Aqua Knight, Vol. 1

Aqua Knight #1

by Yukito Kishiro

Inspired by a beautiful woman in armor -- the Aqua Knight -- young Ashika, living near the World's Edge, vows to become a knight himself. When a twisted aristocrat threatens the lighthouse he calls home, the boy gets his chance.

Genres: Manga, Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy

232 pages, Paperback

First published October 9, 2001

About the author

Yukito Kishiro (Japanese: 木城ゆきと) is a Japanese manga artist born in Tokyo in 1967 and raised in Chiba. As a teenager he was influenced by the mecha anime Armored Trooper Votoms and Mobile Suit Gundam, in particular the designs of Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, as well as the works of manga artist Rumiko Takahashi. He began his career at age 17, with his debut manga, Space Oddity, in the Weekly Shonen Sunday. He is best known for the cyberpunk series Battle Angel Alita.

Reviews

[Juho Pohjalainen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid opening, with decent characterization and good worldbuilding, a mix of steampunk and sorcery, a proper fantasy... but it spends a great deal of time building up one sort of a story, only to then snatch the plot away into a whole other direction all of a sudden. I would've liked to see Ashika's journey into knighthood.

Maybe they'll still get to that.

[Chris Youngblood · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a definite departure from the dystopian series Battle Angel Alita, and may be something of a shock for those who were expecting similarities from Yukito Kishiro. Personally, I liked the different feel, style and tone that this series had, because it means the author has the ability to write with a larger range than what people expect.

Where Alita is more 'adult' in theme and scope, Aqua Knight has a brighter, sunnier feel that seems a little more fun (though admittedly, staging a story on an island in the ocean is going to convey that sort of feel more than a giant scrap city would, but the characters are also less mopey and angsty in this series than in Alita)

The one similarity I would make note of between Aqua Knight and Alita is the theme that one has to rely mostly on oneself to achieve happiness in life, and that you can't wait for anyone to give it to you.

While I sold my copies to make room on my bookshelf, I would definitely consider keeping these around as an occasional diversion from some of the other material I have on my bookshelf.

[Mayank Agarwal · Rating 2 out of 5]

The art is ancient and the scans were of poor quality so the reading experience was dull. As for the Fantasy world it's well built and had potential but was not utilized with a appropriate story. Instead of epic adventure the author seemed to be just having fun with some wacky characters, the duo of father and son are the best but we get very chapters on them.

Nothing like Yukito Kishiro famed work- Battle Angel Alita.

[Nic · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't decide how I feel about this book. The chapters are laid out weird but it's still entertaining.

[Lord · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very silly manga. It seems that Yukito Kishiro created this in his free time for fun. It's good but not as good as his masterpiece, Battle Angel Alita.

[Corey Timmins · Rating 1 out of 5]

Weird and slow.

[Kurtis Burkhardt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good manga, really good story, characters and awesome art😻😁👌

[Scribe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun little manga with a mix of crazy characters and steampunkish undertones in the middle of the sea. Will be reading the other 2 in the series, but not a keeper.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's pretty good, but it's flipped, leading to some strange dialog at times.