The Fall 2024 Manga Guide

Tougen Anki: Legend of the Cursed Blood

What's It About? 

Shiki Ichinose's blood is Oni, and his father's is Momotarou. Normally, those with Momotarou blood hunt the Oni―but Shiki's father refused to kill him as an infant. Instead, he adopted Shiki and raised him despite the rebellious attitude and dangerous temper that comes with Oni blood. When a member of the Momotarou Agency kills Shiki's father, he vows to avenge him. But as Shiki hones his abilities and learns to control his Oni blood, will he be strong enough to survive the dangers waiting for him...?

Tougen Anki: Legend of the Cursed Blood has a story and art by Yura Urushibara and English translation by Ko Ransom. This volume was lettered by Ivo Marques. Published by Yen Press (September 17, 2024).

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Is It Worth Reading?

Jean-Karlo Lemus
Rating:

I like oni. They're cool mythological figures, and it's interesting to see them reinterpreted in modern media. Protagonist Shiki's blood-based oni powers, which turn him into a creature resembling Venom armed to the teeth with firearms, strikes an imposing figure, and his immediate motivation (avenging his murdered stepfather) strikes home. So far, so good for a shonen battler. But immediately after that rip-roaring intro, the story slows down with constant exposition and explanations. The characters Shiki meets at oni-school are fascinating, but meeting them feels like homework. There's the lingering mystery of how their oni powers manifest (and Jin's are commendably creepy) but it feels like the story is a bit front-loaded with exposition nonetheless.

Will this become the next great shonen battler? Probably not, but I'd like to be proven wrong. There are hints of greatness in Tougen Anki, it just has to find its footing. The setting and the powers are neat, and there are never too many hard-headed fireball protagonists. I've got my eye on this one, and I hope it doesn't let me down. Still, there are a lot of slain oni out there... Mildly recommended.

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Rebecca Silverman
Rating:

There's something about Tougen Anki that reminds me of a more violent Blue Exorcist. Likely that comes down to protagonist Shiki being a hot-headed high school boy with no idea about his antecedents and getting enrolled in a demon school. As far as Shiki knew, he was human, adopted by his dad after being abandoned by his mother. By midway through chapter one, however, “abandoned” is looking a lot more like “orphaned when the Momotarou Agency killed his mom” and some of his disciplinary problems seem to be caused biologically. Naturally, Shiki only learns this when someone shows up looking like a 1940s gangster trying to kill him, and just as naturally for this kind of story, his dad used to be on the same side as his son's would-be killer. Maybe it's not just Blue Exorcist this reminds me of; it hits a lot of familiar notes.

Familiar qualities of the book aside, it's not hard to see why this title has been chosen for an anime adaptation. Even though Shiki is one of those characters who's loud even on paper, there's a lot of emotional heft behind his reactions to how his life is suddenly upended. His father's death at the hands of a former colleague is surprisingly touching, especially given that we've only known the man for maybe forty pages. For Shiki, the trauma of loss and discovery is tempered by the realization that this is why he never quite fit in and had trouble at school. He's not a bad kid, he's just not a human one. Plus, now he has all sorts of potential powers based on his oni blood. Oni can manipulate their blood once it leaves their bodies, using it to form weapons and anything else they can come up with. In Shiki's case, he defaults to his substantial model (at least, I hope they're models) gun collection, while another oni student turns his blood into saw wheels. It's personalized weaponry at its finest, and if Shiki ever figures out how to use it easily, he may be able to avenge his dad.

Your enjoyment of this book is going to come down to how much you can stomach people harming themselves to manipulate their blood, and I did find a few scenes too gross for me. (As I've said before, after my mother's accident that resulted in a TBI, my tolerance for gore has gone way down.) There are also a lot of realistic guns if that's a button for you, although right now the biggest barrier is probably that the story flow feels off – it runs in fits and starts and feels too compelled to introduce all of the named characters at once. I also don't love that of the two girls, the one we see more of is portrayed as a weepy mess, although I suspect that's intended to throw us off. Overall, this is a decent shounen action start, and if it can iron out some of its issues, it could turn out to be a good one.

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Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. Yen Press, BookWalker Global, and J-Novel Club are subsidiaries of KWE.