Review : Zombie Powder.

Raising the dead or attaining eternal life may be simpler than you would think. All it requires is a little zombie powder, which can be acquired from the twelve rings of the dead. Unfortunately, everyone else also knows this and these abilities are not exactly unwanted by the masses. Enter Tite Kubo's first graphic novel series, Zombie Powder. Set in a modern-western world where everyone and everything is after the twelve rings of the dead. Zombie Powder is packed full of gun and sword fights, set in a unique local where saloons sit alongside buses and has cast of very unusual characters.

Gamma, a tall, long haired man is after the rings to make himself immortal. Besides being a wanted criminal, Gamma isn't exactly your run of the mill main character. For one, he wields a huge motorized chainsaw sword. Secondly, you may think, surely a gun is more effective than a sword? Well Gamma seems to have figured out a way around this, having nailed metal onto his own skin, he is able to stop bullets by merely blocking or catching them with his hand. He's a pretty light hearted character most of the time and gets himself into a lot of comedic situations, but when forced into a confrontation, Gamma turns into a dark, bloodthirsty killing machine. Elwood and C.T. Smith are the other primary characters of Zombie Powder. Elwood is a 13 year old boy, raised as a pick pocket, knife thrower and all round thief. He tags along with Gamma after his sister is murdered and is after the powder to bring her back to life. C.T. Smith is Gamma's partner, a clean-cut, square-rim glasses wearing business man, complete with tie and suit and armed with sleeve launching pistols. Smith is a mysterious character, but remains likable none the less.

The story primarily involves Gamma and company searching for the rings. Which mainly entails battling other hardened criminals and taking their rings. The first unlucky group are the Ash Daughter Bandits and their leader, Ranewater Calder, a crazy drug addicted boy who wields a sword with rockets attached. Gamma, never one to back down, steps up to the fight with his chainsaw sword buzzing.

The art is pretty typical of anime style. Tite Kubo seems to have a thing for western clothing, Gamma is dressed in a trench coat with fur lining, Elwood wears shirts with a big star on them and Smith is made to look like an English banker. Not that there is any real issue with this, as it is based in a pseudo-western world, it's also a nice change from everyone running around in kimonos with katanas. The manga contains a lot of violence, people are decapitated, cut in half, shot, tourtured and there is no sign of the usual attempt to get around it by making the bad guys inhuman or monsters which is quite unusual but praisable for a Shonen Jump manga.

From Zombie Powder it's quite easy to tell how Tite Kubo has gone on to create other popular series, the manga has an original story and is packed with action. The characters are unique and non-redundant. The action and movement is communicated brilliantly by the art. It's one of those manga you will pick up and put down before realising you read it all in one go.