Nora: The Last Chronicle of Devildom vol. 1 by Kazunari Kakei review

Nora: The Last Chronicle of Devildom vol. 1

Author/Artist: Kazunari Kakei

Publisher: VIZ Media

Rating: T+ - 16 and up

Genre: Shonen, Comedy, Action, Supernatural

Grade: A

*** Review originally appeared at The Journal of the Lincoln Heights Literary Society at http://liheliso.org/. Check it out! ***

Nora is one unruly demon and the Dark Liege of the underworld thinks that it's time to send him to the human world for an "education." In order to make this work the Dark Liege had to seal Nora's powers and have him enter a pact with a human. The human chosen is middle school student Kazuma Magari. Magari is a star student, top athlete, and Student Council President, but he's bored. When presented with this opportunity to enter into this agreement, he accepts.

It seems that there is a faction of demons on the loose in the human world and the Dark Liege sends one of her most powerful soldiers to hunt them down. She's sent the Hound of Hades, Cerberus, also known as Nora. Nora's powers are now bound to Magari and only he can give permission to Nora on when these powers can be used. These two guys do not get along but when needed they work together well. Can these two get along long enough to rid the human world of rogue demons working against the Dark Liege?

Nora: The Last Chronicle of Devildom is released through VIZ Media's Shonen Jump Advanced line. This line is aimed at older teen and young adult males. One thing I learned at Anime Banzai is that girls enjoy shonen titles just as much as guys do. In the case of Nora, I can agree with all those girls that I talked to. I found myself pulled into the story almost immediately and was riveted until the end which, of course, I was sad when I finished. Luckily this is a series so I can continue reading about this crazy power play between Nora and Magari. The one thing that kind of surprised me was the fact that the Dark Liege is in fact a woman. I always assumed that the boss in Hell was male and in the case of this story, I just figured he was gay (that's probably because I read way too much yaoi). This is definitely an action title and is aimed at a mainly male audience, but if you are female you don't have to be frightened off. Not only was there action and fighting but there was also a large amount of humor involved. I seriously laughed so hard and so loud! This is really a great title and I am looking forward to the future volumes.

Not only is it a great read, but it's also a great addition to any manga collection. The paper is of a higher quality and is scored along the binding so you don't get that ugly crease. It's very flexible and is the traditional size for paperback manga. You get a nice book for a great deal, at $7.99 you won't hear me arguing about feeling cheated! Great job VIZ, this is one manga that I'm glad I stepped out of my normal boys love, yaoi, and shojo zone to read this title.

***Review Copy provided by VIZ Media***
***Reposted with permission from The Journal of the Lincoln Heights Literary Society***