Nezumi’s First Love Volume 1 Review

Kodansha’s Vertical imprint has consistently delivered manga that are quite dark in tone and subject matter. And their latest debut Nezumi’s First Love is no different, as it tells the story of a killer’s first love. But is it an interesting read? Let’s find out!

The story follows Nezumi, a young girl who has been trained by the yakuza to kill anyone they deem necessary. One day, during a mission, she meets Ao, a man who’s eager to win her a plush from one of the arcade machines she was admiring. Nezumi isn’t supposed to get involved with anyone, and she quickly disappears when Ao goes off to get more coins for the machine. However, a few days later, Nezumi confronts Ao as he’s been following (more like stalking) her ever since their first encounter.

Then Ao makes a heartfelt confession that he’s in love with her. Nezumi, being a young maiden at heart (despite the cold-hearted nature of her work), finds herself agreeing to go out with him. The two go on to enjoy a peaceful day-to-day, with Ao seemingly unaware of Nezumi’s actual job. But the yakuza don’t want outsiders so closely involved with their assassin, and six months after the two started dating, they take Ao hostage and order Nezumi to kill him.

Of course, having spent such a blissful time together, Nezumi absolutely can’t bring herself to kill her beloved boyfriend. Instead, she threatens to kill herself along with him if the yakuza won’t promise to let him live. In the end, they agree, but only on the condition that Nezumi trains Ao to be a hitman too. Should she fail, he will be killed.

For some reason, Ao is agreeable about the whole thing. He’s seen Ao perform a hit before (another reason the yakuza wanted rid of him), and he’s so in love with her that he’s happy to become whatever she needs. It’s hinted that the two have some prior history, so it’s possible Ao approached Nezumi originally, fully aware of her job. He’s certainly obsessed with her in a way that’s anything but normal, especially given that a hitman murdered his sister, so you’d have thought he’d be completely against being with someone who does that kind of work.

This is a romance series mixed with the dark underbelly of a yakuza story. As a child, Nezumi was held captive by the yakuza and eventually ended up murdering one of them. She’s proven her value as a killer and the current head of the family swears her sins have been forgiven, but there’s an underlying sense that they’re looking for an excuse to get rid of her. Perhaps in the future, should Ao become useful, they’ll turn him against her? Or perhaps Nezumi and Ao will team up to take down the yakuza and free themselves of this life.

This is Riku Oseto’s first work to make it into English (they have one prior series in Japanese), and it’s currently ongoing in Japan with seven volumes. One thing I struggled with reading this volume is the contrast between the darker undertones of the story with the fairly childish and cheery romance scenes. Even having reached the end of Volume 1, I’m not entirely sure that combination works for it.

This is especially true when it comes to the graphic detail this series can get into when it comes to people being murdered (I was surprised by the 16+ rating when it feels like it should be higher). It’s certainly not for the fainthearted, but it’s also concerning how childlike the two main characters look, despite being adults. The content is very extreme; this is a very unhealthy lifestyle and relationship to be in. Ao’s feelings are very obsessive, and that’s only going to get worse as time goes on, I imagine. And more than anything, that might be what puts potential readers off the most. Still, to have run in Japan for so long, it must be popular, and I am curious to see where the story is headed from here.

As mentioned, Nezumi’s First Love comes to the West thanks to Kodansha under their Vertical imprint and has been translated by Jonathan Thumas with lettering by Arbash Mughal. The release reads well and includes colour pages to open that depict both of our main characters.

Volume 2 of the series is scheduled for an English release in late January, with #3 following in March. So, those eager to see more won’t be waiting too long. This one is also available to read digitally on K Manga if that’s more to your taste.

Overall, manga about hitmen have proven popular lately, but Nezumi’s First Love is certainly a much darker take on the concept. It won’t be for everyone due to its graphic nature, but it proves intriguing enough to be worth checking if you can stomach the content.

A free preview can be found on the publisher’s website.
Our review copy from Kodansha (Vertical) was supplied by Turnaround Comics (Turnaround Publisher Services).
©Riku Oseto / Kodansha