Speed Grapher Vol 3 Review

 

Writer, Artist, Letterer: Tomozo

Original Story: Gonzo

Character Design: Yusuke Kozaki

Translation: Motoko Tamamuro & Jonathan Clements

Layout, Lettering & Touch-Up: Bensidi Ayoub

Publisher: Titan Manga

Price: $12.99

Release Date: August 26, 2025

 

After Shinsen Tennozu’s husband died, Choji Suitengu courted her. Now he controls the vast resources of the Tennozu Group and manages their exclusive Rippongi Club. For a while, he also had Kagura. He kept Shinsen’s daughter drugged and used the young teen in secret ceremonies. Kagura’s kiss could unleash a person’s greatest desire, transforming them into Euphorias. That is, if the power she unleashed didn't kill them.

 

When photojournalist Tatsumi Saiga snuck into the club, her kiss granted him a shoot-to-kill ability. Then he grabbed Kagura and fled the club. So far, Saiga has used his ability to kill two of the club’s Euphorias. Can he protect her from Suitengu’s control? Or will Saiga’s girlfriend, Hibari Ginza, shoot him and Kagura for cheating on her? Let’s leap into Speed Grapher Vol 3 and see!

 

Story

The Rippongi Club’s Euphorias haven’t killed Tatsumi Saiga, but it’s not for a lack of trying. Hibari Ginza found Kagura after she escaped Suitengu’s henchmen. They returned to the Sumitani General Hospital in Shimoda, where Saiga suffered significant wounds while battling Dr Mizoguchi, a dentist with a Spider Euphoria. The authorities blame Saiga after a building collapsed amid his battle with the Diamond Euphoria, Madame Koganei. As she cannot take him to another hospital, Ginza takes Kagura and Saiga to her apartment. But Suitengu, his henchmen, and his Euphorias are hot on their trail. And while attending to Saiga, Ginza struggles with rage over how Kagura and Saiga care for each other.

 

Ginza loves Saiga but feels like she’s losing him. He has been so fixated on his work lately that he hasn’t called her. Now, he’s been looking after Kagura Tennozu, who is younger than Ginza and heir to the Tennozu family fortune. As she speaks with Kagura, Ginza realizes how the teen granted Saiga his Shoot To Kill Euphoria. When Shirogani, the Rubber Euphoria who loved Madame Koganei, attacks, Saiga can’t protect them. So Ginza kisses Kagura and achieves her greatest desire of sharing Saiga’s Euphoria abilities.

 

Amid the explosive action fueling Speed Grapher Vol 3, Tomozo devotes ample time to drama. While Saiga shows a surprising similarity to Choji Suitengu, the club’s manager proves far more villainous. And while Saiga can never achieve his desire to photograph Kagura as his camera has become a weapon, Suitengu reveals what led him to romance Kagura’s mother and manage the Rippongi Club.

 

Tatsumi Saiga remains our viewpoint character as this series winds to its conclusion. Yet Hibari Ginza shows her finer qualities in Speed Grapher Vol 3. All too often, Ginza has let her love for Saiga descend into jealousy. But to protect Saiga, Ginza must channel her love in a far more noble way than ever before.

 

Art

Tomozo shows why Kagura unleashes the passions of the Rippongi Club's male clientele and fuels Hibari Ginza's jealousy. Her mother and Suitengu have controlled her every movement. The young heiress has never left Tokyo, or even purchased anything for herself. As Kagura attends to Saiga, her love for the man who freed her shines through her eyes. Shirogane provides spectacle when his bands of rubber strip off her clothes (while covering her breasts and nether regions). The Rubber Euphoria wields the innocent youth as a shield before absorbing her into his body.

 

Ginza also draws your eyes with her rectangular glasses, sleek hair, and eye-catching outfit. Kanda, a priest with an Electric Euphoria, shoots streams of electricity through his mouth when his face turns into a metal mask. Like all the Euphorias, Saiga’s enhanced abilities lead to a physical transformation. Wounded, exhausted, and unprepared, he struggles to prevent the changes his body is undergoing.

 

Speed Grapher Vol 3 reads right to left, with easily readable dialogue in balloons of varying shapes and sizes. Thoughts inhabit starbursts to express the character's trauma. The letters enlarge for intonation and volume, and Bensidi Ayoub translates the Japanese sound effects accompanying the intense action. Thanks to Titan Manga for providing a review copy.

 

Now, let's take a look inside:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

Often, our strongest desires are those we try the hardest to suppress. Thus, the Euphorias express traits that clash with their career choices. Over time, using this power corrupts their character. In a sense, the Rippongi Club's VIP members become Suitengu's slaves, as he forces them to become assassins to pay the exorbitant club dues. The pursuit of money and the economic systems that oppress the impoverished become a theme as Saiga protects Kagura from being Suitengu's puppet.

 

After a hurricane of action, drama, and thought-provoking social commentary, a collection of short parodies form enjoyable What Ifs that focus more on Ginza, Kagura, and Suitengu than Saiga as Speed Grapher Vol 3 draws to a close.

 

Rating 9.6/10

 

 

To see how this series began, check out my review of Speed Grapher Vol 1. 

 

To see the middle volume, check out my review of Speed Grapher Vol 2.