Juni Taisen: Zodiac War Volume 2 manga review

Juni Taisen: Zodiac War Graphic Novel Volume 2 cover image

A city of half a million people has gone dark for an epic tournament.  Every 12 years, 12 fighters take the form of the Chinese zodiac animals and engage in a battle royale.  Using their strength and mysterious super-powers, these mercenaries fight to the death, and the sole survivor is granted the ultimate prize – any wish he or she wants.  This is the twelfth Zodiac War, and one of the combatants has been killed by a competitor before the tournament even begins!

As Juni Taisen: Zodiac War, Vol. 2 (Chapters 5 to 12) opens, three competitors are dead.  Ryoka Niwa a.k.a. “Niwatori,” the fighter of the Chicken, plots to stay alive by betraying her competition.  Will her new-found power surge save her from the mightiest competitor, “Ushii,” fighter of the Ox?  Meanwhile, “Sharyu,” fighter of the Monkey, plots for peace.  Is she crazy?

[This volume includes a sketchbook section.]

THE LOWDOWN:  The Juni Taisen: Zodiac War manga is based on the Japanese illustrated light novel written by Nisio Isin (or NisiOisiN) and illustrated by Hikaru Nakamura.  VIZ Media is publishing the manga adaptation, written and drawn by Akira Akatsuki, as a four-volume graphic novel series.

Juni Taisen: Zodiac War Graphic Novel Volume 2 impressed me a little more than the debut volume did.  I think that I am now used to the idea of getting to know and even like characters and then, watching them get slaughtered... in the most novel ways.  I cannot say that this is an exceptional character drama, but Juni Taisen is a quite good kick-ass fight-comic and battle manga.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of battle royale manga will want to try the Shonen Jump manga, Juni Taisen: Zodiac War.

A
8 out of 10