Review: Twin Star Exorcists vol. 6

Twin Star Exorcists manages to follow the shonen storytelling style, while also breaking a lot of the norms. When a story starts off following middle schoolers, you rarely expect it to jump ahead to high school by the sixth volume. Especially given the intense events of the previous five volumes. That’s what happens here, though, as the story jumps to high school and two years later with Rokuro and Benio having completed their training to go the island and now just waiting to be tested. Let me repeat that because I want it to be clear how different this is from typical shonen; the story actually chose to skip two years of training to get to the point. I’ve never read a story in which the creator passed up showing people training over and over. Sure, there’s some training shown in this volume, but it’s a part of the story rather than the focus of the story.

Where it stays faithful to the form is the harem element. We started off with the obvious childhood friendship angle between Mayura and Rokuro; then Benio, in fact, fell in love with Rokuro, and he might have feelings for her as well, but he’s an idiot in that area so of course, he can’t see either woman’s interest in him. Now with this volume, we add a female character that’s head over heels in love with him and very open about it. Before we get to that, let’s talk about the volume leading up to this.

The opening establishes that Rokuro and Benio are complete and total badasses now. It’s a quick opening, and we even check in with Mayura which I find to be a pointless aspect of the story now. Unless they have some trick up their sleeve for her, it would be better to move the story forward without her. After the opening, Rokuro is tested by Shimon Ikaruga who saved him and Benio in the last book. He hates Rokuro because of how formal he talks to people and for the fact that Seigen left him to train Rokuro. The battle is decent, and we do see how Rokuro has improved, but he still loses, and it leaves you as the reader wondering if he could really handle the island.

Ikaruga’s test wasn’t the real test, though. His was a strange, probably made up, pre-test. The real test isn’t even a fight. It’s a girl with extraordinary spiritual power that taps into your spiritual power to see if you have what it takes. Enter Chiko, who is of some relation to Ikaruga. Chiko’s never left the island because of how powerful she is and while we learn that she’s been very sheltered suddenly she’s allowed to dismiss her bodyguards and walk around on her own which goes against her character development later on. Rokuro is her hero because he unwittingly gave her a reason to leave the island, but the test… well, the test ends on a cliffhanger, and only Benio and the reader know why the test is a bad idea.

Other than all the time wasted with Chiko, this is a great volume. I wish it didn’t have so much harem elements, this time, around, but it does due to the genre. There is some good ecchi moments at the end between Benio and Rokuro and it just really shows why that’s the only relationship that the story should focus on. The rest is just page clutter. The point of the story isn’t “who will Rokuro pick,” but rather, will he and Benio do what they set out to do or will they need to have a kid to finish the job? That’s the focus, and so when it loses that focus, it’s frustrating. Thankfully the bulk of the book is spent in battle and with actual character development.

The artwork is impressive given the fact that seven people are now working on this title. It’s getting to the point that I don’t think it’s going to be allowed to fail, but as long as it continues being this damn good, I don’t mind. I would like to pretend that you’ve read my previous reviews for the series and remember what I said so that I don’t have to retype my feelings about the art here, but that would be foolish of me.

It follows the standard layouts, lots of panels intersected at angles which in a way breaks the flow of the action, but something about it works rather well here. It doesn’t feel as standard, but rather the creator and assistants are using it to further the action. The details are of course great and maintained throughout. I still really enjoy the blank bubble looking characters that are used with the story is humorous. A big standout in the art is the facial expressions and a number of default expressions there are. Everyone has a natural default face that doesn’t stem from a genre trope.

I was looking forward to this volume a lot, and I wasn’t let down. Watching the release schedule, though, I don’t think we’ll be seeing another volume until next year which sucks because I want to read it right now, but also for the best so that I’m never so caught up that I have to pick up the weekly Shonen Jump issues to read along. Having given up on the anime after three or four episodes, I can’t say if it’s in line with the anime. From what I saw of it and from reading all the volumes, I would say stick with the manga. It’s one of the best of its genre.

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Twin Star Exorcists vol. 6 Writer: Yoshiaki Sukeno Artists: Yoshiaki Sukeno, Erubo Hijihara, koppy, Tomohiro Fukuoka, Takumi Kikuta, Testuro Kakiuchi Publisher: Viz Media Price: $9.99 Format: TPB; Print/Digital

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Review: Twin Star Exorcists vol. 5

This volume is another interesting one because it breaks a lot of norms that I’ve come to associate with shonen manga. The first being that it doesn’t pick right back up with the battle from the fourth volume. That’s right; you’re left with that cliffhanger for a while as we actual jump to the future and find out about a few of the twelve guardians coming to town. It’s interesting and different because it gives you vague hints about the outcome of the battle. So much so that when it does return to the fight you could easily think that you know what’s going to happen. You don’t. I didn’t. I didn’t even have an accurate guess because Yoshiaki Sukeno busts out even bigger surprises than the last issue. While the fourth volume saw a huge change for Benio, the fifth volume cranks up Rokuro’s character to eleven. So that you understand, he was on nine; now he’s on eleven… it only goes to ten.

I won’t tell you what happens, but obviously, our two main characters live at the end. Saying that gives you nothing, though. After the dust has settled some, we learn about an island that is at the center of the battle to save the planet. Battles happen there 24/7 and so the exorcists there are more badass than anywhere else in the world. Rokuro and Benio want to go there, but they have to train first. Oh, and that’s after they convince the White Haired Weirdo that they’re not just going to sit around and have a kid and make them clean up the world as the “chosen one.”

One huge development from the battle with Yuto is that Benio has a new-found respect for Rokuro and has developed romantic feelings for him. Rokuro is the oblivious idiot male character and doesn’t know this, but he feels a closeness to Benio that he just doesn’t acknowledge because that would be too easy. Still, I applaud Sukeno on the character development done in this volume (as well as the last). Not only that, but the relationship development that didn’t rely on well-worn tropes, but instead was built on mutual respect in battle.

The last development is that Mayura begins doing hardcore training as an exorcist to try to catch up to Rokuro. Not the best aspect to add because it doesn’t feel relevant to the story anymore, but it’s manga and God forbid the main male character only have one love interest when he can have a dozen. My favorite part of the entire manga was one of the comic strips in the back in which Rokuro and Benio watch TV and afterward Benio expression her desire to tell Rokuro that she bought a bra. The rest was great as well, but I found this part to be particularly humorous.

After the last volume, I’m on board with the artwork. Perhaps it’s the fact that there’s a lot of artists working on the series. Nine to be exact, but due to how credit is given, I have no idea who to credit, and I’m not writing out nine names. It’s consistent; it looks great, and the designs continue to be cool. Especially the last page, which I won’t spoil, but it’s pretty relevant to the story.

This volume has an excellent pacing in that it eases the reader out of the big battle from volume 4, gives you time to catch your breath and then moves the story forward in a big way. I’m very excited for the next volume after completing this one. It continues to do some hotshot booking, but it's working for now. It makes Twin Star Exorcists stand out from the crowd and a lot of fun to read.

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Twin Star Exorcists vol. 5 Creator: Yoshiaki Sukeno Publisher: Viz Media Price: $9.99 Format: TPB; Print/Digital

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Review: Twin Star Exorcists vol. 4

I can see why this series became popular rather quickly. To use a wrestling term, think "hotshot booking." That is to say, in a way that makes sense to most people, that it takes the typical shonen formula and cranks up the speed. Think of Dragon Ball Z if there weren't several hundred pages of Goku charging a spirit bomb while Frieza sat and watched. Imagine instead if Goku just charged the fucker and sent it flying in three panels. That’s Twin Star Exorcists. Not only did this story reveal vital details about both characters’ pasts almost instantly, but it also did it in a way that still felt significant to the story. There was a weight to the reveals, but it’s so atypical of manga and shonen just to pull the trigger like this. Hence, the hotshot booking.

Because if you think that’s going to slow down with the fourth volume, think again. Originally I had planned to review the fourth and fifth volumes together. That changed the minute I finished the fourth because it absolutely needed to be reviewed on its own. Why do you ask? Because Rokuro and Benio actually go to fight Benio’s brother Yuto. A battle they both know they can't win.

I practically expected for the fight to be one of those bullshit fights in which the heroes get to show their moves, and the villain just laughs it off in the end. Telling them some shit like, “get stronger,” which does technically happen but from an entirely different villain that shows up. No instead, this fight has real consequences and changes not only the story but the characters as well. No one walks away from this battle the same, including the villains.

With that said, I’m not going to waste a lot of time talking about fights. The training before the fight is relevant to the story even if it looks like filler pages. Then the fight itself moves at a breakneck pace and is full of consequences. And the fight doesn’t conclude in this volume, but instead of that feeling like a rip-off, I was happy to catch my damn breath and be excited for more.

Yoshiaki Sukeno is delivering some of the most impressive storylines I’ve read since diving face first into manga again. You will see how much I’m reviewing, but you won’t see how much I’m reading (mostly because not all of it is review worthy). If I’m honest with myself, the only thing that’s in front of this series on my reading list is One-Punch Man, and that’s surprising even to me because first glance the plot seems pretty basic. The setting comes across typical, and when you add in the fact that they’re in middle school, the tropes just add up quickly. Sukeno manages to take all of that and make it fresh and unique, but above all else entertaining.

Originally I enjoyed the artwork, but I wasn’t blown away by it. That changed with this volume as the artwork became more dynamic. The battles had a real weight to them as punches are thrown, injuries are sustained, and our heroes are continually beaten down. The designs were always cool and stood out, which I assume is part of the success because manga readers love awesome designs. Something about the art just really hits its stride in this volume. The designs, the battles, the settings and the detail comes together to create one hell of a manga to look at and enjoy.

I know that this sounds crazy, but if you just want to dive into this series, you can do that with this volume. The recap and the beginning and the clever use of flashbacks during the story itself makes it easy to jump on. You’ll still enjoy the payoff and the things that develop because as I said, it’s so well done that you can’t help but enjoy them. If that’s not your bag, then pick up the first four volumes altogether, but you might want to get the next one as well. Either that or you’ll be kicking yourself later.

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Twin Star Exorcists vol. 4 Creator: Yoshiaki Sukeno Publisher: Viz Media Price: $9.99 Format: TPB; Print/Digital

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Review: Twin Star Exorcists Vol. 2 & 3

Unfortunately, I wasn’t given the first volume of Twin Star Exorcists to review. So I figured I would let the anime play out some and then just jump on. That was a complete and total mistake. I almost didn’t even bother to read the manga after watching the first three episodes of the anime. Now I wish I had never watched the anime because unlike a lot of the other recent adaptations, One-Punch Man, My Hero Academia; Twin Star Exorcists isn’t a page by page adaptation. At least from what I saw of the show and read of the manga because the reveals and setup are completely different. Let’s recap the volumes really quickly.

Volume 2: We meet the Kagare that killed Benio’s parents and we learn that some Kagare can talk. This Kagare is a real piece of shit by the way and I fucking loved her character. The Twin Stars also learn that they can combo their power together and thus increases their power. We end with meeting Rokuro’s former teacher who reveals to Benio that Rokuro is the sole survivor of the tragedy that he survived, but that he actually killed everyone. Hell of a cliffhanger, which is why I read both volumes back to back and you’re getting a combo review.

Volume 3: We learn what really happened at the Hinatsuki Drom and you really can’t fucking blame Rokuro for not wanting to be an exorcists and really fuck everyone that gave this guy a hard time. Another character is revealed to us and it’s used to make Benio’s character even more tragic than she was before. Also Rokuro’s master is pretty badass, but the story kind of neuters him by the end. Oh and we learn what a Kagare Curse is and what it does, pretty interesting.

Why is this manga so much better than the anime? The pacing. The anime’s pacing is all over the place and with the changes in the reveals and story structure it really never stood a chance against the manga. That’s the last comparison I’ll make, but that really is what makes the manga so good, the pacing. Yoshiaki Sukeno perfectly paces both volumes. I’m going to do my best to describe it, but it’s a bit like a conductor bringing up the action at just the right time, then lowering the action for character moments only to hit with the percussion and reveal major aspects of the world. And Sukeno does this over and over again. The pacing is perfect and not just for the genre, but just for storytelling in general.

The artwork is also really on point. Due to the tragedy that bestowed upon both characters, there’s a lot of emotion to this book. Sukeno’s line work captures that in a way that really hits home. The action is easy to follow and really detailed to look at. A lot of manga artists tend to drop background details when illustrating artwork and it makes it look posed, thus breaking from the reality of the story. With Twin Star Exorcists you’re not removed from the world instead feel as if you’re on the demon plain with the characters.

What keeps these two volumes from being perfect is the premise that’s brought up over and over. This story could very easily hide the fact that these two are destined to get married and produce the chosen one child that will destroy all the Kagare. Instead it led with that. Almost as if it was pitched to the publisher and they said lead with that, rather than build towards it. Because it leads with what would have been the biggest reveal of the series, we’re instead constantly reminded of the fact. We’re not shown it or building towards it, we’re just reminded over and over that these two middles schoolers will have a baby one day. It’s a joke for the story, rather than something important to the world of the story and each time it’s brought up it weakens the overall story. Eventually, as is the case with all manga that lead with their “hook”, it won’t be brought up as much; which begs the question, why bring it up in the first place?

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Twin Star Exorcists Vol. 2 & 3

Creator: Yoshiaki Sukeno

Publisher: Viz Media

Price: $9.99 each

Format: TPB; Print/Digital

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