戰國妖狐 1

戦国妖狐 [Sengoku Yōko] #1

by Satoshi Mizukami, 水上悟志, 鄭啟旭 (Translator)

時間為戰國時代，世上具有各種魑魅魍魎、異形妖怪等等總稱為「闇」的存在。 喜歡人類的闇‧妖狐小玉，以及厭惡人類的仙道‧迅火，姊弟兩人進行著掃蕩罪惡的救世活動。另外還有一群專門對付闇的僧侶‧斷怪眾，他們以不人道的方式進行人體改造，迅火等人與他們產生激烈衝突……！ 　人類當中也有壞人，非人類的存在也不見得都是邪惡的，迅火因過去的事而極其討厭人類，但在旅程當中，也逐漸目睹到人類善良的一面，他是否能有所轉變呢……？

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Comics, Action, Supernatural, Graphic Novels, Adventure

Paperback

First published August 9, 2008

About the author

水上悟志

Reviews

[Alan D.D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tengo que empezar diciendo que este un shonen diferente. No hay un protagonista débil que lucha desesperadamente por volverse poderoso. Aquí los dos hermanos son de temer porque, si bien Jinka es el que se encarga de las peleas en todo el tomo, es obvio que Tama no se quedará atrás. Lo mismo pasa con los compañeros con los que se topan.
Reseña completa (1 de marzo): https://tintanocturna.blogspot.com/20...

I have to start by saying that this is a different shonen. There's no weak protagonist desperately struggling to become powerful. Here the two siblings are to be feared because, although Jinka is the one in charge of the fights throughout the volume, it's obvious that Tama will not be left behind. The same goes for the companions they run into.
Full review (March 1st): https://tintanocturna.blogspot.com/20...

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I struggled to articulate my feelings about this, but if I had to describe this in one word, it would be 'forgettable'.
Art: so-so, fairly simple almost sketchy character designs, definitely sketch-like creature designs, action sequences sometimes hard to interpret/follow
Story: nothing new, really, and doesn't delve very deeply past the surface qualities of characters, at least in this first volume
Translation: sometimes awkward word-choices, sometimes vague in conveying meaning (I wonder if this is the difficulty of translating certain things or just awkward writing in the first place)

Two youthful-looking travelers turn out to be Tama, a childlike human-loving fox-demon prone to Sailor Moon-y naive speechifying at baddies and her companion Jinka, a not-exactly-human fighter who hates humans but fights monsters anyway because of Tama. They encounter a sword-carrying youth who turns out to be a coward clumsily/foolishly wanting to become strong, and run into various baddies from bandits to monsters and corrupt monks. If there had been more depth or nuance to the characters, or better explanation of or more interesting spins on the supernatural elements, I might have been more interested, but I quickly lost interest and almost DNF'd it.

Might appeal more to younger tween readers with short attention spans who care more about action than character or plot.

Content/parental warnings: action violence (sword-swinging, punching, etc) though no detailed gore; one brief scene of nudity (though not sexual, and uses strategic placement of hair/limbs for just-barely concealment); human experimentation (not 'on-screen') on bought children; one character drinks the blood of a consenting character to get/activate powers

[Sol · Rating 3 out of 5]

First impression: not as strong of a hook as Mizukami's other works. Even Planet With opens with a flashback to the Dragon destroying the protagonist's homeworld, and Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer and Spirit Circle were immediately gripping in their weirdness. Here, we have a man, Jinka, who wants to become a demon...could be interesting, but the story seems to have already tipped its hand that he's an orphan who was raised by a monster. The ronin and the demonization-experiment girl don't have much going on yet. The demon girl Tama has to have some motivation to spread peace, and I'm sure there's some backstory to how she met Jinka. But pretty thin stuff to start on.

I said seems earlier, because a Mizukami manga's premise is never what the premise actually seems to be. There are four common threads between his three long-form works that I've read:

* The premise is fake
* Time travel via reincarnation
* Romance subplot
* Mostly fantasy with a dash of scifi, or the reverse in the case of Planet With

So I'm absolutely sure this story is gonna take some bizarre left turn sooner or later. Even World End Solte is showing signs of making the transformation just a couple volumes in. Mizukami fans really rave about Sengoku Youko, and it's a whopping 17 volumes, easily his longest serialized manga, so there must be something to it. Mizukami has more than enough goodwill from me to give him an extensive benefit of the doubt.

[Ije the Devourer of Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the start of a new manga series. Youko Tama and her younger step brother, Jinka Sendou are two demon siblings who travel the country to stop the deeds of all evil doers. As with all kinds of quest adventures they gather others who are seeking courage, or justice, or vengeance, and they dispense justice to all wrong doers in their path. This is an interesting start to a new manga series with good artwork, magical powers and some great battles.

Copy provided by Tokyo Pop via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a lot going on for the two siblings who are on a quest. There are two groups in the world-- humans and monsters (called katawara). But these two katawara, Tama and stepbrother Jinka are actually going to help protect the humans because they have some of it still in them.

The story is made up of battles and fighting so it's an action/adventure with plenty of monsters and creatures in which they must show courage and strength.

It wasn't my favorite because I was always trying to figure out who was fighting who.

[AP · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.8
Objectively speaking this is a middle of the road, just like most most shonen manga series so far. Overall I found vol. 1 more interesting/captivating from the get-go than other vol. 1 I have read of series I ended up liking.
Subjectively speaking; I over all enjoyed this volume and I plan to continue. It the series keep up the enjoyment I had from this first volume it might be a series I would look into owning in some format. Especially because I know my library does not have access to the full series unfortunately.

[yamzreads · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 🌟
The manga follows two demon siblings that are going on an adventure to stop bad deeds. The manga starts off with Jinka and Tama fighting off the evil doers and they pick up a man who joins their journey. The relationship between Jinka and Tama was a bit off and that was one major aspect that made me feel a bit weird. There is action and adventure but the story plot isn't really strong but rather simple.

Thank you Tokyopop and Netgalley for the e-ARC in exchange for a honest review!

[Kurtis Burkhardt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really great manga so far,Great story and really love the art!!

[Liz (Quirky Cat) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Summary:

In a world where monsters exist, it seems like everyone has taken a side. Either you're a human or a monster (katawara). Unless you're Tama. She's a katawara who loves humans and, as such, has sworn to protect them. No matter what.

Then there's her stepbrother, Jinka. He's mostly human, yet he feels none of the kindness towards humans that Tama has. Together they're about to head out on a series of adventures, accompanied by a strange swordsman.

My Review:

So, I wanted to enjoy Sengoku Youko, Vol. 1. I liked the bright cover and the overall premise (gotta love a monster world!). However, I feel like the execution could have used some work. Mainly, I struggled to feel any connection to our three leading characters.

That isn't to say there's no potential here – there is. But the story is disjointed, so you must read between the lines to see some of that. Ironically, I would have liked the story better had there been fewer characters. A story following just Tama sounds way more exciting in my mind.

One of the biggest highlights of Sengoku Youko, Vol. 1, would have to be the artwork. I liked the way fights were portrayed, especially the sense of movement and depth.

Highlights:
First in a series
Fantasy Setting

Trigger Warnings:
Graphic Elements
Weird Sibling relationship

Thanks to TOKYOPOP and #NetGalley for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks | Quirky Cat's Comics | The Book Review Crew | Monkeys Fighting Robots | Storygraph | Bookhype | Bookstagram | Twitter | Tumblr | Reedsy

[T.J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

"We are those who lament these turbulent times!" You know a manga is good when you finish volume 1 and can't wait to jump right into volume 2! I'm not sure why so many reviews on this title are 'blah' - I thoroughly enjoyed it. I think people just like to hate on Tokyopop.

The story opens up mid-confrontation between the main characacters and a group of bandits, charging right into the adventure with action-packed artwork and humorous dialogue, explaining the mystical, monstery, martial arts plot along the way. I thought the translation/adaptation was really good - nothing took me out of the story or felt clunky or out-of-place. "Take care on the road to hell." The three central characters are enjoyable with sustainable conflict and friendship built into their relationships, with the two step-siblings Tama and Jinka especially being a nice contrast between bright and dark. New characters are sprinkled in as the story progresses. Sengouku Youko is violent without being overly-grotesque, comedic without being overly-stupid, and mysterious without being overly-lost in its own storyline. 4.5 stars!

I think this is a longer series, and it's going to be adapted as an anime in 2024. I'm excited to go along for the ride and see how the characters grow. And of course I will always wish Tokyopop all the best!

[Katharine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

I'm mixed on this one. Something about this first volume felt somewhat aimless and disjointed. The first chapter left me more confused about the events in the world than excited about the story. The characters themselves feel like simple tropes and don't connect that well with each other. I also didn't particularly like any of the characters. They feel just a smidge too bland and trope-y for me. I got heavy InuYasha vibes from this, and not in a positive way. The end of the volume got more interesting with there being more reveals of the brothers' true motives. But not so interesting that it made me want to seek out the next volume. Also...what is going on with Tama and Jinku and their "sibling" relationship? The manga implied they're something a bit "more" than siblings, and it set off huge alarm bells. If it goes in the direction I think that it's heavily implying, this series goes straight to be "Don't Read" list. Here's hoping that it avoids that completely. The art style is fine, though not to my taste. It's a bit too simple for me. Jinku's spirit form is sort of cool, but again, it's pretty plain. I don't think I'll try reading the second volume.

[BreAnna (Bre'sBooks) · Rating 3 out of 5]

**ARC provided by NetGalley for honest review**

Sengoku Youko, Volume 1 by Satoshi Mizukami was a action-based supernatural manga set in a historical period of Japan. There are monsters and half monsters, mostly led and controlled by questionable priests. You follow a small collection of characters with differing goals that get thrown together throughout this first volume and form a group along the way.

This volume had some interesting ideas, but I feel was a little lacking in execution (at least for an American audience). It started off rough, just dropping you into the middle of a scene with a bit of action, which isn't necessarily bad, but didn't follow through with much explanation after that. I just felt somewhat lost throughout this whole volume. The characters were introduced, but we weren't told much about them or much of their motivation for anything which was kind of annoying. It wasn't until the very end of the volume that I feel like some things were starting to get a bit explained. The art was fine though.

If any of that sounds interesting to you, please try this volume out. I have a feeling that further volumes will get better as the story and world progress, but I have no further desire to continue at this point.

[Siina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sengoku Youko was actually published already in 2008 and thus I found it slightly odd one to be translated into English now. Of course it's great to have manga set in the Muromachi Shogunate's time though, since you can never have enough of that. The world is divided into two, there are people and katawaras, these monsters. Tama loves humans, but her stepbrother Jinka not so much. These two travel the country fighting and whatnot and Tama lending her katawara power to Jinka. They are joined by a swordsman named Shinsuke, who wants to become strong and thinks these two are the key to that. The setting is quite basic and we don't get to understand anything, since the series starts without good introductions to anything. The manga is full of battles and fighting, but for what? Good question.

The art looks slightly outdated and there's hints of Hellsing in it. Mizukami can draw movement though, so points for that. Otherwise this series is quite meh, nothing out of the ordinary, but not bad per se. It's just confusing and without an aim for now.

[Anny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once upon a time, there were two siblings out to save the world. The elder was a demon who loves humans and the younger was a human who loves demons. Then they met a human who wishes for strength and he joined them in their travel. Again, they met and subdued a hybrid of human/demon resulted from experimentation by some organization out to finish demons.

That was the start of a really long journey for them. At first, it was only to defend themselves. But afterwards, it become the kind of journey where you ask "what is demon?" and "what is human?". Can human and demon co-exist peacefully? Or must one exterminate the other to the bitter end?

[Jessika Hoover · Rating 3 out of 5]

I ended up just liking this one, but I will say that I grew more interested by the end. I’m intrigued by the story itself—particularly with the idea of the differences/similarities between the katawara and humans, the definition of humanity, and what it means to peacefully coexist with each other. I wasn’t a huge fan of the art, but it grew on me a little by the end to where I wasn’t noticing it as much. I’m not sure whether I’d read the next volume or not, but I might try to check it out.

Thank you to NetGalley and TokyoPop for the free digital ARC of this manga in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[yamzreads · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 🌟
The manga follows two demon siblings that are going on an adventure to stop bad deeds. The manga starts off with Jinka and Tama fighting off the evil doers and they pick up a man who joins their journey. The relationship between Jinka and Tama was a bit off and that was one major aspect that made me feel a bit weird. There is action and adventure but the story plot isn't really strong but rather simple.

Thank you Tokyopop and Netgalley for the e-ARC in exchange for a honest review!

[Acha · Rating 5 out of 5]

a great story, very unique and the chapters are so intriguing... must read!!

[Etienne · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art was good and quite clear compare to other manga, but it became clear quite soon that the story was too easy and young for my taste. Another sad case of it isn't you it's me!

[Doremili · Rating 3 out of 5]

parece interesante. probare