Akuma Bengoshi Kukabara

Akuma Bengoshi Kukabara (or Devil's Advocate Kukabara) is a one-shot manhwa written by Youn In-Wan, and illustrated by Yang Kyung-Il. Fans of action based manga and manwha may recognise those two names as the people who brought us the excellent Shin Angyo Onshi (or Blade of the Phantom Master). The story is about a boy called Jake Watson who commits suicide. Upon entering limbo he is confronted by a "Devil's Advocate" named Lorian Kukabara, and is advised that, because he commited suicide, he will be going to hell once the Messenger of Death appears. Lorian then offers Jake a choice, sign a contract and hireLorian as his attorney, or go to hell. I actually found the story to be quite intruiging, especially with it's concept that a person is not always to blame for killing themsleves, and so should not be damned for it. It's a credit to Youn In-Wan's talent as a writer that he is able to cram quite a lot of symbolism into this one-shot, as there is more to the story than first meets the eye. Those of you who are familiar with Shin Angyo Onshi will be very familiar with the style of artwork in this one-shot. The charaters are very well designed and drawn, the action sequences are excellent, and the comedic scenes are suitably tongue-in-cheek (a plastic soft drinks bottle labelled "Devil Essence" for example). Yang Kyung-Il once again shows his talent as an illustrator with this one-shot. As this is a one-shot, there isn't much you can say about character development. However none of the characters were annoying in any way, and although it would have been nice to get to know the characters better, it should be remembered that this manhwa is only 48 pages long. I did like Kukabara's sidekick Bichula the most, especially his appearance. This is an extremely enjoyable read, and will appeal to fans of Shin Angyo Onshi, or any manga or manhwa of that type. It's quirky, funny, a little sad, and has quite a bit of action packed into it's 48 pages, and is a great way to spend a bit of free time. I do have to admit though, that I would liked this more as a series, especially as I was left with several questions at the end of the story. That said, the story, in and of itself, is very good. If you have 10 minutes to spare then you should give it a try.