This would be a good series for readers looking for the next thing after Jujutsu Kaisen. This follows a duo who take up cases around their neighborhood fighting supernatural bad guys or entities of negative energy that are causing bad things to happen. There is some cursing, and the presence of alcohol and cigarettes.

Full review appeared in Booklist magazine

Sara’s rating: 8/10
Suitability level: Grades 10-12

Thanks to Netgalley for my e-ARC!!!

I absolutely ate this book up. The introduction of the two characters started off really strong and I love that even with their partnership, they’re very distinct individuals and their personalities really show off when they’re fighting. I absolutely love their aesthetic!!! They’re sooo hot lol.

The establishment of the setting was really well-executed too because it really made the statement of what living during their time is like and how they were living. It’s easier to read through when you have that base understanding of their world. I also like how the juxtaposition of the final chapter introducing conflict and a mysterious character was implemented. It gives you a hint as to where the mysterious character lies in terms of being an antagonist or protagonist and I can’t wait to see more of him tin the next volume!!

I really liked the art style of this manga! It's pretty, sharp, and detailed. I wasn't that into the story, but I think it's worth reading and checking out future volumes. I like the world of the manga, with beast people and monsters. The main duo have an interesting relationship and I'd like to know more about them.

I loved this first volume. I was hooked right from the start! The plot and pacing are both great, there's just enough mystery to keep you interested but without being confusing. The art style is also really fantastic. It's really clean and the action scenes are easy to follow. I cannot wait for the next volume!

The elegant Miss Tao and gag-muffin Alma run a trouble-shooting agency in the run-down town of Gokurakugai. They take cases from anyone and spend most of their fees at restaurants. They take all kinds of cases from anyone willing to meet their fee, but keep an eye out for maga monsters that haunt the streets. So when a boy is looking for his only friend, a beastboy, Alma and Miss Tao take the case and earn a brand new sign to improve the chances of folks finding the duo's office. Then a very strange pops up the draws then in. Will they be able to find this culprit and will they be able to stop them? A very nicely paced story, fun characters and great art!

Thanks Netgalley and Viz Media for the chance to read this title!

Background

Yuto Sano's Gokurakugai is an ongoing manga series that currently runs in Shueisha's print magazine, Jump SQ. This is the mangaka's first serialized work.

The series got licensed for English by Viz Media on June 9th, 2023. In the online community, the one-shot of this series was met with a lot of praise. Due to the amount of buzz following the series, when Viz licensed the series, many were excited for the series getting a print release. I was interested to see how the series was and if it lived up to the hype.


Review

Gokurakugai harkens back to detective agency series where they take odd jobs to make a living. Think Hamatora or Getbackers. Alma, the boy, is the muscle while Ms. Tao is the brains of the group. The relationship is also like master and apprentice. While taking on odd jobs to make a living in the city, they also kill demons known as maga.

Alma and Ms. Tao having lunch and getting an odd job assigned to them

Alma (or Al for short) is your standard action manga protagonist. Similar to his predecessors like Natsu Dragneel (Fairy Tail), or Luffy (One Piece), Alma is someone who eats a lot but has a heart of gold, while also able to sniff out liars and cheats in his line of work. He's someone you have seen before in many other action manga, so it's nothing to really write home about.


Ms. Tao is calm, strong, silent type. The brains of the agency, she handles all the negotiations and decisions whether it's protecting dirty businessmen and politicians from controversy or delivering the finishing blow on maga. While she has a cold-like appearance, she cares for Alma and will take cases on pro-bono if the person seems genuine in their task.


The volume is episodic, going for a case-of-the-week approach to each chapter. The author sprinkles in some world building aspects in each chapter which helps with the case of the week format. While I didn't mind it, it could turn some readers off.

The art during the action scenes are really good! You can follow the flow of the battles while also taking time to admire some of the designs. I like how the author makes some of the panels look like the camera is zooming in for a close up for a contact hit. The author blends the chaotic art style during fights with clear, solid designs of the players in the scene.

Alma fighting a maga. The monster is rushing to attack him

What I don't like is that the series repeats definitions, mainly with magas. This occurs with the first two chapters. You could actually skip the first chapter and start with the second chapter since many of the lore introductions are repeated in chapter 2. While intro chapters for manga are usually retooled versions of their one-shots, the second chapter of Gokurakugai seems to act like a second introduction rendering the first chapter pointless.

It seems like the overarching storyline is being established at the end of the volume with a reoccurring villain tied to one of our protagonists, being introduced after setting things up to make our leads aware that something is wrong in the city. I think this should have been introduced earlier in the volume. They could have either cut chapter 1 or 2 (I'd say cut chapter 2 and add some mention of Alma's blood in it) and moved this situation up.

Final Thoughts

If you're a fan of manga such as Jujutsu Kaisen, or Getbackers you will enjoy Gokurakugai volume 1. The art is great and some of the side characters are quirky and fun.

However, due to the overarching storyline being introduced at the very end, I would recommend waiting for volume 2 to be released to get a better idea of where the story will go in its overarching plot. That or buy this volume during a sale.

Verdict: Pick it up on Sale

Tao and Alma work together to take on odd jobs, when it turns out that those odd jobs truly are... odd. I want to start off by saying that the art in this book is beautiful! The art is gorgeous and I love Tao's character design in particular. In this first volume, we don't learn too much about the characters themselves. The focus is on worldbuilding, which does seem to be complex and combine aspects from various shounen tropes.
We're left on a cliffhanger with the introduction of a new character/villain(?). This story is a bit darker, so I would recommend this to older teens and up.

Gokurakugai, Vol. 1 introduces readers to a captivating world where the line between the ordinary and the supernatural blurs seamlessly. Yuto Sano masterfully weaves a tale of mystery and suspense against a gritty urban landscape.

The story follows Tao and Alma, two individuals thrust into a world teeming with danger and intrigue. They live in a town plagued by crime and populated by enigmatic beings.

Sano's artwork is nothing short of mesmerizing. It captures the essence of each character and the essence of the city they inhabit. From the bustling streets to the shadowy alleyways, every panel immerses readers deeper into the narrative.

A mysterious, supernatural brilliant manga with a gorgeous art style!
Although there are obvious links to other shonen titles such as Jujutsu Kaisen, the overall premise sets it apart, the action scenes are excellent with great character building, but not too much, so as to leave you wanting more!
I can't wait to read the next one and recommend it to my customers in store.

I love Gokurakugai's art, but the story as told in Volume 1 so far leans towards "Monster of the Week". The third chapter in the volume finally drops some hints about an overarching plot. I'd like to read Volume 2 at least to find out more about Alma's backstory and how he came to work with Tao.

I really wanted to like this one more. I love the cover and the character design of the two protagonists, but their personalities feel too flat and rote to be interesting. I wanted them to be more nuanced and rounded, but Alma is every other shonen teen hero and we aren't shown enough of Tao to get a glimpse behind her initial impression. The backgrounds are visually interesting and the world of the story has promise, but this first volume isn't engaging enough to want to read more.

This digital ARC was obtainable via NetGalley for an honest review!

First of all, 10/10 character design. I have like two new book boyfriends now.

"Gokurakugai" surprised me. I did not expect myself to care about the backstories of some of these characters but, they were actually decent. I'm interested to see how volume 2 will pan out. Again, the art is great!

I have read this series before on the Jump app, so nothing in this volume was new for me. This a fun series, centering on a duo selling themselves as professional troubleshooters who go around solving various problems for a prices. Added into the mix is the mysterious monsters Tao and Alma usually end up fighting. This first volume is very much setting up the future plot of the series, as the early chapters focus on just introducing the characters and setting through oneshot type cases (this is a monthly serial so the individual chapters are rather long). The characters are fun and engaging, most everyone who's read this so far has (rightfully) fallen in love with Tao, but Alma is also interesting, with his more typical shonen type of character. The setting is very interesting, and the art style is fantastic. I'm glad this series is finally getting a physical localization.

This first volume was a fantastic start. It's funny, it's got action, the art is really good, and it has some emotional parts as well. I look forward to recommending this series and can't wait to read the next volumes.

LOVE. The premise of this story is super interesting, the art is gorgeous, and the world building is well done to boot. What more could you ask for?

Gokurakugai feels like a combination of Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man (two wildly popular manga series at the moment) with a little bit of the series Gangsta thrown in for extra flavor. I will DEFINITELY be asking my library system to purchase copies of this series—it’s sure to be a hit. I can’t wait to see where it goes fom here!

Thank you VIZ and NetGalley for the advance copy. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This first volume was a lot of fun. It had elements that felt familiar to other popular manga out currently (Kaiju No. 8 and Chainsaw Man) but presented in a way that wasn't overly graphic or sexual. I found the characters to be a blast and the content very appropriate for JH or HS libraries.