Enchanter, Vol. 1
Published by: Digital Manga Publishing
Writer & Artist: Izumi Kawachi

184 (172) pages.
Original Language: Japanese
Orientation: Right to left
Vintage: 2003. US edition August 2006.
Translation: Sachiko Sato
Lettering: IHL
Graphic Design: Fred Lui & Wendy Lee
Editing: Stephanie Donnelly
Editor in chief: Fred Lui
Publisher’s Rating: For young adults, 16+

Rating: 2 out of 5

##

Premise: Demon lands in the lap of a mechanically savvy but academically challenged high school student. A female demon. In hot pants. She wants his body — but it’s not what you’re thinking…

Synopsis:

Generic Manga Hero #988 (gods, I’m starting to hate these guys– what’s this one’s name again?) high school student Haruhiko Kanou is an average mug whose only redeeming feature is a knack with machinery and gadgets. That and bland, manga-generic good looks. He starts out with problems, mostly that he’s slacked his way through classes and now really needs to study for upcoming exams. He’s finding it hard to concentrate though, because he has a huge crush on his science teacher, Yuka Fujikawa — who he also grew up with, since she happens to be the girl next door.

Into this set-up, let’s add a demon. Sure, why not? Eukanaria is on a quest, and she thinks Haruhiko has got what she needs. Not that she really wants him, it’s just that she’s been carrying around the soul of her lover for a while now, and needs a handy container to put it in — a roughly Haruhiko-shaped container.

Just one demon isn’t enough of a plot twist, oh no:
Because Eukanaria’s lover was the noted alchemist and inventor Fulcanelli, quite a few demons want his powers as an enchanter to make weapons (no doubt for evil, demon-y things that wouldn’t be good for mankind). So Eukanaria has been on the run for a while.

(I should mention that Haruhiko looks a lot like Fulcanelli… and aside from her much more revealing costume, Eukanaria is a dead ringer for Yuka. Handy coincidence, no?)

It sure would be handy to have an enchanter whip up a few demon-fighting devices right now, but Haruhiko doesn’t want to give up his body (he’s not quite done using it yet). An odd alliance of sorts is formed, since Haruhiko is pretty good with gadgets himself, and Fulcanelli seems to have an agenda separate from his girlfriend’s. It remains to be seen if this will be enough to allow Haruhiko to face the oncoming demonic assaults.

##

Review:

This first volume only contains three chapters, and there were quite a few introductions and all the background to cover, not to mention at least 2 big showdowns with demons. So it’s a bit hard to get a feel for the story, just with what we’re given.

And the manga has some flaws; I mean, if this title were just an excuse for some degenerate artist to draw teasing depictions of one of his favourite female fantasies, it would explain so much about Eukanaria’s character design, and the whole Eukanaria-Yuka plot angle. Let’s ask the artist:

(from the artist blurb on the dust jacket) “I’m a degenerate artist and like it”

Well then.

To comment on the other artwork, it’s pretty good, though with some flaws. The backgrounds are OK, nothing special but fine in application, but action & motion are decently rendered, and (to use the cinematic metaphor) there are a variety of shots and angles employed to keep panels visually interesting. Nothing sticks out, aside from the occasional object or weapon that gets drawn a bit wonky. While the artist may need to go back and study a few still lifes, he is (as was previously noted) well practised in at least one brand of anatomy.

Fan service is hard to separate from content in this title: teasing, sexually suggestive dialog, and adolescent male fantasies — leavened with a bit of action — are the order of the day for Enchanter. The odd relationships between the four “lead” characters (even though one is a disembodied soul) could in fact be called the primary plot, with the whole demon-fighting thing added as a side story to occasionally nudge things along.

With all that said, the story set-up isn’t that bad: a magic-MacGyver approach to demon fighting where the hero only survives if he can figure out and adapt an arcane and eldrich technology he’s never seen before. There’s also the dynamic of demon/human interaction, which is barely hinted at as yet — it would seem that some demons are invisible to most, and only apparent to a few people like Yuka and Haruhiko. There is a lot of backstory like that in this first volume, which is to be expected; the hints and clues are intended to keep us reading, and buying future volumes.

It’s a hardship, I know, but if you are willing to endure the fan service or can somehow read around it, there’s an interesting story here, with some potential for future volumes. 2 out of 5.