Thanks to barnesandnobe.com for the image.

A nameless orphan, Tobei was in time a ruthless punk criminal living in Feudal Japan, and at 16 years of age, he was beheaded for his many crimes.  After 300 years of damnation, Hell still hadn’t broken him.  Striking a deal with Lady Ema, the Regent of Hell, Tobei returned to Earth with a mission.  If he vanquished 108 sins in 108 days, he would live again.  These sins have taken on a corporeal form – malevolent spirits called “Toga,” and have attached themselves to human criminals.  Armed with the sin-eating wooden sword named Togari and accompanied by his watcher, Ose, Tobei stalks a new century – a world he cannot understand.

In Togari, Vol. 4, new players enter the game and force Lady Ema to appear on Earth.  She discovers that one of the new figures making a play for Tobei’s fate is Ami, someone familiar to her.  He serves the Immortal Shadow, a being who offers Tobei the chance to unleash the darkness within him; it is a power that can be described as “the light.”  To say “yes” may cost Tobei his soul, but to say “no” will cost him his life.

THE LOWDOWN:  Togari steadily improved from Vols. 1 through 3.  The chapters contained in Vol. 4 mark a point of transformation for the series.  The narrative opens up with more intrigue and behind the scenes machinations from shadowy figures and bold new characters.  Togari almost feels like it’s becoming a fantasy epic, but it doesn’t lose its streetwise edginess.  This is still a riveting story about a human thrown away by society – one that has come back like a mad dog ready to bite humanity.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE:  Togari’s hardboiled writing and noir-ish art has the flavor of the work of Frank Miller (The Dark Knight Returns) and will even appeal to comic readers who don’t read manga.

B+

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