Tougen Anki: Legend of the Cursed Blood Volumes 1 and 2 Review

Please note that this review contains spoilers for Tougen Anki: Legend of the Cursed Blood Volumes 1 & 2!

Tougen Anki: Legend of the Cursed Blood is a manga series by Yura Urushibana. It focuses on the life of Shiki Ichinose, a rebellious teen whose Oni bloodline clashes with that of his adopted father who’s a member of the Momotarou Family whose occupation is to hunt Oni. It shows how they overcame this conflict to become father and son. Of course, tragedy strikes when a member of the Momotarou Agency murders Shiki’s father, leading the angered teen to vow revenge, hone his skills and try to control the blood that flows within. Yen Press have finally localised this manga ahead of the 2025 anime adaptation coming this Summer.

In the first volume we are introduced to Shiki and the events described above play out. We get to see the abilities Oni possess in this world: the manipulation of blood, which manifests in various forms, in this instance weapons that devastate their surroundings as Shiki tries to save his father’s life, but to no avail. It’s certainly one way to open a story and the narrative fairly bounds along. Having failed and rapidly losing blood, Shiki awakens, bound and at the mercy of stone-faced Naito Mudano who is introduced as a fellow Oni and a teacher who has saved him from the scene of the attack.

Naito reluctantly screens Shiki despite his dismissive and revenge-driven attitude, testing his blood abilities to determine if he has what it takes to join the agency. As Shiki breaks free and attempts to go berserk again, he quickly realises the limitations of his abilities as his would-be mentor humbles him but is also (in his own expressionless way) impressed with Shiki’s tenacity. And so he makes him a student in his class at a school named the Rasetsu Academy, a military school that specialises in Anti-Momotarou combat for the O.A. (Oni Agency), where Shiki hopes to hone his skills.

A later conversation between the Academy principal and Naito reveals that he rarely passes students, and that this year’s line-up can only be described as an “All-star line-up you only see once every decade”. Despite this praise, Shiki’s fellow students are only given a limited presence in the first volume. Naito issues a training exercise to his class in which they must play a game of tag – students have to retrieve a ball and return to the school within an hour or fail and face expulsion, all whilst Naito prowls the forest, ready to tag any stragglers. Shiki is grouped with two fellow students: masked “edge-lord” (as Shiki puts it) Jin Kougasaki whom he immediately clashes with, figuratively and literally, for his bitter and sulky personality, and Homare Byoubugaura, a blubbering mess and the first female character properly introduced – perhaps not the most promising start but we have another volume to work with.

Where I felt this first volume falters is the overfamiliarity of the narrative beats and ideas, especially with Shiki and his backstory as a rebellious teen with supernatural abilities and an adoptive parental figure who breaks down societal boundaries to care for him, only to die in the process, all whilst being shunned from normal society. I will say though that the backdrop of clashing agencies and the overall presentation of the blood-bending abilities (literally) looks especially good on paper though and adds a nice visual flare, and the art is a strong point so far. If I was being less charitable, these aspects feel very reminiscent of the Kagune used by the Ghoul-kind in the Tokyo Ghoul universe and how the CCG clash with Goat. I wouldn’t necessarily say this is a major detriment to the story, and I was hooked enough to also request Volume 2 to review here, to better gauge how the story and narrative could forge its own identity and flesh out more of the characters introduced.

The first volume ends on a clash between Jin and Shiki as they opt to test each other’s skills. with Shiki being outmatched due to his lack of skill and fighting tactics. Matters are complicated, however, when Homare gets caught in the middle of the scuffle and her blood powers manifest as an uncontrollable giant being that she cannot control and that has a will of its own. Jin and Shiki resolve to subdue the being and save their teammate before she dies of blood loss, and after taking notes from Jin’s technique, Shiki is able to manipulate a cannon-like weapon of his own. As teacher Naito watches, we are given a breakdown of how Oni can manipulate and manifest weapons and other objects, whether that be through experience, interests, or trauma – reflective of the three embroiled in the fight.

As Homare’s powers are subdued, Jin refuses to tend to his teammates’ blood loss and possible injuries and instead keeps fighting against Naito, only to be thoroughly schooled as his weaknesses and ambition to reunite with his father, also a Momotarou like Shiki’s, are laid bare. This revelation acts as a bonding point for Jin and Shiki as they reluctantly put their grievances aside to work together for the sake of the training exercise and retrieve a ball from their teacher – a strategy that involves the two to utilise the rope previously used to bind Jin to a nearby tree, and a tug-of-war technique.

Perhaps unexpectedly, though, the training exercise is interrupted as the Momotarou Agency are mounting  an attack, halting the event and instead resulting in an unorthodox school trip as they travel to try and take on the threat. It is here that the other Rasetsu Academy students are introduced alongside their basic traits: Ikari Yaoroshi is a combat enthusiast, Kuina Sazanami is a gyaru type with an attitude and crush on her teacher, and Kiriyama is obsessed with his health and threats of being unwell.

As the second volume concludes, we are also introduced to two members of the Momotarou Agency, Tsubakiri Momomiya and Yomogi Momokusa, who are shown nonchalantly dispatching an Oni family and members of the Oni Agency’s Combat Unit in a violent fashion, including a young child who fails to hide. It’s a brutal sequence made to showcase the ruthless nature of the Momotarou Agency and their view of the Oni as mere pests to exterminate. The class arrive just in time as Naito tees up to fight Tsubakiri whilst his students hide out with the support unit chief Kyouya Oiranzaka, introduced as a former classmate of Naito and responsible for trying to save the members of the combat unit who didn’t perish earlier.

Translation for both volumes of Tougen Anki reviewed here was carried out for Yen Press by Ko Ransom, whose work here is generally solid. Volume 2 includes a bonus short from the editor Danya, who details their path towards becoming the editor for the manga – it’s a cute read and I wonder if more content like this will feature in subsequent volumes.

Overall, when looking at both volumes I think they work better as a package deal, as where the first veers into familiar territory and struggled to pique my interest at times, the second was overall stronger and more focused, offering glimpses of the world and characters that showcase potential, especially a possible first look at a battle between the Academy and Momotarou Agency. I do hope the next volume or so can expand on other members of the academy, and that the new antagonists introduced live up to their violent and unrepentantly vile introduction.

Our review copies were supplied by Yen Press.