Chapter 2: Uncrossed Paths! Two ChoujinĪ plane was seen crashing with plumes of black smoke.This volume may appeal to fans of Tokyo Ghoul or even something like My Hero Academia but for me, it fell flat. I don’t know where the plot is going – and I don’t exactly care to know what happens next. Regardless of how I feel about the drawing, the story was too bland to hook me and none of the characters interested me with the exception of a villain introduced toward the end. But nothing compares to the cover and the opening splash pages, where most of the work seemed to go.Ĭhoujin X has a really cool cover that betrays a very middling interior. Ishida also uses a lot of unconventional panel setups that give the pages some pop. The action has great sense of movement and size. Character designs are fine but forgettable and backgrounds tend to look empty or rushed. Only in action sequences was there any sense of fun or entertainment and that was mostly because the violence is over-the-top and funny where the rest of the pages were dull. When using such a basic, overdone plot you have to do something to jazz it up and here…I didn’t feel it. The underdog who gains a superpower and is forced into a world of brutal violence – oh that kind of sounds a little like Tokyo Ghoul even. The idea behind Choujin X is nothing special and the execution is also uninteresting. All of this while a country girl flies into town to showcase her tomatoes, only to gain powers herself. In this volume we watch as he contends with his new features, having to hide from his family and school, and eventually faces off with another villain with similar powers to himself. What that actually means aside from his face morphing to have a beak, giving him a look straight out of a Bosch painting. Tokio, who has been associated with a vulture since he was young because of how he circles around Azuma, gains the power of that creature. Facing certain death, the two happen upon syringes which give them Choujin powers. Always following in Azuma’s footsteps, Tokio and his friend get into a dangerous situation involving a mutated bully. Superpowered individuals called Choujin are wreaking havoc, creating a kind of post-apocalyptic world. Volume one introduces us to Tokio and Azuma, best friends living in a world where self-governed prefectures have become the norm. So with trepidation did I approach Choujin X and with mild interest did I leave. I hated the characters, I thought the writing was pedestrian, and while I appreciated some of the ideas, nothing about it managed to appeal to me, even when it premiered (the anime theme song slaps though). Let it be known early on that I never could get into Tokyo Ghoul. Tokyo Ghoul creator Sui Ishida returns with his next vaguely interesting but ultimately unimpressive series, Choujin X.

Choujin x volume 1