REBORN!, VOL. 2
VIZ MEDIA
CARTOONIST; Akira Amano
ISBN: 978-1-4215-0672-2; paperback; Rated “‘T+’ for Older Teen”
192 pp., B&W, $7.99
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+
