Togainu No Chi
Posted on | January 10, 2009 | 6 Comments
Togainu no Chi Volume 1 by Suguro Chayamachi (amazon)
The outside of this manga set the two halves of my brain at war with each other. The cover image of a bleeding young man wearing a parka with a sword slung on his belt, moving through an urban landscape with graffiti on the wall proclaiming “Kill the King!” looked quite intriguing. But when I read the back cover I learned that this manga was based on a bishonen game property. Usually with manga based on bishonen games I tend to expect that the characterization will be a little shallow due to the mangaka’s imperative to draw a large number of pretty looking boys without much semblance of a plot. So I was curious to see if Togainu No Chi would surpass my low expectations for game-based manga.
I ended up reading a few pages here and there of Togainu No Chi over a few days instead of finishing it in one sitting, and that might have contributed to my finding the story hard to follow. But it seemed like there was a little too much story crammed into to few pages. There’s a post apocalyptic future where people play a version of poker called Igura by assembling hands from dog tags they take from other players after they fight. Rin is a young player of the game, accompanied from time to time by an older informant named Motomi. Akira is a former prisoner conscripted by the military and sent into the game zone to kill the top player of Igura, a shadowy character named Il Re. Many of the Igura players are addicted to a drug named line.
The manga skips back and forth between Rin hanging out in a bar, Akira’s entry into the city, and the druglords and executioners who keep the players under control. There’s a great deal of exposition about the nature of the game and post apocalyptic future Japan. The art in the manga is serviceable. There are distinct character designs, but the sheer number of characters still made the manga a little difficult to follow. The decaying urban backgrounds and heavy use of black tones summon up the gritty world where the Igura players fight and die.
Togainu no Chi wasn’t really compelling for me. It could be the type of manga that existing fans of the game will enjoy, but it doesn’t seem very accessible for new readers.
Review copy provided by Tokyopop
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6 Responses to “Togainu No Chi”
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January 12th, 2009 @ 7:18 am
[...] of Moon Child, vol. 16 of Skip Beat, vol. 7 of Bastard, and vol. 5 of Parasyte. Tangognat reviews vol. 1 of Togainu No Chi and [...]
January 12th, 2009 @ 7:18 am
[...] of Moon Child, vol. 16 of Skip Beat, vol. 7 of Bastard, and vol. 5 of Parasyte. Tangognat reviews vol. 1 of Togainu No Chi and [...]
January 14th, 2009 @ 10:23 am
I don’t know. I agree with half of what you are saying, but then again I don’t. I myself have not had much of the pleasure of playing the game, or reading much of the mangas, save volume one(which turned out to be a video of it on youtube, haha) It was a bit difficult to follow, but none the less thoroughly enjoyed. I think people can get into it, just if they try a bit and think of whats going on in the story line.
January 14th, 2009 @ 1:31 pm
I think that someone who has already invested in the game and story would probably like the manga, but it was a little too difficult for me to get into.
February 1st, 2009 @ 12:54 pm
[...] Over Flowers #33 Venus in Love #5 Cross X Break #1 Crown #1 Togainu no Chi #1 Seimaden #1-5 Vagabond VizBig #2 Silver Diamond #2 Kyo Kara MAOH #2 Orange by Benjamin Happy Hustle [...]
November 5th, 2009 @ 3:28 pm
Well I never heard of the game before I’d read the manga. But I still love it and managed to get in to it pretty well, I find that if your struggling to understand whats going on and can’t get in to something you should go slowly so you can figure out the characters. Or do what I do and reseach on the computer. Seeing the characters and their names is enough for me normally. Then I know who everyone is. After you know whats happening though and who everyone is I found it an interesting, enjoyable manga and have just ordered the 4th (: