Manga Review: Jagaaan Volume 1

Muneyuki Kaneshiro is a prolific writer who is one half of the team behind the death game series As the Gods Will and the tremendously popular sports series Blue Lock. Kaneshiro loves writing high-stakes series, and that extends to Jagaan, another of his works that has just come to the Western market thanks to Abrams Books' Kana imprint. 

Initially serialised in Shogakukan's Big Comic Spirits between 2017 and 2021 for a total of 14 volumes. This is a story with the very fate of the world at stake and a protagonist who received exactly what he wishes for, at the cost of the quiet life he's lived until now.

The Premise 

Our story follows police officer Shintaro Jagasaki, who spends his days dealing with delinquents who make fun of him and a slightly overbearing girlfriend eager to start planning their future together. But although Shintaro’s everyday life is fine, he finds it incredibly dull and wishes for something dramatic to happen. He even frequently fantasises about pulling out his gun and blasting away anything or anyone he finds bothersome in the moment (inspired by the mascot from his hometown). 

And then, Shintaro’s wish is granted when the world is suddenly beset upon by frog-looking creatures known as Mad Xenopus. These creatures feed upon humanity's darkest feelings and desire to commit violence. As the Mad Xenopus mature, they eventually allow their human host to transform into grotesque monsters known as Fractured Humans who cause all kinds of problems! And Shintaro himself ends up a Fractured Human, which gives him the ability to shoot powerful beams from his arm. Although ordinarily death awaits anyone who meets this fate, Shintaro can hold on to his humanity by defeating other Fractured Humans and ingesting an item they leave behind. Now his life has changed forever, but at least it’s not dull, right? 

Another ‘High Stakes Game’

As we’ve come to expect from writer Kaneshiro, this is a premise that’s high stakes. Not just for Shintaro, who can’t afford to go too long between hunting down Fractured Humans, lest he ends up losing himself, but also for humanity as a whole. And if Shintaro has been able to keep his wits about him, who's to say there aren’t others out there in a similar position? Something that’s hinted at toward the end of this very volume. 

That said, Shintaro is not a character that readers can feel sympathetic for. Not least because of the violence he fantasised about committing. That made him the perfect candidate for becoming a Fractured Human, but it does nothing to endear us to him. In fact, none of the characters we meet in this first book are particularly likeable, which does pose a problem when we’re supposed to be rooting for humanity's survival in all this. At least with As the Gods Will, there was such a good variety of personalities that you found someone to root for relatively quickly, and the games themselves kept you on the hook. 

Graphic Violence at Every Turn

For this series, Shintaro has teamed up with artist Kensuke Nishida, who is known for working on I Am a Hero in Nagasaki and the currently serialized Yuusha Yukio. Generally speaking, I think the art suits the narrative well. The adult cast are drawn in a realistic manner, and the monsters are suitably horrifying. This is a series that has a lot of detailed graphic violence (and some sex), which gives it an edgy vibe at times. The battles remind me of Hitoshi Iwaaki’s Parasyte, they have that same shock value when you first see a Fractured Human transformation and the intense fights. And if you like Parasyte, I think you would find yourself interested in this. 

That said, because these depictions are so intense page after page, the shock value is diminished, and I felt myself becoming numb to it. But that’s not to say things won’t be shaken up as time goes on; this is just the first volume after all. 

Kana’s Release

As mentioned earlier, this release comes to the West thanks to Abrams Books under the Kana imprint. Volume 1 is presented in a small paperback format with a dust cover present, which is a nice touch we don’t often see from the English publishers. There is, of course, an eBook option as well. Translation has been handled by Cynthia Caraturo, with lettering by Ti-Lala and Tlalli Atl. The team has done a good job when it comes to the localization. 

However, I was disappointed with the quality of the physical release in terms of the paper. The paper stock is thin, and there is a considerable amount of show-through depending on what was on the previous pages. This can make certain details hard to make out or just prove distracting, which can be a bit frustrating. 

Jagaan is complete in Japan with 14 volumes. Here on the English side, Volume 2 is set for a release in December, with #3 following in March and #4 in June. So there’s a steady release pace planned, which is reassuring given how many volumes there are to get through. 

In Closing 

If you’ve enjoyed Muneyuki Kaneshiro’s darker works, then you will likely enjoy Jagaan as well. While I have concerns about the longevity of the series if it is all high-stakes battles and no real character substance, I think Kaneshiro has the kind of pedigree where you can’t decide based on this single volume. Although as far as the Kana release goes, I’d probably suggest looking at the eBook release instead of the physical one unless the paper quality improves down the road. 

More details are available on the Abrams website. Anime Atelier review copy was supplied by the publisher.

©Muneyuki Kaneshiro / Kensuke Nishida / SHOGAKUKAN