Volumes 1-2
Story and Art by Shiki Satoshi
Copyright © 1998 Shiki Satoshi

Over 30 manga titles are featured each month in the popular seinen manga magazine AFTERNOON. You probably know that this magazine is the home of AH! MY GODDESS, as well as a multitude of titles covered in past and present issues of EX. One good thing about this magazine is that the average reader can get a vast variety of reading material by flipping through the 800+ pages, and among the multitude of stories and art styles, the reader is bound to find something he likes. KAMIKAZE is one title that caught my interest.
When this reviewer first picked up KAMIKAZE, the first reaction was that it would be another "armageddon" type manga, with supernatural humans searching for their enemy. But as the story went on, it seemed that there was something more than just the stereotypical "last battle for the continuation of humanity" that seems to be a popular topic of manga nowadays.
The story begins, after a short prologue in a subway station, with a battle between followers of "Kaede" and Ishigami Kamuro. But the odd part is that both sides seem to share a characteristic trait: they are all involved with supernatural beings called "matsurowanai kegai no tami". Just what exactly are these "kegai no tami"? The truth is yet to be seen, but there are hints that they have powers associated with their alignment such as earth or water.
The story revolves around Kamuro, who is dubbed "man of earth" by his opponents, and Mikogami Misawo, who is called the "woman of water" by the same group. The group wants Misawo for some reason yet to be disclosed, while Kamuro doesn't want her to fall into their hands. The details of the opposing group are still shrouded in mystery, but it seems to be full of beings with supernatural powers.
Each character has a physical characteristic of the stereotypes usually associated with their personalities. (In this reviewer's opinion, Kamuro looks and acts like Squall in the beginning of FINAL FANTASY 8.) Of course, a couple of them have physiques that can't possibly be human, but that's what supernatural powers are for, right? One volume is not nearly enough to fully develop characters of a story that seems to be plotted on relatively large scale. In fact, the whole volume seemed more about introducing the main characters more so than developing them. Nonetheless, there is a slight bit of development in Misawo's character as she learns of her fate as a part of what is to come.
If this reviewer had to sum up the art in once word, it would be ziptone. Lots of ziptone. (This reviewer imagines endless racks of ziptone shelves...) Overall, the artwork matches the atmosphere of the storyline quite nicely. The action scenes tend to be busy with motion lines, but that seems to help bring out the amount of chaos and destruction that these supernatural beings are causing to their surroundings. Even if body parts fly, it doesn't seem as grotesque as it should. Initially, the art seemed reminiscent of Hagiwara (of BASTARD!! fame), but as one reads on, Shiki's own style starts to show through. Even then, it still is a part of the art style that is now so common for fantasy-style manga. And as they say, why fix something that's not broken?
This shouldn't be too much of a "hard" read despite the lack of yomigana over most of the kanji (after all, the magazine tries to target college-age and older folks). The names may take a little getting used to (as they really aren't "common" names), but the story is well worth the effort.

Serialized in AFTERNOON (published by Kodansha)
2 volumes, ongoing
2 color pages and approximately 260 black/white pages
Vol 1: ISBN4-06-319918-5
Vol 2: ISBN4-06-334055-4
¥781
Available now in Japan
Where to buy