Review by Ian Keogh

Ayuma Mashiro is a police officer on an Earth that’s battling the threat of alien invasion. After an initial meteor shower a few people developed super powers, and heroes are active in protecting the public. However, not all is as it seems, which Mashiro learns when he develops powers also. Unfortunately for him in it’s in the body of Zero, the worst of the alien invaders, which makes Mashiro a big target.

With Villain Actor Mikumo Seto develops an interesting twist on the literary trope of the misunderstood hero. Because Zero’s past deeds have rendered him reviled, any representation of the authorities isn’t going to accept Mashiro’s pleas of changed personality and good intentions. Neither are the corporations who’ve been engineering superheroes, so it leaves Mashiro with a steep learning curve and a massive obstacle to overcome.

That’s accentuated by the design artist Kentaro Harada gives Zero, which is especially satanic, creating a large, three toed, horned beast with a hefty tail and a massive mouth containing long, sharp teeth. It’s intended to strike fear, and does. However on the day to day storytelling Harada has a very busy, all-action style, with characters leaping from panels and crashing into sound effects, which can make action scenes very difficult to follow.

Mashiro’s situation is all the more urgent because on becoming Zero he learns an enormous world changing secret, yet he’s no longer trustworthy as his identity is known. It’s a seemingly unsolvable problem, but at least Mashiro has an advisor, in narrative terms there to explain limitations and consequences to the reader as well as Mashiro.

Seto’s twist on the standard superhero series comes with inbuilt tension as readers know the truth, so root for Mashiro against impossible odds, perhaps more so than they would for Batman or Iron Man. Most of this opening volume is set-up, but well rolled out, and it’s likely anyone who picks it up will want Villain Actor 02.