Black Torch

[Jherrith]

Well now, found this one by accident, read the back cover and said WTF ... so picked it up and finally got around to reading this morning and boy howdy even though there are only five volumes according to my research, I am looking forward to finding the rest of the series.

It is a excellent story line in my eyes so far even after one volume.

Synopsis:

Jiro Azuma is a teenage punk, trained in the art of the ninja, who has the incredible ability to talk to animals. Despite this, he was constantly bullied as a child for talking to animals; he could only find solace with other animals, such as his dog Nachi. One day, Jiro is led into the woods by some birds and encounters a gravely injured cat. He nurses the cat back to health, who is shocked to find out that Jiro can understand him. The cat reveals himself as Rago of the Black Star of Doom, an immortal mononoke, or evil spirit. He reveals that he was attacked by other mononoke for refusing to help them. Later that night, Rago attempts to escape from Jiro's house, but they are attacked by one of the mononoke Rago encountered earlier. This mononoke kills Jiro by stabbing him through the chest with his immense claws. Feeling pity and indebted to Jiro for saving him earlier, Rago fuses with Jiro to give him a second chance at life. With their combined power, they kill the mononoke, but are then taken into custody by the Bureau of Espionage. The two later join the Bureau in order to stop more mononoke in the future.

I so look forward to the second volume when I can find it either in the store or on line.

 

[Noshoba]

I think I read that one along time ago. Sounds very familiar.

[Jherrith]

Could very probably since the original run was in the "Jump Square" magazine from 2016 to 2018, first printing was in 2018 and apparently the fourth printing was in 2021 which we just now found, and volume one was quite interesting.

Well, at least enough for me to hunt down more details. I look forward to adding the rest to my library.