Hard-Boiled Cop and Dolphin always puts a smile on my face. Ryuhei Tamura has a great sense of comedy and has been sprinkling plenty of action, good character work, and excellent world-building in each chapter. Hard-Boiled Cop and Dolphin is wonderful escapism which is something in high demand these days. At any rate, I am sure that Hard-Boiled Cop and Dolphin Chapter 8. Let’s go ahead and hit this review.
Words: Ryuhei Tamura
Art: Ryuhei Tamura
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8.5 Night Girls out of 10
Cast:
Boyle Samejima aka Shark: Samejima is the hard-boiled cop. He does things like a cop from an old pulp detective story. Unfortunately, Samejima’s old school ways land him in constant trouble. The result is that Samejima finds himself kicked off the Tokyo police force and transferred to Ogasawara. Samejima is the co-star of this manga. Samejima is given the nickname “Shark” since the kanji for his name is “shark.”
Orpheus aka Orfie: Orpheus is the Dolphin. In fact, Orpheus is a large anthropomorphic dolphin. Who is also a cop. Yeah, it makes no sense to Samejima, either. Orpheus becomes Samejima’s partner when he gets transferred to Ogasawara. Orpheus is the co-star of this manga.
Umi Nanase: Umi is the well-endowed police officer in the Anegashima Police department in Ogasawara. Umi is the first officer to meet Samejima upon his arrival in Ogasawara. Umi is spunky and by the rules officer.
Princess Otsukoto aka Chako: Chako is a five-year-old girl who was raised by Dolphins. We know little about her other than Orpheus rescued her, and she calls him her “Papa.”
Synopsis: We begin with two mysterious brothers in the deep ocean off the coast of Ogasawara. They are looking for Orpheus.
We cut back to Orpheus, Samejima, and Umi about to take a toll along the sea-floor. Suddenly, two officers from the Anegashima Police Department arrive on the scene and say that someone from Section Seven is on the phone and wants to talk to Orpheus and Samejima.
Section Seven is a super-secret agency within Public Safety. We zip to Samejima and Orpheus in their squad car and on the phone with the woman from Section Seven. The woman tells them that the phone line they are on is encrypted and for them to turn off their radio and phones and roll up the car windows.
The woman introduces herself as Jinguji. She is the Captain of Foreign Ocean Affairs with Section Seven. Orpheus comments that Jinguji has moved up in the world. Jinguji says that they have intel that one of the ocean gangs, the Osawara Family, may be looking to try to come on land. Some members of the Osawara Family have grudges against Orpheus. Jinguji says that Kinnosuke Kaji has been sighted in the Anegashima area.
Jinguji then says that she was the one who got Samejima transferred to Anegashima. Jinguji says that if Samejima wants to go back to the Shinjuku Department then he needs to distinguish himself even more than Orpheus has.
Orpheus and Samejima exit the car and walk back over to Uma and Chako. Orpheus says that they have to cancel their seafloor walk. One of the police officers and Uma both say that they need to have a Welcome Party for both Samejima and Orpheus. Samejima replies that he and Orpheus have an investigation to run now. Umi tells Samejima and Orpheus to meet up with them at Aonami when they get back.
We cut to Kinnosuke Kaji and his brother walking out of the ocean and onto the beach. The brothers set their timers for three hours before they need to return to the ocean. Kaji says that Orpheus can only stay on land past the three-hour limit because of Chako’s powers.
The brothers walk onto a nearby road. A delivery truck approaches and Kaji kicks it and sends it flying into the air and crashing onto its side. Kaji says that this should bring Orpheus to them.
We then cut to a police car arriving at the accident scene. Orpheus and Samejima step out of the squad car. Orpheus says that Kaji should have dunked his scruffy sea urchin head in soy sauce before showing up because Orpheus is going to make Kaji his lunch.
Kaji screams that he is a marlin, and he is going to make a pin cushion out of Orpheus. Orpheus chuckles. Samejima comments that Kaji and his brother really hate Orpheus. End of chapter.
The Good: Hard-Boiled Cop and Dolphin Chapter 8 was another fun read! Ryuhei Tamura continues to construct this new manga around three main pillars: well-timed comedy, endearing characters, and an interesting universe. I love that Tamura is focused on delivering excellent escapism with every chapter. Hard-Boiled and Dolphin Chapter 8 is an immersive read that quickly transports the reader to another world and provides top-notch entertainment.
My biggest takeaway from Chapter 8 is that Tamura continues to perform excellent world-building. Tamura layers in several more aspects to the world of Hard-Boiled Cop and Dolphin. The result is that this world gets more fascinating and complex with each chapter. You can tell that Tamura relishes world-building and is having fun fleshing out the world for this manga.
We get several interesting new additions to this world. First is the addition of a super-secret government agency called Section Seven. A shadowy government agency is always a fun aspect of any story. Section Seven being involved in what is going on the remote island of Ogasawara is important. This helps to make this story seem more important on a global scale despite the remote setting.
The second addition is a new character in Jinguji, the Captain of Foreign Ocean Affairs for Section Seven. I dig that Tamura is continuing to build out the roster for characters for this manga. I like the idea that Samejima and Orpheus will be reporting to two bosses. They will have their public and primary boss in their Captain at the Anegashima Police Department. But, now they will have a secret boss in the form of Jinguji. This adds a fun layer of complexity and surreptitiousness to their missions.
At any rate, Tamura gives Jinguji a brusque personality that is all business. I also like Tamura’s decision to not show us Jinguji. Keeping Jinguji a mysterious voice over the phone helps to emphasize the covert nature of Section Seven and the missions that she will be assigning to Samejima and Orpheus.
The third addition to this mange is the ocean criminal organization known as the Osawara Family. More specifically, we get introduced to two members of the Osawara Family: Kinnosuke Kaji and his brother. I dig both Kaji and his brother. They appear to be some interesting villains. I love that these two villains already have a running feud with Orpheus. This helps to establish Orpheus more firmly in the ocean world. Until now, the reader has only seen Orpheus connected with the land world.
Tamura successfully gets Kaji and his brother over as two tough villains. Kaji being able to casually kick a speeding van over shows off his strength. Kaji’s brother does not get any action, but his physical look is clearly imposing. I like that Kaji is a hothead villain. This should provide for some explosive fight scenes in the upcoming chapters. Kaji’s hot-tempered nature is a good contrast with Orpheus’ calm and collected personality.
We get several new plot reveals as Tamura adds more depth to the story. First, Tamura also reveals a few more interesting aspects of these ocean characters. We learn that these ocean characters can only survive on land for 3 hours before they dry up and die. Tamura then reveals that Orpheus can live on the land for more than the 3-hour limit because of Chako’s powers. Again, Tamura continually builds upon Chako’s character and shows how incredibly powerful and important she is to the manga.
The second, and much larger plot reveal, is that Jinguji is behind Samejima’s transfer from Tokyo to Ogasawara. This reveal is vital since it shows that Samejima’s transfer was not just random or the result of his brash behavior in Tokyo. Instead, it makes Samejima’s move to Osawara to be an orchestrated move with an important goal in mind. This makes the transfer have far greater weight and purpose. It also makes Samejima’s transfers to Osawara more of a mission of destiny.
I also like Tamura has Jinguji state that if Samejima distinguishes himself even more than Orpheus on their missions then she will have him transferred back to Tokyo. This is a brilliant move by Tamura. This adds fuel to the first of the rivalry that already exists between Samejima and Orpheus. I like the concept of these two heroes competing and pushing each other to get better and better. This also gives a nice personal goal for Samejima rather than just defeating ocean gangs. It would represent a satisfying character arc for Samejima to grow and evolve and return to Tokyo an even better man.
As always, Tamura loads up plenty of great comedy in Hard-Boiled Cop and Dolphin Chapter 8. I love Tamura’s comedic time and sense of humor. It keeps the manga a fun and lively read. Best of all, the comedy continues to never get in the way of the story. The comedy also naturally works with the established personalities of the various characters.
Tamura also continues to deliver solid character work. All the characters continue to get more and more fleshed out. Each character is developing their own unique personality and external voice. This all results in some good chemistry between the characters.
Now, we do not get much action at all in Hard-Boiled Cop and Dolphin Chapter 8. We get a bit of it when Kaji kicks over the van. But, that is it. This might disappoint some readers who desire more action in their manga. However, I am fine with the lack of action in this chapter. Tamura clearly has a flow to his story where he delivers lots of action in a chapter or two and then follows that up with a chapter of two of strong world-building and plot progression. It is a good balance.
Of course, Hard-Boiled Cop and Dolphin Chapter 8 is not just great writing. Tamura also flexes his art muscles and delivers a good-looking chapter. Tamura draws excellent facial expressions that bring his story to life in such a pleasing fashion. I love the character designs for Kaji and his brother. I dig Kaji’s hair and his lanky body design. And Kaji’s brother looks absolutely badass with his curly hair like octopus tentacles and the sweet mustache. Even in chapters with little action, Tamura still can draw a visually appealing installment.
The Bad: I have no criticisms of this chapter.
Overall: Hard-Boiled Cop and Dolphin Chapter 8 is another fun read. If you enjoy stories that are rich with neat characters and a fascinating setting all tied together with good comedy then you really have to give Hard-Boiled Cop and Dolphin a try.
To comment on this article and other Comic Book Revolution content, visit our Facebook page, our Twitter feed, and our Instagram feed. Also, catch up with all of Rokk’s other musings about comics, anime, TV shows, movies and more over on his Twitter page.
