Akumetsu 's review

Bikou4
Mar 27, 2021
Hidden gems : search for the lost treasures #1: Akumetsu

In the "normal world", people do not know about mangas.

I'm not saying that manga lovers aren't normal : like someone who doesn't know about football find immersing in the world of sport difficult, the world of manga is not a dimension that is accessible for anyone. Luckily, our capitalist world created mainstream manga : someone who want to start manga will probably begin by reading Naruto, One Piece, Bleach... Or Death Note.

On that note, enter Akumetsu. Akumetsu is a series written by Yoshiaki Tabata and illustrated by Yuki Yugo. You may know the name of those guys if you read the manga Wolf Guy. The story features Niimura Shou, a high-school possessing some kind of power which makes him almighty, and who uses this power to smite evil down from the corrupted society of 21st century's Japan, in an attempt to create a society free from all evil.

Most of you must think that you saw that somewhere else, right? But when you look at the publication dates, something is off. The run time of Death Note starts at 2003,and Akumetsu began publication in 2002. Isn't it weird that Akumetsu is called a "rip-off" when he started first? Let's sort this out.

Story : 9
The story of Akumetsu, as stated previously, stars Shou Niimura who dons the mask of Akumetsu ("eradicate the evil", litteraly) to, well, eradicate the evil. Duh.
So, yes, the story ressembles Death Note, in a way. But the structure of the two tales isn't the same. Where Death Note often baffles readers with the complicated mind games that Yagami pulls off to avoid being discovered, Akumetsu chose to anchor its story deeply into modern time Japan. Yes, the facts that Akumetsu uses to blame his victims are twisted and exaggerated, but they exist in some ways.
To explain the reasons for each murder, the mangakas found a clever way : a mascot character. Aametsu-kun, a kawaii version of Akumetsu, will each time explain, not without a but of humor, why X's a wretch. That contributes to lighten a bit the mood of the Manga, and that's a good thing, as the executions are seriously gruesome sometimes.

Another point of the plot is the story of Akumetsu's origins. Once again, Death Note and Akumetsu chose different paths to walk upon : Magic for Death Note, science fiction for Akumetsu. I won't say anything about why Shou fights evil, but this part of the plot is surprisingly interesting and well crafted, and if you can't stomach episodic mangas, this plotline will help you keeping interest in Akumetsu long enough to finish it.

Character(s) : 8

Surprisingly,the best part of Akumetsu is also its weakest (more on that later).

Let's start with, well, Akumetsu, aka Shou Niimura. This character is awesome in many ways. At school, he's clever, funny, and appears as the funny, always friendly dork you can see in other mangas. But when he dons his Akumetsu mask, his personality takes a whooping 180 : he becomes a cold, sarcastic killer, ready to do anything to kill the target he imposed himself. I particularly liked the way he conveys his justice : no matter how people see him, even if it's as a murderer, he doesn't care. He did what he thought was right, for him and for Japan, and he isn't looking to be seen as a Savior. Unlike Yagami, he's seen as a terrorist and he doesn't give a fuck. And that is simply awesome.

But why is a character like him the weakest point of the Manga? Because, well, there's only him. I mean, the targets of Akumetsu are all only after money, so there's not really a standout antagonist like L in Death note. That's a bit of a shame, as you can discern that there may have been a true antagonist for Akumetsu, but this plotline hasn't been explored.

As for secondary protagonists... Well, there aren't really. I mean, there's Shiina, the traditional heroine in love with the hero, but her only purpose is to watch TV and cry when she sees Shou killing someone. There's the Prime Minister Murata, who is the comic relief of the Manga. Indeed, Akumetsu will often bully him into applying his reforms, calling him a coward and forcing him to stand up and try to change the country. But... That's about it. There's no true memorable character besides Shou. And that's a bit of a shame.

Art : 9

The art is gorgeous. And not in a "Berserk is gorgeous" kind of way. In fact, it is a bit Dragon Ball-esque, with Shou donning the traditional how-much-hair-spray-does-he-uses-per-day spiked hairdo. The traits of the antagonists are very exaggerated, as if they were caricatured. As for the girls, they're "just" beautiful.

Enjoyment : 10

I wasn't a fan of Death Note : I found the Manga overly complicated and maybe a bit too cerebral. Also, maybe I'm weird, but I hate Yagami, with his holier-than-thou attitude, although I must argue he was pretty badass at times.
But Akumetsu is different. The main character is a absolutely friendly and lovable killing machine. Aametsu-kun's interventions make the stakes of each Kill easy to understand and funny, and where Death note chose mind games, Akumetsu chose the paths of flashy, over-the-top executions, where I was often like "this is way too overpowered" while laughing my ass off. Needless to say, the Manga was an awesome read for me.

Overall : 9
Far from a simple Death note rip-off, Akumetsu is a very worthwhile read, with a great story of its own. Fans from Death Note, this is a different beast altogether. Other persons, if you like Black Lagoon, Monster, Until Death do us Part, or American comics like the Punisher, please, do give Akumetsu a try.


Disclaimer : Hidden Gems is a kind of review created by Sayuko01 where the reviewer (that means me) is carried away by the random generator of his favorite Manga reading site, searching for hidden gems, or unspeakable piles of crap.
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Akumetsu
Akumetsu
Auteur Tabata, Yoshiaki
Artiste