By Suguro Chayamachi and Nitro+ CHiRAL
Tokyopop, 208 pp.
Rating: Older Teen (16 +)

In a war-ravaged future, men gather in the ruins of the city of Toshima to take part in a brutal game of life or death known as the Igura. The winner of this contest will receive a seat within the Vischio, the criminal organization which controls the city. This a grim tale, set in a grim future, full of pretty boys flirting with each other. Oh, and killing, they kill each other too. This… is Togainu No Chi.

Unfortunately Togainu No Chi has got to be one of the clunkiest and most dense manga I’ve come across in quite some time. The reader is thrown head first into its world as various terms, organization names, drug lingo and the like are thrown out with little explanation at first. We’re also treated to no less than six straight pages of short text pieces giving us background on the world that story inhabits. It does a lot to help clear things up, but at the same time it’s presented in a fairly dry and uninteresting manner. Still, it is only a short side trip as immediately afterward the plot begins in earnest! Central to the plot are two young men Akira and Lost. Akira, the series protagonist, was apparently sent to Toshima to take part in the Igura for the purpose of destroying the Vischio, though exactly who sent him and why is shrouded in mystery. Lost is another mysterious young man who is apparently a key connection in the Vischio’s drug trade. He also has a tendency to kill Igura contestants for no apparent reason. It’s through them (particularly Akira, who serves as the reader’s POV character) that most of the terminology and the various ins and outs of the Igura are explained. It’s clearly only a matter of time before the paths of these two cross, and indeed it comes sooner rather than later, providing us with the cliffhanger ending for this volume. Unfortunately, all the worldbuilding and complex rules serve to make the story feel heavily plot-driven, leaving the characters as flat, uninteresting ciphers without even the scaffolding of a personality beyond “mysterious,” thus destroying any drama the story might have.

Still, where the writing fumbles the artwork doesn’t. Mostly. The books is positively dripping with darkness and grittiness. The heavy use of blacks gives the book a strong nocturnal and claustrophobic feel that fits well with the war-torn setting. The streets of Toshima are empty yet littered with rubble and trash, all of which serves to reinforce the vast emptiness, while the towering buildings that hem the roadways give it that healthy does of paranoid claustrophobia. The characters designs clash oddly with this, as just about everyone in the book is a pretty boy and looks like they’re clad in street urchin chic. For a city that’s virtually devoid of anything not directly related to the Igura, everyone manages to be incredibly fashion-conscious. I suppose the prettiness does serve some purpose as it gives the characters plenty of reason for the constant flirting and innuendo that peppers just about every conversation in the book. While the artwork is certainly pretty to look at, something about the panel to panel flow and transitions just didn’t click with me. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but while plenty of panels looked fantastic on their own, when taken in the context of sequential art they felt a bit awkward and off.

Togainu No Chi wasn’t really my cup of tea. There were some lovely bits of artwork, but not enough to make it worth trudging through the book. But hey, if you’re into pretty boys with no personalities fighting it out in street urchin chic, than have I got a book for you!

Volume one of Togainu No Chi is available now.