My life was darkish and empty… however you gave me mild. Each day is stuffed with emotion now.

Owaru Endou is essentially the most ruthless and feared murderer in Japan, ‘the strongest hitman employed by the large underworld group often called the Fujiyama Group’. However when he unexpectedly broadcasts his retirement, his underworld bosses can’t consider that he’s quitting to dedicate himself solely to his beloved idol, Kaori Minaboshi, ‘Rosaceae Crimson’ of the four-girl group Rosaceae.

However though Endou takes a part-time job delivering to pay for his stanning with ‘clear’ cash (he has a quick bike and a helmet that obscures his options so nobody will recognise him) he nonetheless feels completely unworthy to obtain Kaorin’s consideration. He can’t even deliver himself to shake her hand at a meet and greet as he feels his arms are dirtied by his career.

Kaorin additionally has a secret: she’s the daughter of the Prime Minister (Minabishi) and the intimidating hulk Morita assigned to be her bodyguard by some means fails to forestall her being kidnapped. However Endou is on the case and goes gallantly to the rescue; the group is due on-stage of their first solo live performance and the present should go on! As a result of Kaorin has a hood over her face, she doesn’t get to see who her rescuer is (he doesn’t need her to know) however she grasps his hand and tells him he should come to the live performance! Has she guessed…?

(*1*)

The Hitman Stans is the primary manga by Rintarou Ohshima to be printed in English and a really positive debut it’s, certainly! The drawings are hanging (particularly the glowering Owaru Endou), the villains he encounters are suitably terrifying and the 4 members of Rosaceae show all the mandatory attributes of a cute lady idol group. You understand from the primary chapter that Ohshima is aware of what they’re doing when panels of Rosacea performing on-stage are inter-cut with Endou preventing off the thugs which have come after him, merely armed with a few glowsticks. Nice stuff! There are extra really cherishable comedian moments, particularly in Chapter 3 ‘Image of a Hitman’ through which Endou has the possibility to have a photograph taken with Kaorin however can not neglect that he has been educated by no means to let himself be photographed for worry of being acknowledged… with inevitable outcomes. Lots to take pleasure in right here on the comedy facet but additionally the notice that – from the primary picture of utter carnage brought on by the Hitman – he has blood on his arms and far to atone for. Endou is very conscious of this from the get-go, not daring to shake arms with Kaorin as a result of his arms are soiled which she relatively charmingly misunderstands.

Once I first noticed this title, I puzzled if it may need been influenced in any method by The Yakuza’s Bias by Yatsuda Teki which has a sort-of comparable premise, though the bias in that case is a singer in a Okay-pop boy band. Nonetheless, the entire story, though exquisitely drawn, is performed for humour of a really completely different form. The Hitman Stans, though containing a number of genuinely humorous and cleverly drawn set-ups, by no means forgets Endou’s darkish background. At one stage Ohshima offers us a flashback into Endou’s earlier life, giving us a chilling glimpse of the coaching he was pressured to bear to change into a ruthless killer. In some methods, this can be a redemption story: Endou’s want to construct his life round his idol Kaorin is a method out of the ruthless prison world that has formed his id – though, as in Sakamoto Days (one other reformed hitman manga) the abilities he’s discovered are available in mighty helpful when coping with the lower than savoury folks he encounters on that uphill journey. In some methods it’s often paying homage to Tatsuya Endo’s Spy x Household within the mixture of humour and motion – however these very slight similarities are talked about to say, ‘In the event you’ve loved Sakamoto Days and Spy x Household, you’ll take pleasure in The Hitman Stans though it’s a really completely different manga!’

And what about Kaorin, the article of Owaru Endou’s respectful adoration? She is perhaps just a little sluggish on the uptake typically (as proven through the kidnapping) however she’s dedicated to her followers and there’s little question she’s taken an curiosity in Endou. In spite of everything, he saved her from the abductors and when he’s not glowering in a terrifying method, he’s actually handsome.

Translation for Yen Press is by Minna Lin (a few translation notes are on the again) and brings out the humour particularly effectively which, matched with R. Gupta’s lettering, makes this an gratifying learn. There’s a web page about Kaorin’s outfits on the finish, paired with a remark from the mangaka, in addition to a one-page Backstage Story and the quantity ends with a double-spread trailer for Volume 2 (due in October).

This can be a nice debut and I can’t wait to see what occurs in Volume 2; warmly beneficial!

Our assessment copy was provided by Yen Press.