Authors: Akahori Satoru and Omishi Ray
Copyright © 1994 Media Works, Inc.

It seems obvious, but great anime is oftentimes the product of excellent manga. But if you ask me, the SORCERER HUNTERS comic version is maybe the first exception to this axiom.
That's not to say that this manga is bad necessarily, but I felt it lacked much of the drama, action and humor that characterized the very entertaining anime that followed it. The manga's art style is heavy, the plot lines heavy-handed and the attempts at humor, at times, get out of hand.
For anyone who doesn't know already, the premise of SORCERER HUNTERS is that five individuals with magical powers roam their world taking out evil sorcerers and tracking down dangerous spells. Carrot Glace can absorb any enemy spell and turn into a fearful beast. His brother Marron wields so-called Eastern magic and throws around a lot of paper charms. Tira Misu and her sister Chocolat can change from their original sweet personalities into scantily-clad dominatrixes that can thus beat the transformed Carrot into submission. The sisters both have a crush on Carrot, but he is clearly more interested in every other female he comes across (even moribund zombies and wicked sorceresses). Finally, there's muscle-bound and nigh-invulnerable Gateau, who seems to spend most of the time flexing his pecs.
This particular collection of manga offers the conclusion of one plot line ("The Terror of the Crystal Magicians"), a comic interlude ("Beware of the Beach Babes") and the beginning of the next story arc ("The Spellbook of the Necromancer"). Of the three, the middle series about the Hunters' adventures at a beach resort was easily the most light-hearted and therefore the most entertaining. The Misu sisters allow themselves to be "abducted" by a young and foolish magician named Potato Chipth, deciding that whoever Carrot rescues first must be the one Carrot loves the most. There are some really funny moments in this story, especially when the sisters go leather to subdue Carrot—even though he's not in bestial form.
Unfortunately, this fun and concise tale was head and shoulders above the rest of the stories here. I found it very hard to follow the action in the "Crystal Magicians" episodes; each scene seemed very confused and overdone so it was rather difficult to figure out what the characters were doing. As for the "Necromancer" episodes, the highlight was the introduction of the cross-dressing Mille Fieulle, but even this hilarious character cannot rescue the plodding clichés of this storyline.
I found Omishi Ray's artwork to be the most effective when he kept it simple. When he didn't try to put too many motion lines or detail into a scene, the drawings could be visually striking or side-splittingly funny. Sadly though, too much ink and too many lines ruined a majority of the panels, making the pages overwrought and overcomplicated. His super-deformed characters and comic expressions are fun to look at, providing the rest of the noise on the page doesn't distract you too much.
Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy SORCERER HUNTERS, just not in this presentation. These are great characters, but the style and stories of the manga simply aren't as engaging and entertaining as the anime incarnation. (Unless you really need to see Chocolat in her original, suspenders-without-a-shirt costume—in which case you're probably reading manga for a different reason than this reviewer!)

English version published in North America by Mixx Entertainment, Inc.
200 pages; b&w
ISBN 1892213540
$11.95
Available now in the USA
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