Speed Grapher Vol 1 Review

 

Writer, Artist, Letterer: Tomozo

Publisher: Titan Manga

Price: $12.99

Release Date: August 20, 2024

ISBN: 9781787742505

 

 

Tatsumi Saiga was a war photographer. Now, politicians disdain him because he rakes up dirt. Kagura Tennozu is a rich heiress. Yet the students at St Ignatius Girls High School think she is weird because she talks to birds. What will happen when Tatsumi and Kagura’s worlds collide? Let’s leap into Speed Grapher Vol 1 and see!

 

Story

Kaoru Akabane demanded campaign contributions from seventeen corporations and special interests. Yet his security team objects to Tatsumi photographing him. As Speed Grapher Vol 1 opens, they pursue him and offer to pay for his film. When he refuses, they threaten him. Ironically, Tatsumi's story is already going public. Instead of joining the Cabinet, Akabane’s political career is in jeopardy.

 

Still, Tatsumi isn't satisfied. He wants to know what drove Akabane's desperation for money. So, Tatsumi returns to Akabane’s compound that evening. But when he sneaks inside, Tatsumi discovers that someone killed the crooked politician.

 

While Tatsumi investigates Kaoru Akabane’s associations, Kagura Tennozu struggles at school. When Kagura’s teacher calls her family, Chogi Suitengu picks her up. As Kagura rides in Suitengu’s car, she drifts off. Kagura dreams of doing distasteful things with men in Speed Grapher Vol 1. It's a familiar dream. Yet her partners are always different. When Kagura arrives home, her mother welcomes her back. But her mother seems more interested in learning how Suitengu is catering to their VIP clients than why Kagura is struggling at school.

 

Tatsumi's investigation will lead him to an exclusive club where members worship a goddess and seek ultimate pleasure. But this test comes with a price, and those who do not achieve ecstasy die. While many members enjoy watching people fail and die, those who achieve Euphoria receive superpowers. But nothing comes for free, and those who are transformed are people who have undergone great pain. Amid his investigation into the exclusive Roppongi Club, Tatsumi will meet Kagura. She isn’t sure how she got there. It all seems like a bad dream.

 

Art

Tomozo fills Speed Grapher Vol 1 with appealing characters. Tatsumi has unruly hair and wears a leather jacket with the collar up. Kagura is a quiet, shy teen who looks down rather than meets others' eyes. Yet the trauma Tatsumi endured as a war photographer shines through his expressions, and he needs his fitness and agility when people wielding swords pursue him. Kagura's dreams are filled with sexual acts that disgust her.

 

The heiress would likely object to Ginza, Tatsumi's jealous girlfriend, who wears a one-piece leather outfit that opens in front to reveal a bikini bottom and a lingerie top. Ginza gives Tatsumi a photo of Choji Suitengu, who wraps himself in a long coat with a fur collar. His straight, long hair evokes a rockstar. Yet the women accompanying him wield a sword or glitter like diamonds. Although she doesn't know about either of them, Ginza warns Tatsumi that he had better be working during his time away from her. If she discovers he is playing around, there will be consequences.

 

Speed Grapher Vol 1 reads right to left, with easily readable dialogue in balloons of varying shapes and sizes. Thoughts also inhabit starbursts to express the character's trauma. The letters enlarge for intonation and volume, and the sound effect symbols are translated. The story posits sexual situations, and later chapters feature a nude crystalline woman. Don't look too closely at her: she's dangerous! Thanks to Titan Manga for providing a copy for review.

 

Final Thoughts

As teenage Kagura becomes a pawn of wealthy thrillseekers, photojournalist Tatsumi uncovers a secret society where sexual ecstasy unleashes superpowers in Speed Grapher Vol 1.

 

Rating 9.4/10

 

To look inside see my preview at The Dragon's Cache. 

Speed Grapher Vol. 1 comes on sale February 18, 2025 at bookstores, comic shops and digital in the U.S. Order now from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books A Million and Forbidden Planet for UK. 

 

It may be available in the UK and other markets now.

 

Ask your local comic shop to order Speed Grapher Vol 1 from the Previewsworld website.