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[personal profile] meganbmoore
Soooo....you rule hell and a couple hundred demons called Toga, or "sins" escape to  the human world.  You have at your disposal various demons, demi gods, heavenly alliances and probably your fair share of samurai you could get if you asked nicely.  Your choice of Toga-recoverer?  A mass murderer who refuses to consider repenting after 300 years in hell.

I love you godly beings of manga and anime, I truly do.

Togari is about Tobei, a young man who killed over 1000 people in Edo 300 years ago before being captured and executed.  While Tobei seems to have started killing as a child out of self defense, it seems unlikely that that was the only reason he ever killed.  Even after 300 years he refuses to feel guilt or repent, and with nothing left to do with him, Ema, the ruler of hell, gives him Togari, a wooden sword that can kill the Toga, escaped demons that feed off and empower evil humans, and return them to hell.  If he can kill 108 of them without getting killed himself, he wins a chance at redemption.

Ema sends Ose, a demon from heaven(read: he's pretty and has a stick up his butt) who's been in charge of Tobei for the last century to watch over him, in the form of a dog(yes, Tobei has fun with that.)  One in the human world, Tobei mostly unitnentionally saves a girl named Itsuki from being raped and killed, bringing him to the attention of both Itsuki and Sawakazi, a police officer who knew Itsuki's father(a police officer whose murderer was never found.)  For an illustration of what this is like, imagine a dog used to being kicked by everyone it meets who suddenly has someone pet it instead of kick it, then has someone else offer it a treat 5 minutes later.  Actually, Tobei largely makes me think of a mix between a serial killer and a dog just like that.

And just for fun, anytime Tobei sins, the scar on his neck where he was decapitated bleeds, and anything he does to a human gets done to him in return.  There's also a nasty(though not necessarily inexpected) twist as to why Ema really chose Tobei to go after the Toga.

For the curious, yes, you coul probably dump Tobei into the middle of a squabble between Blade of the Immortal's Manji and Magatsu and not really notice except for the increase of "punk" and "kid" being used.  I was largely drawn tothis for the similarities(character/general redemption plot/art) to BotI, and while it doesn't measure up to BotI(what does?) I liked it quite a bit.  Like BotI, it is completely unapologetic about its "hero's" past, and manages to make him somewhat sympathetic without making excuses or saying he really isn't that bad(because hey, he is)

Date: 2007-09-26 12:36 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] magicnoire.livejournal.com
This sounds interesting. Maybe I'll give it a try.

Date: 2007-09-26 01:07 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] meganbmoore.livejournal.com
It was quite fun. And very violent.

Date: 2007-09-26 02:57 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kingcrankycat.livejournal.com
But Ose is traditionally a cat... o.O

Date: 2007-09-26 11:13 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] boundaid.livejournal.com
I can already see this as a film, lol. One cheaply executed by Japan and then OVERexecuted (ie: The Grudge, etc on remakes) in America. Cool. :)

Date: 2007-09-29 04:17 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] akosikae.livejournal.com
I am reading Volume 1 right now and enjoying it so far :) Thanks for posting this.

Date: 2007-09-29 04:19 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] meganbmoore.livejournal.com
Isn't he just like a stray dog who doesn't know what to do when someone pets him?

Date: 2007-09-30 12:21 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] akosikae.livejournal.com
Yes and I felt for him when he was thanked even though saving anybody wasn't really on his mind. It never occurred to him that anybody is ever going to give him appreciation.

Date: 2007-11-10 05:10 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] rabican.livejournal.com
Here via [livejournal.com profile] telophase ... this sounds very interesting! I'll definitely check it out. Thanks for the review. :)

Date: 2007-11-10 05:13 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] meganbmoore.livejournal.com
Yes, it's very good. Not perfect, but very good. Esp. if you like your heroes to be unapologetic badasses with a kinda-sorta-maybe nice guy inside.

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