Hey all, Dani here.
Another Monday, another Manga Monday review post. I legitimately think I need to start doubling up on my manga reviews, because otherwise I don’t believe I’ll be able to actually catch up on these. So I guess in the future, the first Monday of the month will be Calendar Girls and a Manga Monday review, and then the rest of the Mondays will be a double dose of Manga Monday. Sound good?
All right, let’s just go ahead and jump into this review.
Book Details
Story by: Hideyuki Furuhashi
Art by: Betten Court
Original Concept by: Kohei Horikoshi
Format: Paperback
Pages: 192
Publisher: VIZ Media LLC
Publication Date: July 2, 2019
ISBN: 1974707725 (ISBN13: 9781974707720)
Summary
Not everyone needs a license to fight for justice!
In a superpowered society, there is nothing ordinary about evil anymore. Heroes, trained and licensed to protect and defend the public against supervillains, stand above all the rest. Not everyone can be a hero, however, and there are those who would use their powers to serve the people without legal sanction. But do they fight for justice in the shadows, or for reasons known only to themselves? Whatever they fight for, they are called…vigilantes.
Disaster at the Marukane department store’s grand reopening was averted thanks to the efforts of Koichi, Pop Step and their band of low-end idols. But a greater calamity was prevented by the clash between Knuckleduster and his own wayward daughter, Tamao, who was possessed by the villainous Kuin Hachisuka! In the end, Knuckleduster nearly had to kill Tamao to free her from the evil entity controlling her. Now that he has achieved his goal and saved his daughter, is Knuckleduster through with his life as a vigilante?
My Thoughts
Rating: 4 stars
This felt like a filler/transition volume to me. It was okay, and I can see the growing pains and struggle of certain characters to transition to their new lifestyle, sort of, but I’m still a tiny bit underwhelmed with this series.
It’s like Koichi and Pop Step just aren’t super compelling as main characters. For the most part I was hanging on to the series for Knuckleduster, but unless something drastic happens, it seems like he’ll be out of the picture for a while. Granted, yes, now I’m pretty much just reading this series for more with Aizawa/Eraser, because I feel like he’s developing into an absolutely fascinating character between the two manga series.
Plus, it just seems like the stakes aren’t really all that high in this series. Most of the police and pro heroes that we’ve encountered in this series seem to just shrug off or overlook the presence and effort of the vigilante heroes. Using powers without the proper licensing is supposed to be illegal, which presumably means that there’s some kind of consequence to doing it…but instead it’s like a non-issue.
And having the department store hiring Pop Step to help promote the store and some of its products just legitimizes her a bit, though she still doesn’t have the licensing to use her powers like she does.
I don’t know. I just want more from this series. Perhaps it’s rude to place the expectations I have for the original series on this one as well, but that’s how I feel about it. I expect to have a connection with the characters, even if the cast gets huge. Instead it feels like there’s still a fairly small cast and we’re still struggling to learn about them and get emotionally attached to them.
I’m still going to keep reading this series, because it’s decent, but it is just a pale echo of the original series.
Where to Get a Copy
You can grab your own copy of this book from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-million, Book Depository, or your local independent bookstore through IndieBound.
You can also check with your local library.
Free State of Geek 