Ikkki Tousen Volume 1 Chapter 0 review

By Mark Rodriguez

Hakufu Sonsaku has unleashed her fighting spirit and the higher ups at Nanyo Academy are beginning to take notice. A deadly woman wearing an eyepatch has now crossed paths with her and wants to test her skills in battle. But before we get into that, let's go back in the past and learn more about the Magatama and Toushis.

Chapter 0

This story goes back to China near the end of the Gen Era. A man calls out to Chou Shisei and tells him to give up the seal and the Magatama Gem under Imperial Order. Shisei taunts the man for calling himself Emperor and quickly loses his head to the Emperor's sword. Shisei's head continues to talk and tells the Emperor that he will never be able to contain the aggression within the gem. The Magatama was lost to China and discovered in Japan during the Sengoku Era. 

We cut to a modern time where a guy with spiky hair and tanned girl beat up on everybody, both of them being Toushis. After the fight they realized they lost their friend Mouki and go to look for her. 

 

Mouki is trying to reach a coin she dropped under a soda machine. As she tries to get it, she accidentally pushes it further under the machine. A creepy guy shows up and offers to help, punching a hole into the machine which starts spilling out soda cans. The guy is named Ritsu Buntatsu from Kyoshou High and recognizes the girl as Bashou Mouki from Ryoushi High. Ritsu says he's going to beat her up and increase his Gyokuji. Mouki is ready to leave but Ritsu pins her up against a wall. 

The spikey-haired guy, named Kensui kicks the guy into a wall. Kensui seems to be well-known, as soon as Ritsu runs the hell out of there once he realizes who he is. Mouki punches Kensui, ironically, for using violence. Kensui argues that she was in danger and Mouki says the guy got her a lot of free soda. Kensui notices she's walking around with the Gyokuji tied to her purse, and she says she wanted to accessorize it. As they walk off, Mouki feels confused because she realizes the guy was dangerous but she feels attracted to him. 

Ritsu is washing off his wounds at a water fountain and is approached by dangerous looking guys. 

Mouki is training at the dogo, rather clumsily, while she is being watched by Kensui and the tanned girl from earlier. Mouki is the only child of the Ba family and inheritor of her Magatama Gem, and Kensui and the tanned girl are tasked to watch over her by their own family. Suddenly a guy appears behind Kensui and the tanned girl.

At the dojo, the other classmates invite Mouki to karaoke and tease that she probably can't because she'll be busy with Kensui. Mouki says she's not into Kensui like that and feels a tightness in her chest, similar to when Ritsu approached her earlier. 

Ritsu flicks his finger and shockwaves tear through Kensui. Battered and bloody, Kensui tries to fight back but this time he's stronger and faster. The tanned girl realizes he is using Ryofo Housen, but his Magatama was never passed down so she wonders how this guy has it. Kensui catches his leg and says if he's going to go, he'll take Ritsu with him. Mouki feels compelled to run towards where the action is happening.

 

Kensui is defeated and the tanned girl gets ready to fight, warning Ritsu that she won't be as easy to take down. Mouki arrives to see her friends being defeated and bloodied up (guess the tanned girl was all talk). Something snaps inside her as she feels her blood rage and her metaphorical restraints breaking off her. Ritsu grabs Mouki from behind but she easily back-fists his face, knocking him off her. 

Mouki seems to have awakened as a different entity or personality. This person examines her chest and comments she's never been in a female body before. Ritsu angrily lashes out at her again and gets effortlessly back-fisted again, sending him flying back. The tanned girl wakes up and warns that Mouki's been taken over by her Magatama Spirit and will kill the guy in this state. Ritsu unleashes a barrage of rapid punches all over Mouki, but she only considers this a massage. Mouki now prepares to unleash her own barrage of rapid punches al over him.

The tanned girl explains their mission was not just to watch over Mouki, but to also prevent herself to get into situations that would trigger her current state. She explains she's being controlled by Kinbachou, the Scourge of Men. Ritsu is broken and beaten, unable to fight back and Mouki prepares to crush his face and kill him. The tanned girl calls out to her friend, telling her it's enough. 

Mouki is distracted and Ritsu grabs her Gyokuji and threatens to drop it in the ocean. The tanned girl says he doesn't know what he's doing. Ritsu doesn't care and wants Mouki to do as he says. Mouki kicks him across the face, knocking him over the side of the building, along with the Gyokuji. Mouki passes out.

Two guys named Kokaku and Ton are watching the fight. Kokaku asks Ton if he can take on Mouki since he has the Ikki Tousen. As Kokaku walks off, Ton asks what they should do about Ritsu. Kokaku asks if he is expected to do everything. 

Two days later, Ritsu Buntatsu was never seen or heard of again. He was only a sign of things to come that the Toushi had no idea about. Meanwhile, Mouki is back to normal and doesn't remember a thing about the fight. 

 

My Opinions- 

So from what I gather, there's a group of fighters from different schools that awaken their violently nature due to possessing the Magatama Gem, passed down by family, each containing the spirits of ancient Japanese heroes. These fighters like Hakufu and Mouki have this strong desire to fight, whether they know it or not, and don't fully awaken until they've had their first fight. It also looks like these Toushis also have a rank system based on their strength and there also seems to be a boss at the top sending people out to kill anyone that might someday surpass him.

The story is interesting so far, I'm a bit confused by Chapter 0 and how it ties to everything. It's also surprising to see that the girl on the cover is actually Mouki and not Hakufu. They look so similar, I'm assuming Mouki is Hakufu's ancestor? I don't like that Ritsu defeating the un-named tanned girl all happened off panel. We could have seen her do a few moves before she was taken down. I also didn't like that the tanned girl was never named. She might appear and be called out by name in some other flashbacks or the anime adaptation would do it but they forgot to name her in this story.

The characters are interesting, mostly the interactions between Hakufu and Shuyu, though all of the bad guys are mostly just... creepy and evil. I am interested in the eyepatch girl, which fans already know is named Shimei Ryomou. I hope her fight with Hakufu is awesome and at least a little drawn out. 

I already bought volumes 2 and 3, so I'll eventually get to those. I also got myself a Ikki Tousen wall scroll, a Kan'U and Hakufu figure and a calendar. I also got the first season of the anime series on DVD but I want to read more of the manga first.

On another note, I was also entertained by all the ads in the Tokyopop manga. I don't know how modern day mangas do it, but I don't remember seeing ads for other manga in the latest volume of Dragonball Super for example. I remember some of these series in passing, but the one that got my attention was GetBackers since my bro and I watched the anime series back in the day. I might pick up that manga eventually and review that too.

 

Update- I actually found a copy of GetBackers # 1.... or so I thought. I bought a copy from a used book store site, and instead they sent me a battered copy of Attack on Titan, volume 22 or something like that. It was a few dollars so it was barely worth the time and hassle of trying to either exchange the book or get my money back. I guess I'll try again sometime or I happen to find one at a con.