Flash Hunter Vol. 1

Gr 7 Up—This book, part of a series based on a best-selling role-playing video game, initially feels like a sequel because it has a "story thus far" page, but it is, in fact, an origin story. The manga takes readers back to a time when the main characters were not the skilled and seasoned monster hunters that they are in the video games. Raiga is a novice hunter who needs to find companions. He travels to a virtually unknown land and pairs with two other misfits: the arrogant, serious Keres and the bumbling, book-smart Torche. They get off to a rocky start but by working together manage to form a team. This is a good example of a "monster of the week" type of manga: this first volume introduces no fewer than four different monsters, all wonderfully different from one another. The art is a mixed bag, though. The monsters and armor are easily recognizable, and all of the characters are distinct enough that they can be easily told apart, but the fight scenes are extremely crowded and can be hard to follow.