Kaijin Fugeki: Kindled Spirits Volume 1 Review

From Oh!Great, the creator of Air Gear and Tenjho Tenge, comes a new series that mixes Japanese folklore with sci-fi elements. Will it be as captivating as the stories this mangaka is known for?

In a not-so-far future, what humans think are natural calamities turn into actual beings bent on destroying humanity. These calamities are called Nights and humans fight desperately against them to protect their own cities. However, not many can stand against them, and Jin and Gao, the protagonists, seem to have the mysterious power that allows them to face the Nights by invoking the power of gods through dance. Jin is a high school boy whose life changes completely when Gao’s aircraft falls on his home, destroying it and killing Jin’s mother who was inside. Gao is an English prince who escaped England when Catherine, Night of Typhoons, attacked his hometown and his mother gave her life to try and stop her. In fact, Night of Typhoons followed Gao, and it’s only thanks to Jin’s help that they are able to defeat her.

When I first picked up this manga, I read the blurb available on the publisher’s website, Vertical (Kodansha), and the story seemed pretty intriguing. A couple of guys fighting enemies through the power of gods and dance? Sign me up for it. However, when some time later I actually picked up the volume, I couldn’t remember what the story was about and decided to read the blurb of the actual physical volume, and I was left confused. Why did I sign up for it again?

Reading the manga didn’t help. Readers are thrown into the story straight away with no background information as to what’s going on, who is who and why those people are together. It’s only by checking again the blurb on the publisher’s website that I could understand what I was reading (it’s different from the blurb written in the volume). Information is given bit by bit and in no specific order, so the readers need to put the pieces together. It’s not a smooth read as I was left with more questions than answers, and although that’s usually not a bad thing to pique the readers’ interest, it’s not well done if the readers have no clue what’s going on making us asking all those questions while reading, thus interrupting the reading flow. By the time I reached the end of the volume, I had a slightly better grasp of what was happening, but I think having a chronological sequence of the events instead of using flashbacks at random moments might have help to clarify what was going on.

Jin and Gao, the protagonists, are fugeki, a kind of shaman but we still don’t know much about them. Jin has the mysterious power to be the Pilot of the Sword of Retribution. It seems to be a mythical power that can fight back against the Nights, and it’s said that he will save the world someday. How and why him? He’s supposed to be a hero, but fugeki are said to be bad omens, even if the people surrounding Jin don’t seem to think so. Gao is also a fugeki, and he seems to be able to match Jin’s power through dance. Not sure what that means exactly, but I assume the readers can expect to see them grow to become stronger to defeat the Nights.

The art is detailed for both characters and backgrounds, and readers are treated to a few full colour pages at the beginning of the volume. The final pages instead give a preview of what is to come in the next volume. What I appreciated throughout the narration are the translation notes on the page where the word/sentence is initially mentioned, so readers don’t have to flick through pages to find out the meaning.

Kaijin Fugeki: Kindled Spirits by Oh!Great is published by Vertical an imprint of Kodansha in the English language, with a translation by C.T. Cockrell. Volume 2 is slated for release in March 2026.

Our review copy from Vertical was supplied by Turnaround Publishing Services.