Jackals

Wow, what can I say? I do enjoy a good slash 'em up manga, but this was disappointing. The plot was so thin, it might as well have not been there at all. It's not because I'm picky. I even liked Dendrobates, which had a pretty thin and predictable plot, but the supposed "surprises" and "plot twists" in this manga were...cliche, absurd, and annoying. This story brought nothing new to the table. NOTHING! I really did want it to be good. The artwork was so enjoyable, and a main character was named Alligator Nichol and wielded one of the most badass weapons I've seen ina manga! How cool is that? I honestly hoped all the way through for something to change to make the plot interesting, but in the end the setting, the characters, and the artwork all deserved better from the plot. There was way too much exposition. It was like the author explained everything to you without you getting the pleasure of mystery and discovery at all, and the author relied on little "character bios" at the end of volumes to make up for lack of actual character development in the story. The pacing was all too fast and didn't allow for any real moments. It was as if this story was written by a ten year old, while the mature setting and the violence, gore, and very good action sequences were trying to be more. If I could have one wish, it would be for a better author to take these characters and redo the entire thing with an actual story.

In the 2000s, plenty of korean artists went ahead and dipped their toes into Japanese manga. Korean artists worked with Japanese writers to create a bunch of series, sometimes needing a translator to communicate! While I can't really explain this phenomena, it is really cool to see cultural differences and language barriers creating really good series. Shin Angyo Onshi comes to mind, being a relatively fun: albeit narratively weak series with plenty of promise. Not all of them are champions, and a good chunk of these series end up being "slop" as kids these days say. Jackals is -- ironically enough, part of that slop. Itis straight up, nothing but fights, "cool" moments and "gore" meant to make this look like a sophisticated series. There's really nothing going on in here, most of the plot is explained via the character bios at the start of the volumes as the author spends more time showing cool fights than doing worldbuilding, it does not help that I think Nichol is what a kid would make his protagonist to be like. This cool, suave dude with the coolest fucking weapon out there, slashing all the bad guys as a cool anti-hero akin to Shadow the Hedgehog, while leaving nothing but a trail of blood as he works as a part-time assassin.. ..And it's really, really, REALLY boring. Now, I think the art is great. It's fun to look at, and it has a really specific quirk that itches a part of my brain, enough to make me genuinely like some of the double spreads and some of the fights. Now, do I think cool art saves a manga? Hell no. Narratively, nothing happens. The subplots don't really add anything to the series, as the author uses these to straight up explain whatever's going on in the manga, to the point where I wasn't really thinking or pondering what could happen next, since everything mixed with each other and it just felt like one continous chapter where nothing really happens. I can't really think of much to explain why I dislike this series, but I feel like the best way I can describe it, but it feels like something you'd see a novice putting up in one of those Shonen Jump mangaka contests to win prizes and a chance at serialization. More focus on art than actually making a compelling story, filled with nothing but flashy pages that function as a step-ladder to push yourself as an artist, that is the closest way I can describe Jackals. Not only is this manga ABSURDLY edgy, it is also really unremarkable in such a way that I forgot most of what had happened by the time of writing this review. Absolutely not worth it, carried by the pretty good artstyle.