Japanese high school student and all-around loser Tsunayoshi Sawada AKA Tsuna just may be the 10th boss of the Vongola crime family.  He learns this when a toddler arrives at his doorstep, but this isn’t any ordinary baby.  Named Reborn, he is a gun-toting Mafia hit man/tutor, and it’s his job to train Tsuna to be a Mafia boss.  But can even a hit man extraordinaire with seemingly supernatural abilities change a chump loser into a crime kingpin?  Just maybe Reborn’s “Deathperation Shot” (which can turn even a loser into a butt-kicking madman) will do the trick?

In Reborn!, Vol. 2, the screwy cast of characters grows: a super-sexy, older teen girl who uses her wicked culinary skills to poison her targets; a neighborhood girl who attacks Tsuna because she thinks he’s corrupting Reborn, and a diseased doctor who only takes on female patients.  However, Tsuna and his “Family” have their hands full when they meet a juvenile gang kingpin who can beat just about anyone.

THE LOWDOWN:  Whereas Vol.1 introduced the madness that is Reborn!, Vol. 2 contains stories that easily fit into the concept.  At this point, manga-ka (creator) Akira Amano composes each chapter as a separate episode, like a TV series, with a main cast and a guest character appearing each chapter.  Theoretically, when this started running originally in Japan as a regular feature in Weekly Shonen Jump, new readers could come in at any point and understand the story.  It’s strange, inventive, and oddly appealing.

FOR READERS OF:  With its screwball comedy hijinks and cartoon violence, Reborn! is a serial comedy with Looney Tunes’ sensibilities.

B+