Genre: Supernatural/Action
Age Rating: Teen (13+)
Price: $7.99
Spirits, ghosts, magic, necromancy; these things are the stuff of fairy tales and legends. That is, of course, unless you’re one of the few who has the ability to see said ghosts and spirits, and conveniently know one of those guys that can do that magic. Enter Manta, an unnaturally short junior high student from Tokyo, who one night, while taking a shortcut through a cemetery, meets Yoh Asakura, a shaman in training.
In Shaman King, shamans act as a conduit between the supernatural and the natural, channeling powers of ghosts, spirits, and gods through their own bodies to solve problems, save lives, defeat enemies, and fight against other shamans.
Yoh, being a shaman in training, quickly befriends a local legend Amidamaru, a samurai who rebelled against his lord and slaughtered many men in order to protect the honor of his friend. Yoh, Amidamaru, and Manta seem like an odd group of friends, but the story flows very well. Manta normally acts as narrator and exaggeratedly excited bystander to many of Yoh’s shamanistic acts.
While other reviews have stated that the ghosts in Shaman King are more deus ex machina than characters, I disagree. Extraordinary circumstances are fairly ordinary in Shaman King; they don’t shore up the plot, but add to it. You can’t write a book about ghosts without ghosts, and in this first novel, letting the relationships between Yoh, Amidamaru, and Manta flesh out is more important that developing every spiritual entity that shows up.
Volume 1 of Shaman King has all the right components for a good shonen manga; an interesting plot, some cool characters, plenty of humor, and an adversary worth defeating. With its impressive track record (20 volumes published in English and counting), this manga has what it takes.
7