❝It's art that can reach the human heart. Violence doesn't have that kind of power.❞

Shimazaki in the Land of Peace 1
👤 Gōten Hamada
📎 200 pages
🏠 Kodansha Comics
★★★★☆

This manga just exceeded my expectation! When you read the blurb, i know there's gonna be a lot of violence and maybe slight gore. But they combined that with a slow pace slice of life which gave you the contrast between Shimazaki's past and present life. It's very philosophical, heavy on human's counter to trauma and interpersonal matter. I want to know more about the Shirazaki's past and the people around him. Surely a great read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Kodansha for the e-arc!

Shimazaki in the Land of Peace follows the titular character who previously was a hostage turned covert operative during the war. He escaped from his duties and is now back in Japan after 30 years looking for a peaceful life. I wasn't sure if I would enjoy this at first since I feel like I've read this story before. However, this was a cool read with some funny moments. I am intrigued to see if Shimazaki will end up staying in Japan or if he will have to go back to military duties. If you like the Fable, I would recommend giving this a try since it gives the same vibe.

Strong start to a manga series; it provides many threads of plot points that I can see coalescing into something bigger in subsequent volumes. Shimazaki is a fascinating character, and I'm looking forward to knowing more of his story as the series continues.

firstly, thank you to the publisher for an arc!

political intrigue mixed with slice of life makes for an interesting first volume — despite the blood and gore, i really enjoyed this first volume. the art style was unique, and shimazaki’s depressing background was compelling. i also really enjoyed the snippets about food items featured in between chapters!

i’ll definitely look into continuing the series

I'm not going to lie - I chose this title because I thought it was a comic about one of my favorite actors, Mads Mikkelsen (the cover looks like a younger version of him!), but I wasn't disappointed! I'm still getting to know manga, and I can say that this one was different and very interesting. I definitely intend to keep reading this series!

Shimazaki has been trained as a soldier of the terrorist organization known as LEL, after they hijacked the plane he was on as a child. Many years later he seems to have finally escaped, and is getting a fresh start in his native country, Japan. However can he really be rid of his past this easily?

"The LEL's cause is righteous, and desertion is tantamount to sacrilege! We will hound deserters to the ends of the earth, and we will kill them!!"

Shimazaki in the Land of Peace is a highly character-driven story. While our titular main character is quiet and socially awkward, his actions show his big heart. Because of these reasons I feel this story needs more time to develop than just one volume, and I find it hard to judge it based on just this volume, as I don't feel very attached to the characters yet. I do however see a lot of potential.

Hamada has a realistic leaning, contemporary art style. There is a lot of drama and stark contrast to be found in the art of this manga, as well as dynamic action scenes. We get simple panels focusing on the characters, and panels with realistically detailed backgrounds or weapons. All of this is broken up by pages filled with greyscale watercolour. An intriguing combination.

"If you ask me, we need imagination to protect ourselves. It's art that can reach the human heart."

Shimazaki in the Land of Peace is the perfect manga for those that love character-driven stories that handle serious subject matter. Including politics, terrorism, indoctrination and murder. If you enjoyed Chainsaw Man, you should give this manga a shot.

This is amazing. One of the best new manga I've found in a while. Going in I was worried it was going to be another Sakamoto Days or Way of the House Husband but this definitely has way more to say then those two series and I'm very excited to see where it goes from here.