This one was just okay. I liked Urara, but the protagonist was pretty bland. It also kind of shot itself in the foot by name dropping other manga series. Instead of enjoying the book I was reading I ended up wishing I was reading the books this book was talking about.

A fun limited seri9es for the fans of Demon Slayer: Kimitsu no Yaiba how would like less of a commitment. At 3 volumes, this is a nice limited series for the tentative manga fan.

The art for this is great, I really loved it and the characters are an interesting bunch! I’m excited to see what happens next in this series but as everything is kind of being set up on this volume it’s a bit eh while we wait for things to get going.

I surprisingly enjoyed this more than I thought I would! By the end of the volume, I was finding myself invested in what was going to happen, and I love ensemble casts (especially in a fantasy setting!). It's such a shame that this series got cancelled before it could be finished, but I'm glad I got to experience it!

There is something off about this manga. I kind of chalk that up to being the first volume and the need to set up future story lines and arcs, but I've read other manga that do a much better job than this one. I think there were too many references to other manga that took me out of the story. I felt like this was a mix of One Punch Man, Chainsaw Man, and Demon Slayer but that none of those elements gelled into a cohesive story.

Maruo, our protagonist, is an abused child who wishes to be strong and beat up his bully. He trains until he achieves a monstrous strength. We discover that his bully is his father. Once he gets his revenge, he discovers that he is left with an emptiness because he built his father into a monster but discovered that he was just a man. He seeks out more powerful opponents but cannot find anyone who is anywhere near his league. Until he meets Urara and realizes that there are more monstrous things than bullies. That sounds intriguing, but I feel like the overly comedic tone of the serious ruined it.

There is a lot too like here, and I don't feel like I wasted my time. The character designs are both cute and lovely. The art is clean and crisp. I guess I just wish it had been something else.

Full review in School Library Journal

The Yakuza is actually filled with demons named ayashimon, and Maruo, an insanely strong human fighter, gets mixed up in the power struggles of warring ayashimon families. It wasn't for me, even though I like similar titles like ONE-PUNCH MAN.

This was such a fun ride! I really enjoyed reading this first volume and I can't wait for the next one! In this volume, we follow Maruo who has been training since he was a kid and is now super strong because of all that training. Normal fights just don't do anything for him anymore so he goes in search of stronger opponents. He runs into a girl getting chased by some thugs and ends up as her bodyguard. And then chaos ensues! This was such a great first volume of a manga. I loved the whole thing.

Ayashimon Volume One introduces the main protagonist, Maruo, and how he becomes involved with the Ayashimon criminal underworld of Japan.

Ayashimon Volume One
Written by: Yuji Kaku
Publisher: Shueisha Inc.
English Publisher: VIZ Media
Release Date: March 7, 2023

The volume opens with the death of Chairman Kioh of the Enma Syndicate, the largest criminal organization in the Kanto Region. But this isn’t just a regular criminal organization… this organization is made up of Ayashimon, otherworldly creatures and spirits. With the death of Chairman Kioh, the otherworldly criminal organizations are now on the brink of war.

We are then introduced to Maruo, a young man who wanted to be come a manga protagonist when he grew up. From a young age, he went through the stereotypical training that’s shown for shonen manga protagonists, and he managed to develop superhuman strength. After being rejected from various dojos and employers for causing too much damage, he comes across what appears to be a young girl being chased by a group of tough-looking thugs. After beating up most of the thugs, he rescues the girl.

It turns out the girl he’s rescued is Urara, the illegitimate daughter of Chairman Kioh who is out seeking revenge for her father’s death. After being cornered by the remaining Ayashimon and having the fight of his life, Maruo decides to make a pact with Urara and become her bodyguard.

First, we see the two of them sneaking into the Shinjuku district and having to take on Hashihime, Urara’s former attendant. Unfortunately, since Maruo still can’t control his strength, he causes a lot of damage that doesn’t escape the notice of Doppo Akari, the new chairman of the Enma Syndicate.

After this, they go to a restaurant, where they witness an Ayashimon being bullied by another one. Even though Urara tells him not to interfere, Maruo doesn’t listen… and ends up causing a commotion that once again attracts the attention of the Enma Syndicate.

After saving Ten, the Ayashimon who was being bullied, they are taken to the building where Ten works as a slave laborer for another Ayashimon. Urara hopes to take over the building as a headquarters, but Maruo takes on the boss and causes more damage and chaos due to his inability to control his power. Even so, Urara can still find the information she needs about the current Enma Syndicate and formulate a plan of attack. Unfortunately, thanks to Maruo’s actions getting the two of them noticed, they are found by the new head of the Enma Syndicate. The volume ends just as Maruo and Doppo are about to start a fight.

When it comes to the art, you can definitely feel the shonen vibe in the way Kaku draws his characters. There were some panels of Maruo early on that kind of made me think of Monkey D. Luffy in the pre-timeskip portion of One Piece. However, I would say that Kaku’s style overall tends to lean more toward Tite Kubo’s than to Eiichiro Oda’s. But Kaku’s art style works perfectly with the supernatural story he’s telling in this series.

While Ayashimon Volume One establishes an interesting premise and promises that there should be plenty of action, thanks to Maruo’s strength, there are times when the action is bogged down by a lot of exposition to explain various ideas and concepts. I understand that the volume needs to include explanations for the reader to understand what’s happening, but there were several times when the exposition breaks up the action sequences and it felt as if it was bogging down the manga. I hope that in future volumes of the series, since there shouldn’t be as much of a need for exposition and info dumps, that the action sequences will feel as if they’re going at a more normal pace.

Maruo is definitely all brawn and little brain. He’s not quite as strong as Saitama from One-Punch Man, since Maruo doesn’t easily defeat his opponents with just one punch. However, Maruo does possesses superhuman strength. From an observation Urara makes during Volume One, it appears there’s a reason why he’s a human that can be this strong. Hopefully, future volumes will expand on that idea, since I would assume that at some point, Maruo will get some kind of character development during the series. When it comes to Urara, while she seems to get a slight more development in Volume One than Maruo does, it still feels like we only know her more on a surface level at this point. I also hope to see more character development for her as well in future volumes of the series.

After reading Volume One, I can say that Ayashimon isn’t a bad series, but it does seem like it’s taking a little bit for it to get going. Hopefully, with the volume ending right before Maruo and Doppo start their fight, that means that the second volume will get going with the action right away. At this point, I wouldn’t be adverse to reading the next volume of Ayashimon if VIZ Media makes a digital review copy available for reviewers.

Manga readers who enjoy shonen manga and supernatural elements may find something to appreciate in Ayashimon Volume One.

Ayashimon is similar to many other Shonen Jump series, there is a protagonist that doesn’t have the best track record and just wants to battle with fists and shows incredible strength. Similar themes appear in other Jump titles and this may be a short series. The story has similar characterization to Kaku’s previous title, Hell’s Paradise as there is character A needing something from character B vice versa. Good to read, but no expectations, there is probably going to be intense gory fight scenes.

This is a fun series starter! The art is nice and kind of Soul Eater reminiscent (in the main character's design). I think my personal hang-up is that I'm more interested in Urara and the other yokai than I am in the main character. I'm just not a fan of overpowered meatheads running on their last braincell. Like.... just give me a little brainpower please?

This manga is written by the same person who did Hell's Paradise, so fans of that series, One-Punch Man, and general Shonen manga will appreciate this new series.

I knew right away that I would enjoy this one, and boy did I love it! I'm such a sucker for anything yokai/ayashi/spirit based and I have been impatiently waiting for this one since I first saw it. So I was SUPER excited when I got to read it. The story is great, the mc is a perfectly dodo brained muscle head, and the fantasy elements are really well worked into the story. Also, if you like JJK I highliy recommend you checking this one out!

Maruo is your typical hot-blooded teen boy itching for a fight. What's not so typical? The fact that his punches would send most people to the hospital or an early grave. With dreams of being anime hero, Maruo just wants to fight for a living. He may have gotten his wish when a young yokai girl named Urara recruits him in order to seek revenge. With Maruo's ridiculous strength and her clever plots, Urara hopes to take over the demon crime syndicate and seek vengeance on the ones who murdered her father (the previous mafia head).

Great action sequences, plenty of over the top violence, and beautifully detailed characters. Looking forward to the next volume for this series.

When a young man helps a little girl, he finds himself in the middle of a supernatural mafia scuffle. Good thing the normal young man read a lot of shonen manga, and has modeled himself after the likes Goku, Kenshiro and Jotaro. He can in fact, split boulders and heave cars. And honestly? It's fun! It's a nice change from "normal human gains inhuman powers by X." He wants to be a shonen protagonist like his heroes and he's just been itching for a good fight for so long! Turf wars schmurf wars! Challenge Accepted! Live your dreams, normal kid! Break that fourth wall as many times as you want with your mighty fists! I'll be keeping an eye on this one.

Thanks NetGalley and Viz Media for the digital arc!

This was a fast paced and fun read! Very interesting setup, and of course leaves at a cliffhanger! I really like the supernatural aspects of it, and how they are all part of different gangs. I'm excited for the next volume already!

Maruo has studied the training techniques of all the great manga protagonists. His childhood dream was to become one himself. He trained hard every day growing up. Now with strength like One Punch Man he can't get a job. He is too strong. He breaks everything. All he wants is a good fight.

When he sees a young girl being chased by thugs, he steps in to save her. Taking them out with one punch, the girl grabs him and runs. She asks him to join her gang. He refuses because his strength is for saving people not becoming a yakuza. The girl, Urara, realizes Maruo is human and rescinds her offer. Confused he asks her what she thought he was. Before she can answer, the men chasing her arrive with reinforcements. What has Maruo gotten himself into?

It turns out he doesn't care so long as he can fight strong people. Unfortunately, the ones he will be fighting aren't human. Can help Urara reclaim her family crest and avenge her father? Will he become the manga protagonist he has always dreamed of? Of course he will this is a manga!!!

An interesting beginning to a new series. A boy who wants to fight like his idols in manga and a girl who wants revenge. The book sets up the world nicely & what the stakes are. Dynamic is Brains & Brawn mixed with world building being explained to the brawn while the brains plots & informs us of her plans while at the same time tells us that the brawn is just a pawn to her.
Looking forward to the next volume

This is an interesting setup for a series, with vibes sort of similar to Chainsaw Man and Jujutsu Kaisen, especially in terms of humor and style. Maruo is only interested in one thing: becoming a manga protagonist. So, when a mysterious girl (Urara) appears out of nowhere claiming to be a yakuza boss and offering him a change to fight people to his heart's content, Maruo takes her up on the offer. This first volume follows the pair as they head to Shinjuku and establishes the seedy underworld there, which is ruled by yokai and demons called Ayashimon. I really liked Urara and Maruo as characters, they play off each other well and make a fun duo. I also liked the plot setup, and am looking forward to seeing how things progress. I did think some of the pacing wasn't great, and I have heard the ending of this series was rushed, so i'm concerned about that element. But, this series promises to be something fun and i'm interested in finding out more.

I haven't read such an intense, well-developed and alluring manga first volume since Kaiju no.8!
It seems this will give it a fight for my favourite manga of the year.

There is a supernatural underworld mixed with ours, and after their grand leader dies, factions break off, and the struggle for power begins. The old leader's daughter strives to rake back control and enlists a boy with incredible strength and the goal of being like a manga protagonist.