Review by Frank Plowright
The Bureau of Espionage are a covert organisation who keep humanity safe, and they’ve just formed a new squad to deal with the threat of mononoke, spirits who don’t have humanity’s best interests at heart. As revealed to end Black Torch 1, the squad take their name from the series title.
Tsuyoshi Takaki’s introduction spotlighted Jiro, an accomplished ninja despite his youth, able to talk with animals, and more recently merged with the grumpy, but essentially right minded mononoke Rago, who manifests as a black cat. Jiro would usually be hunted down by the likes of Black Torch, but seeing as they’re short-handed he’s an ally, although not welcomed by all squad members. In classic storytelling style, Takaki makes the newest member of the team someone arrogant and privileged, someone both readers and Jiro can instantly dislike. Their mutual antipathy is a counterpoint to the mechanics of how Black Torch will operate and the introduction of some helpful equipment.
Artistically Takaki combines well drawn and complex figures with minimal backgrounds, but as seen on the sample art he’ll occasionally map in an intensely detailed background location. The objectification of Ichika on the cover is an uncharacteristic lapse, as while she’s drawn as glamorous inside, she’s not provocatively posed. When it comes to the action occupying much of the third chapter (or sixth overall, as Black Torch uses a consecutive numbering system) it’s spectacular. You’ll hear the bangs and clashes in your mind.
In the minds of the protagonists is where much of the final chapter takes place as Takaki pits them against an opponent able to mess with their perceptions. It’s a way of showing the backgrounds of squad members and why their career is important to them, which turns out not to be as straightforward as imagined. There’s more to it than loyalty of service and all have personal reasons for hunting down rogue mononoke. A cliffhanger ending concerns how Jiro’s coping. We’ll find out in Black Torch 3.
Although still very much setting things up, this is another very readable action thriller aimed at young adults that can be a guilty secret for older readers also.
