Kyoushirou 2030

A manga where Japan has become a dystopian military state filled with mutants where men and women must live separately. A brutal soldier travels across the land to in hopes of meeting his wife he has only interacted with through a virtual reality machine.

I remember reading my cousin’s volumes of Masaya Tokuhiro’s Shin Jungle no Ouja Ta-chan as a child and being both fascinated and traumatized by the stylish fight scenes and brutal dismemberment. Tokuhiro takes those elements and mixes them with more adult themes to make Kyoushirou 2030 a tale of violence, sex, and adventure.

Although there is a lot of sex, rape, and torture in this book, I felt like it wasn’t necessarily used for titillation. The love Kyoushirou feels for his wife he’s never met in real life really drives through the story, as they both suffer through terrible experiences. They both struggle with the guilt of what they’ve done to survive while trying to find solace in each other through virtual reality. I appreciated how Tokuhiko often used lots of slapstick and 4th wall breaking humor to liven the tone within this dark apocalyptic world.

A mature sci-fi adventure about two lovers against the world. I liked this one a lot.

~dakazu