Kodansha officially announced that they are licensing Gachiakuta by Kei Urana. It is a shonen manga that’s full of action and mystery. Gachiakuta is one you may already know thanks to a recommendation from Atsushi Ohkubo, the creator of one of my top shonen manga, Soul Eater. He even went as far as to say that he is passing on the baton to Kei Urana, who was his assistant at one point in time.
Those are big words and big shoes to fill, but I couldn’t agree more after reading Gachiakuta. The style, character designs, and world-building are amazing. It has a similar vibe and feel to two manga I love, Deadman Wonderland and Fire Force, but it’s still so unique. On top of all that, it’s gritty and emotional and it has amazing art. I could go on and on as to why I enjoy this series and why it’s one you’ll want to pick up when it releases on January 16, 2024.
If you are new to the series, Gachiakuta follows a boy named Rudo, an orphan living with his adoptive parent in the slums. He has abilities that make him stand out from other people, but they make him a target as well. One day, Rudo’s life is changed forever when he is framed for a murder he did not commit and he is thrown into a place called “the abyss.”
Instead of dying, though, he finds himself in a strange new world surrounded by monsters made of trash. There he meets a man named Engine, who’s a Janitor, an individual who fights against these monsters with special weapons. Rudo becomes a Janitor so that he can fight his way out of the abyss and get revenge.
Gachiakuta is one of those series that just excites me. I’ve been waiting for a manga like this one to release for quite some time. Something that could give me that same feeling that creators like Atsushi Ohkubo or Jinsei Kataoka and Kazuma Kondou have made me feel time and time again, and I finally felt that feeling again with Gachiakuta. There’s so much potential here and I’m looking forward to picking it up when it releases in 2024.
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In other news, check out all of the new manga arriving in 2024!
