Viz Launches New Manga: Ikigami

By The Woman In Black
May 14th, 2009

Tired of the same old/same old superheroes and looking for a new comic series to sink your teeth into? Well, search no further! VIZ Media has just launched in North America a manga entitled Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit that promises to send a chill down the spines of its readers.

"Ikigami asks tough questions about the real value of life, crime, and deterrence and what’s best for the majority," says Joel Enos, Senior Editor of VIZ Media. It is set in a futuristic dystopian Japan, where there is a new slant on crime deterrence with a sinister policy with an ironic twist. Each day a randomly-selected person is put to death to remind the population of the very value of life. Those who are condemned to die receive an official government notice the day before, called an ikigami, alerting them of impending doom in 24 hours.

Enos continues, "Readers will undoubtedly reflect upon their own lives and what they hold dear as they witness how each of the persons that receive an ikigami react to their sentence. Is there an urge to retaliate and become angry or simply accept one’s fate for the betterment of larger society? Readers will surely ponder their own answers in this intense new series."

Check out the first issue's cover art below, and be sure to order a copy from EvilShop!

(copyright: IKIGAMI (C) Motoro MASE/Shogakukan Inc.)

- Debi Moore