Fusai Naba is back with a brand-new series titled Kyokuto Necromance. Previously Naba had a twenty-chapter run with Aliens Area published in Shonen Jump. The series didn’t have a long run but was solid for what it was. Now Naba returns with another supernatural series centered around “a young man’s life takes a shocking turn when he learns there are deadly spirits all around us.” How will this series go? Let’s find out with Kyokuto Necromance Chapter 1.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer & Artist: Fusai Naba
KYOKUTO NECROMANCE CHAPTER 1 SYNOPSIS
Teenager Kaoru Uno lives with his grandmother, his last living family member. One day Kaoru’s grandmother faints and is hospitalized, with Kaoru noticing something odd surrounding her.
After making sure his grandmother is okay Kaoru heads to school. There he meets famous novelist Yoji Amane, who reveals being a novelist is a side job to his real day job.
Yoji talks with Kaoru in private where he reveals the existence of Shiryo, also known as Death Spirits. Kaoru sees a Shiryo that Kaoru kills and realizes they are what he saw surrounding his grandmother earlier.
Suddenly Kaoru sees his grandmother walking on a bridge. When Kaoru yells out for her his grandmother suddenly spits out a horde of Shiryo that turns into a giant spirit. The desire to save his grandmother causes the ring his father passed down to him activate and another Shiryo appears to defend Kaoru.
Yoji appears and summons his own Shiryo, named Chitari, to instantly kill the Shiryo who tried to kill Kaoru’s grandmother.
Yoji then reveals that he previously work with Kaoru’s father as necromancers running the Amane Spiritual Medium Agency. Yoji goes on to say Kaoru’s dad put in a request to his agency to protect Kaoru.
Hearing all this Kaoru asks to work for the agency so he can become a necromancer to. Yoji accepts Kaoru into his agency. End of chapter
REVIEW
One of the coolest things about seeing creators enter the industry is seeing how they learn and evolve their style. While Aliens Area was not bad at all it was clear Fusai Naba was learning how to write an ongoing series as they were going along. Which is an experience that Naba clearly learned from Kyokuto Necromance Chapter 1 was an improvement from his previous series in just about every way.
Right out of the gate Kyokuto Necromance Chapter 1 feels like a finished product from top to bottom. Whether it’s the architecture of the world or artwork, Naba has come into his own as a mangaka. We see that with how Kaoru Uno is showcased throughout this first chapter. As the lead character there are easy things for the reader to connect to with Kaoru. That is so important with the first half of Kyokuto Necromance Chapter 1 reliant on Kaoru to carry the story.
Seeing Kaoru’s relationship with his grandmother as the last remaining family member he has in his life is an instant connection point. Naba nailed the design for Kaoru’s grandmother so that when we do see her suddenly pass out you as the reader react the same way Kaoru does. Most importantly, this immediately builds the mystery around what we eventually learn are the Shiryo.
Again, Naba’s artwork is at its best when drawing the Shiryo. They look terrifying supernatural creatures that anyone would be afraid of, especially seeing them for the first time. Making sure that the danger level is high for the big evil our protagonists are facing is key.
This also made the full introduction of Yoji Amane be even more important. Whereas Kaoru acts as the reader’s entry point into this world Yoji is positioned as our guide. Yoji is the one that knows about the secret spiritual side of this world where the Shiryo are a threat to its balance. Yoji’s emo character design works even better because of this. Yoji’s design works in compliment to the more basic teenager look of Kaoru.
The second half of Kyokuto Necromance Chapter 1 does a good job at establishing how Yoji will act as Kaoru’s mentor for this series. There is a Batman and Robin type development with the mentor and protégé being positioned as opposites in personality. This works to make Yoji and Kaoru show us the different sides of how people react to the threat of the Shiryo.
Yoji’s abilities to control his Shiryo, named Chitari, sets up the level that Kaoru will need to reach eventually. It’s a good way to st up the power levels of this world while still holding things back for us to discover later on.
Now with all of this established Naba can focus on showcasing how big of the spirit world is. Based on Kyokuto Necromance Chapter 1 the Shiryo aren’t known worldwide. But given how Yoji has established his own agency to deal with the Shiryo they are known enough for a business to be set up around them. How this works into building out the world of the series will be interesting to see developed.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Kyokuto Necromance Chapter 1 is a very good start to Fusai Naba newest series. The lead characters are established well to work complementary to each other, with Kaoru Uno being a likable protagonist out of the gate. If you are into supernatural comic books or manga Kyokuto Necromance is one to check out.
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
