Menkichi the Avenger ( Koroshiya Menkichi )
The cover image of
Menkichi the Avenger ( 殺し屋麺吉 Koroshiya Menkichi ) Volume 5 (ISBN4-10-771270-2) caught my eye, for obvious reasons. I wasn't familiar with the series, so I did a little bit of research. It's a manga series by Jun TOMIZAWA (
富沢順 ) and published by
Bunch Comics. It was serialized in one of their periodicals for a year or two, and ended with
Volume 6 (ISBN 4-10-771285-0). I picked up a few volumes of the tankobon (Volumes 1, 5, and 6), and liked the art within quite a bit. The story revolves around a Noodle-shop vendor named Menkichi ( 麺吉 ) who has trained in the ways of the assassin. He delivers a delicious bowl of noodles to his victims, the best they've ever eaten. At the bottom of the bowl is a kanji character that I don't recognize, but his victims panic when seeing it. The killing blow is delivered by Menkichi's metallic delivery box guillotine-style. Given that this is the same publisher that serializes
Fist of the Blue Sky, a prequel to
Fist of the North Star, you can imagine that some of the scenes are quite gory.
The character on the cover of Volume 5 is named Setsuka ( 雪花 ), and I think she gets introduced in that volume. She shows up throughout the volume as well as in the sixth and final volume. There are several scenes depicting her with a nice degree of muscle, and I'm attaching a few of them here for your viewing pleasure. Like Menikchi, she was also raised to be an assassin. But she has some emotional issues because of some abuse she suffered in her training. As you can see from the pictures, she's quite a looker despite the scars. Jun Tomizawa definitely depicts her in a flattering style, and I'm curious to see if any of his other works feature buff beauties.
Nudity is permissible in many Japanese publications. But since we're more conservative in the US, proceed with caution when clicking on the NSFW links below.
NSFW Pic 1 ( splash page ) NSFW Pic 2 ( training )NSFW Pic 3 ( hot springs )NSFW Pic 4 ( hot springs )As usual, I encourage anyone who enjoys artwork to purchase the source material in order to support the artists that create these fine materials. It's my hope that this will encourage these artists to continue to produce these works that appeal to us, or to me at least. You can pick these up from your local Japanese bookshop, or from
Amazon.co.jp. For your convenience, here are links to Amazon.co.jp's product pages for
Volume 5 (ISBN 4-10-771270-2) and
Volume 6 (ISBN 4-10-771285-0). And tell 'em Ed sent ya. If you pick up the volumes that I don't have and come across any good panels, please drop me a line and let me know. I haven't decided whether or not to pick up the rest of the series.
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