The best fighter is the one who is hoping to be killed every fight? Well then...
If I come across more volumes in the library I'd be intrigued to pick them up and see where this goes.

Oh this is so interesting! The premise is very unique that Im blown away by the plot. Having only seen the first work by the author, im very intrigued to read this sothis doesnt disappoint. Quite fascinating ti follow from start to finish so im hoping to continue with the new volumes soon!

Blackguard is set in a dystopian world in which monsters called shojo threaten humanity with a mysterious virus. Special officers known as Guards work to rid the world of shojo and among them is the Minami aka. the Blackguard, famed for his fighting expertise which is driven by his own desire to die in the line of duty.

The worldbuilding in this was really compelling. While I think the characters remain a bit enigmatic, I am drawn to learning more about them. The art did feel a bit wonky beyond mere stylization but not enough to put me off of seeing this series to its completion.

This book was absolutely fantastic. I've already added it to our list for order this year and will recommend it to students.

Blackguard was a pretty enjoyable read. I do think the blurb should mention that the mc is suicidal but I liked how the manga dealt with it and how Minami was written. I hope his mental illness is explored more in future volumes. The shojo are interesting and gave me zombie vibes.

The art was simplistic and focused on the characters with little background, it worked for the story and I enjoyed it.

In a post-apocalyptic future, creatures known as Shojo infect the dying world. There are teams that work to save the remnants of society, but when all hope is lost, they turn to the Reserve Unit. Nanao Minami is one such unit, as he single handedly destroys Shojo and rescues survivors. However, he has some baggage: Namely, he wants to die. It’s up to his partner Chris Miyaji to help him see the goodness of life, even in the bleakness of the infected world.

If there’s something I appreciate about Blackguard, it’s how the manga deals with a suicidal protagonist. He’s not instantly swayed by the efforts the other characters use to get him away from suicidal ideation. However, it seems that Minami’s initial beliefs will be tested as his antisocial life gets turned upside down.

Other than that, however, the manga feels like a second-rate Devils’ Line. Backgrounds don’t look complete, and Minami as a character feels flat and unlikeable. I’m going to assume that later volumes will have him more fleshed out, but as it stands, I’m not really vibing with the protagonist. Thankfully, Miyaji is a good foil to Minami, and I hope that the other supporting cast can make this a better series soon. This is a series I would recommend only to fans of Devils’ Line right now, but it could potentially get better soon.

A great start to a well drawn dystopian manga with lots of intriguing characters. I was drawn into the story from the start and by the end I wanted the second volume so that I could find out more about some of the characters. One character is suicidal so I do think the blurb should highlight that.

There are also characters who are edgy, dangerous, murderous and vengeful and all of this set in a dystopian world where humans have been infected with a disease that changes them into dangerous animals who live to hunt humanity. Into this world is Blackguard, the mysterious defender who takes high risks to protect beleaguered humanity at the cost of his own life. This first volume is gripping with some great potential story lines which will be great to follow as the series develops.

Copy provided by Kodansha Comics via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

Pretty good start with an enjoyable cast of characters. Love the protagonist and how well they were written. Definitely will check for the next installment.

4/5 stars

I received an ARC of this book, and I am voluntarily leaving a review.

This was an interesting, post-apocalyptic book! A virus turns people into monkey-like creatures when bitten. The remaining humans are doing their best to fight back, building sky cities and training Guards to fight these creatures.

The story focuses on one particular guard named Minami. He's insanely good at killing the creatures, but there's just one problem: he wants to die. He goes into each fight with no regard for his life. Obviously, this concerns the higher-ups as he's one of the best fighters they have, so they assign him a partner who is essentially there just to keep Minami from dying.

The story seems interesting so far. The art style isn't my favorite, but it didn't take away from my enjoyment. I like Minami, and I hope to see him grow as the story continues. This first volume spent a lot of time introducing the world and characters, and I'm curious to see where things will go from here. There are a lot of things about Minami in particular that remain a mystery from both the reader and even himself.

If you're into the dystopian genre and enjoy some psychological vibes, you'd probably like this series! I hope to pick up the next volume at some point!

Content: suicidal thoughts/talk, violence, maybe some swearing?

Well, I am not vibing a lot with the art very plain and simple. The Lore sounds interesting but it had so little that did not give us a ton of information. the characters are just 1 dimensional that they just have one set, the story it's interesting sometimes and others a bit boring not having the vibe to continue this manga.

Enjoyed it! Interesting characters and story. Artwork is great! I will definitely continue the series.

I went into this manga without knowing much about its plot and I think it served me well, because I had a great time reading it and slowly learning more about this story and its characters. I really, really enjoyed the dynamic between Minami and Miyaji, I think their personalities pair really well, and I’m interested in seeing how Chihaya will fit in with them. I think it’s an interesting choice to have your main character be suicidal but so far, it works! I hope that in coming volumes Minami’s mental illness will be explored further, so as to make it more nuanced depiction and add more depth to his character, rather than just a plot device. Overall, really, really enjoyed this manga and actually went and bought myself a physical copy at the bookstore I work at. Really happy that I picked this up!

Content Warning: Suicidal Ideation, Suicide, and Self Harm are basically all anyone talks about in this book.
Other Content Warnings: Attempted Murder, Blood, Death, Depression, and Violence.

I don't know why I kept reading this like I legitimately spent 3/4 of this book gritting my teeth thru reading. 1. It's sad to know that mental health stigma/treatment is just as bad in 2070 as in 2020, if not worse. 2. Apparently, someone's suicidal ideation is what people just spend their lives thinking about to an obsessive amount.
This was incredibly disappointing as someone whose experience with suicidal ideation is quite similar to Minami's, where it is always there but primarily passive.

The fact that Hanada chose to only focus on the suicidality also means that we are missing out on the opportunity for growth because Minami's depression is obviously not being successfully treated and is; as a result, a husk of a human being. This man does not have any hobbies, does not take days off, and eats solely nutrition cubes whose flavors are basically decided by RNG.
This choice to only focus on a symptom rather than the illness as a whole also means that when we have a moment that should have been impactful and an actual realization for Minami, it ends up falling flat. For example, not being his time to die could have been an impactful and thought-provoking moment for Minami.

My final and possibly biggest peeve is the entire last half of this book. Anyone who has been through any mental health triage training will tell you it never hurts to ask someone if they are considering killing themselves. By doing so, you will not be giving them the idea. Hanada takes this knowledge and burns it to the ground.
While there is some difference in how this question is presented by the antagonist vs. how it would be by someone meaning to help. The fact that Hanada chose that to be the reason that Minami spirals was infuriating. Especially when you hear that he hadn't previously considered methods of killing himself outside of dying in the line of duty.

The world is intriguing, but everything else is honestly hot garbage, and I hate it.

I really liked the concept of this, especially as someone who loves anything zombie-like. However, nothing about this first volume really blew me away, and I'll definitely need to read more to see how the characters and story develop.

This was such a great first volume! I really like the premise (even though it's not anything new). I like the characters and the shojo are pretty interesting monsters. I'm looking forward to seeing where this series goes. Overall, not anything new but if you like the monster hunter/protecting the townspeople trope then you will definitely like this!

📖 Manga Review 📖

Blackguard Vol#1
by Ryo Hanada

⚠️ Trigger Warning ⚠️
⛔️Minami is suicidal he has a mental illness in the story called Morbus Si. He goes into every mission hoping to not return. ⛔️

I was so excited for this one! I'm a huge fan of Hanada Sensei's Devil's Line so I couldn't wait for this! 🤩

Hanada's world building and storytelling ability is one of the things that draws me to her work. It's no exception here! We get the needed background of the Shojo and how the some of the human race came to be infected with the virus. 🦠

The character design is one I've come to expect from Hanada and it works for the manga. ✨
The art style isn't my favorite, it's very minimalistic it focusing more on the characters and not the background. Which actually works for tone of the manga. However a few panels are drawn with such details that it's stunning. 🤔

Minami is a very interesting lead, he's a badass when it comes to killing but he's aloof and childlike. ❤️

Miyaji is probably my favorite character so far I love his snarky personality. I like that he reluctantly helps or wants to help Minami. 💙

I want to learn more about Captain Asagari that's for sure! 🔥

Overall this was such a great read! So much to enjoy here from the story to
the small moments of levity here in the form of Minami’s expressions. 💕
I hope we get more of the Reserve Units and find out more about Kawakami. 👀🖤

Thank you @netgalley and @kodanshamanga for the chance to review this manga ARC!💙

I received an eARC of this title through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Trigger Warning: This book talks a lot about self harm and suicide.

I have conflicting feelings about this title.

For starters, I think the concept is really cool. It's a dystopian world where creatures who were infected by a virus have overrun the planet. It's the classic zombie idea. You get bitten, you get infected with no hope of cure. The main character is someone who is supposed to be the best at defeating these monsters because he has a mental health issue known as morbus si. He ends up being paired up with another person who's tasked with making sure he stays alive. I think it is interesting because it seems like the main character has never experienced anything outside of his job. So his new partner and their new recruit try and teach him the pluses of being alive.

I think where I did not like this is mostly the art style. It just was not for me. It is also very blunt about self harm and suicide which is not particularly something I enjoy when reading manga. I would be interested to see if this starts to change through out the series, but as for the first volume, it is a mediocre start for me. Not fantastic and super interesting but not boring and unreadable. If you can get passed the self harm and suicide talk, might be worth a read.

Rating: 4.25 out of 5
-Characters: 4/5
-Cover: 3/5
-Story: 5/5
-Writing: 5/5
Genre: Scifi
Type: Manga
Worth?: Yes!
TW: Suicidal thoughts

First want to thank Netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this in exchange for an honest review! I stepped outside of my comfort zone and wasn't disappointed. At first I was greatly concerned I wouldn't like it because of the art style but by the end it wasn't an issue and the story. Ah, how I love the story. I am so excited for volume 2. If you like the future, viruses, fighting scenes, and more than this is for you. I even have a ship though there isn't really romance in here. Lol.

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Unfortunately I had to DNF this volume.

The premise was interesting and while the art style wasn’t the most pleasing to look at, the detail during certain parts was decent and the colour pages were cool.

My personal issue with the volume was all the suicide talk, so I DNF’d for my own personal reasons rather than anything else.

𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝑵𝒆𝒕𝑮𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑲𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒉𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒄𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒑𝒚.


This was truly intriguing and at the same time fresh manga series that I didn't expect to enjoy that much. Aside from that, the characters are fleshed out in their own ways as well as the qualities that made them more compelling.

The art style seemed weird tho but I believe that it would develop more in the near future so I'm excited for it.

Overall, I did enjoy the world here, the characters, and the story. Definitely excited to delve more.