Shinra,’ the warrior with power over all seasons. Because he may be the Shinra, the Shiki Tsukai of Summer want his powers in their war to destroy humanity, which they see as the cause of Earth’s environmental degradation. Koyomi Sakuragi, a Shiki Tsukai of March who can transform herself into a sword, fights by Akira’s side.

In Shiki Tsukai, Vol. 3, the Shiki Tsukai of Summer and their allies, Fall, increase their aggression. They launch an attack on the headquarters of Sakuragi Corporation, a business owned by Koyomi’s father, Kenshin, a co-leader of the Shiki Tsukai of Winter and Spring. Then, Rinsho Matsukaze, a radical Shiki Tsukai of Summer, kidnaps Satsuki Inanae, Akira’s childhood friend. Satsuki’s father, Kengo, races to her rescue, but he may need Akira’s help. Is Akira ready to be the hero the world needs?

I don’t think that Kodansha would send assassins after me for saying that Shiki Tsukai reads like it should be in Shonen Jump. It really seems like one of those quasi-superhero shonen manga about a boy who discovers that he has magical/super powers and is destined to be the one (or least a pivotal player) in a great conflict. That is basically Naruto, Bleach, and D.Gray-man. Now, the art in Shiki Tsukai is nowhere near as good as it is in the aforementioned three manga – not in terms of composition, draftsmanship, or storytelling, but it has a quirkiness to it that serves this concept well. The art looks like the work of an inexperienced, raw talent, but the overall graphic package that is Shiki Tsukai is still very entertaining.

Shiki Tsukai is wild and, at times, quite energetic, so fans of shonen superhero will enjoy it. I know I want more.

B+