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Master Keaton: Kanzenban #11

Master Keaton, Vol. 11

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Taichi Hiraga Keaton is an insurance investigator educated in archaeology and trained in SAS survival combat who’s about to take on the world, one case at a time!

Taichi Hiraga Keaton, the son of a Japanese zoologist and an English noblewoman, is an insurance investigator known for his successful and unorthodox methods of investigation. Educated in archaeology and a former member of the SAS, Master Keaton uses his knowledge and combat training to uncover buried secrets, thwart would-be villains, and pursue the truth… 

After the Cold War draws a curtain over Europe and the economic bubble bursts in Japan during the late 20th century, ace insurance investigator Taichi Hiraga Keaton brings his skills into full play… No matter how difficult the case, Keaton will not miss a clue!

322 pages, Paperback

First published May 30, 2012

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Hokusei Katsushika

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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
Profile Image for Mook Woramon.
901 reviews202 followers
August 7, 2022
เกือบตายไปแล้ว คีตัน
Profile Image for Rebecca.
4,337 reviews69 followers
December 28, 2021
The stand-alone chapters are particularly strong in this volume, especially the opening story and the one that marks the return of Urasawa's elderly lady sleuth. I'd read a whole book about her.
Profile Image for S.Q. Eries.
Author 7 books15 followers
September 19, 2017
In Summary

Spunky young Yuriko joins her father for bonding time. While their archaeology tour tuned kidnapping makes for an exciting episode, the same can’t be said for the other stories. They’re not so much about intrigue or Keaton’s unique skills as they are about muddled domestic situations, making this volume feel more like a soap opera than a collection of mysteries.

The Review

The quality of the Master Keaton stories has gone up and down since the early volumes, and in Volume 11, it’s more down than up. The one solid story is the three-part “Made in Japan.” Daughter Yuriko, now 17, reappears as she and her dad meet up for quality time in Scotland—at an archeological tour. The story combines several things: their parent-child relationship, Keaton’s unfulfilled dreams of being an archaeologist, his SAS skills, and Keaton’s dangerous career impacting his family. This last element is a situation we haven’t encountered before, and that makes it more gripping than the usual scenarios where Keaton is a passerby.

Domestic drama figures largely in the other stories, but Keaton isn’t personally involved so it’s a bit like watching episodes of unrelated soap operas. In “The Final Challenge,” an old schoolmate asks Keaton to track the whereabouts of another schoolmate, but the story is really about the tangled family situation the two men created. “Lost Beyond the Wall” is partly a commentary on the former East Germany after reunification, but it’s mostly Keaton driving a man around as he expresses his regret about how he ruined his family. “Love from the Underworld” begins as a mystery but quickly turns into a tale of another broken family, and when Keaton reveals the trick behind the” ghost,” you have to wonder why anyone was fooled. Wacky Mrs. Barnum shows up again in “Return of the Super Sleuth?!” and as in her previous appearance, the murder she investigates with Keaton is just a platform for her to nag about how he doesn’t understand romance and women. Keaton doesn’t have a part at all in “Two Fathers,” which features his dad instead, but that story is really about two brothers and which fathered the child of the woman both men loved.

While the two-part “Pact on Ben Tan Mountain” also contains an extramarital affair, the greed and grudge motivating the murders lend it additional substance. Unfortunately, there is too much coincidence in the chain of events to make it a satisfying read, especially the way Malcolm proposes the murder pact but Jackson is the one to take advantage of it. In addition, there are so many characters crammed into the story that I had trouble keeping all the names and connections straight.

Extras include four pages in color, four pages partly in color, and a sound effects glossary.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Mark Schlatter.
1,253 reviews15 followers
July 4, 2017
A good volume, although I feel like the proportion of sentimental short stories is creeping up as the series continues. Still, good strong appearances from Keaton's family, at least one terrifying scene, and a way-too-complex murder/conspiracy tale at the end counterbalance the tendency towards easy emotionalism.
Profile Image for Rod Brown.
7,396 reviews284 followers
July 19, 2017
Slightly better than previous volumes, but still too bland. I'm just reading through to the end because I think there is only one or two left.
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