Fruit of the Underworld Volume 1 Review

Readers will recognise the name Aya Kanno as the mangaka behind the popular manga series Requiem of the Rose King. Now she returns to the West thanks to Kodansha with a new series: Fruit of the Underworld. Does this first volume prove a must-have? Let’s take a closer look!

The story follows Seiji Minari, a high school student who has been cursed to suffer daily accidents ever since he found a mysterious pomegranate-like fruit ten years ago. At the time, he’d gone down a well rumoured to lead to the underworld to retrieve a lost ball, and that’s where he came across the thing. Bringing it home seems to have been the start of his misfortune.

Now Seiji tries to live an ordinary life, but his misfortune has led everyone to avoid him. That is, except for his best friend: Haru Furaki. Seiji is grateful for Haru’s friendship, but when Haru is involved in a near-miss accident because of him, Seiji can’t help but wish there was a way to break this curse for good. Enter the new teacher Ms. Majo, who promises to resolve Seiji’s problem as long as he shows her the entrance to the underworld he found as a child.

This eventually leads Seiji to remember the existence of the pomegranate, but no sooner has he dug it out of his room and met up with Haru when he’s suddenly attacked by someone who’s after the fruit. They fight, and Seiji ultimately swallows the thing, and now he’s warned that those from the underworld will be forever after him. But, they can’t lay a hand on mortals as long as they’re aboveground…

I’m sure you can all see where this story is going. While swallowing the fruit has freed Seiji of his misfortune and allowed him to lead a normal everyday life, during a class trip his entire class ends up in an accident and all the class members are dragged down into the underworld. Except for Seiji, who somehow survives. Of course, our hero isn’t about to let Haru’s life come to such an end all because someone’s after him, so he plunges into the well to the underworld in search of a way to rescue his beloved best friend (and the rest of his class, hopefully).

There are four chapters contained in this first volume of Fruit of the Underworld, and they’re absolutely stuffed with twists and turns. I feel like I’ve written enough about the story to cover one whole volume in detail, but it’s really only the first chapter and bits of the second! But to Kanno’s credit, despite how much is going on here, the story proves easy to follow. It’s made up of a lot of the staples you’d expect from a shonen series. It’s the age-old story of a hero (now superpowered due to ingesting the fruit) who wants to save his friends, plunged into a dangerous world he really knows nothing about and faced with nothing but uncertainty and powerful enemies.

Although I do think this first instalment can be overwhelming. Despite being paced well, there’s no escaping the fact so much is happening, and it never really stops for breath. It could be argued we never get a real chance to get to know Seiji, either, as we’re dropped almost immediately into the chaos of his life. And the story doesn’t seem like it’ll get a chance to slow down in the near future either. And this is fine if you’re used to stories like this or really like mythology (there’s a lot of references!), but I think if you’ve come from some of Kanno’s other works, you may struggle to find your bearings.

As you would expect from such a seasoned mangaka, the art on display is a notable selling point. From the fight scenes to Seiji’s descent into the underworld, it effectively conveys the cast’s emotions and the otherworldly environments they inhabit. I like the character designs too, especially when we start to meet more of them who aren’t human. Although I do have to wonder why Seiji has never cut his hair enough to be able to see out of both eyes…

Fruit of the Underworld Volume 1 comes to the West thanks to Kodansha under their Vertical imprint. This first release has been translated by Kevin Steinbach with lettering by Carolina Hernández Mendoza. There are colour pages to open, but no translation notes, which I felt was a bit of a shame, as there’s a lot of references in here that might have been helpful to have some guidance on. Otherwise, it’s a solid release with no issues.

The series is ongoing in Japan, with just two volumes currently available there. Here in English, Volume 2 is set for release in July, and then I suspect we’ll be in for a long wait before more is published in Japanese.

Overall, Fruit of the Underworld Volume 1 gets off to an interesting start. I like the central premise, and Seiji is a likeable protagonist (even if currently somewhat generic), but this one is going to appeal more to shonen fans than perhaps Aya Kanno’s usual audience. And your enjoyment is going to depend on how interested you are in seeing this ragtag hero fight his way to rescuing his friend in chaotic fashion.

A free preview can be read on the Kodansha website.

Our review copy from Kodansha (Vertical) was supplied by Diamond Book Distributors UK.
©Aya Kanno / Kodansha