Jan 18, 2010
Manga review of Sorcerer Hunters volume 9. Art by Ray Omishi. Story by Satoru Akahori. Translated by Anita Sengupta. Originally published in Japan by Media Works. Published in US by Tokyopop, $9.99, Rated Older Teen 16+.
Surely, you remember Potato Chips, the rich little kid (or is he a midget?) that was always looking to hook up in love with one of the female Sorcerer Hunters. Let's face it, Potato would hook up with ANY girl! His slightly disturbing butler Jeeves has decided to cheer his young master up by holding a beauty contest. His thinking is that Potato will be able to meet chicks. Of course, the female cast of the series gets dragged into entering as well.
The main drama of volume 9 occurs when Big Mama sends the Hunters to look into a rash of disappearing young girls in the Old West town of Tamales (Akahori really goes overboard on the names in this manga). They even know who is behind it: Marchioness Carlsburg. She's not really a threat to the Hunters though. The real danger is her ally and nephew, Lendoll, a gunfighter/sorcerer who can fire magic bullets against which there is no defense. a
Sorcerer Hunters is written very well for the type of manga that it is. Yeah, you have some fan service moments during the beauty contest along with a lot of speech impediment humor. But you also have a lot of action in the Lendoll story arc with violence and gore as we find out the gruesome secret of why the Marchioness is kidnapping girls. Even the last story in the book has a very different tone to it as Marron tries to help a lingering spirit disappointed in love. That last chapter has the nostalgia and wistfulness of Aria. The art is serviceable but tends to break down in the action sequences and generally lacks backgrounds. But really, Hunters straddles the border between cheap thrills and more serious themes pretty adriotly.
My Grade: B+