| | |  | SHONEN SUNDAY | Home » » » Kekkaishi, Vol. 1 | | | | | | | Product Promotions: | | | | | Description: | | By night, junior high student Yoshimori Sumimura is a "kekkaishi" - a demon-hunter who specializes in creating magical barriers around his prey. By day, Yoshimori's got some other demons to battle: an addiction to sweets and a seriously crotchety grandfather! Yoshimori's pretty 16-year-old neighbour and childhood friend, Tokine Yukimura, is also a kekkaishi, but their families are feuding over who is the true practitioner of the art. Yoshimori couldn't care less about catching demons...until he realizes that his apathetic attitude is taking a toll on his friendship with Tokine. Just as he decides to take matters into his own hands, a couple of amphibious demons and the pesky ghost of a pastry-chef show up to complicate matters! | | | Product Details: | | | Author:
| Yellow Tanabe | | Paperback:
| 192 pages | | Publisher:
| VIZ Media LLC | | Publication Date:
| May 03, 2005 | | Language:
| English | | ISBN:
| 1591169682 | | Package Length:
| 7.4 inches | | Package Width:
| 4.9 inches | | Package Height:
| 0.7 inches | | Package Weight:
| 0.5 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 6 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
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1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Currently one of my favorite manga series.Jul 03, 2009
The author, Yellow Tanabe (nice name, eh?) mentions that when he was a kid, he and his friends would play a game in which they pretended to create invisible walls. Their declaration was, "I stretched the barrier from here to there!" And if someone walked into the area, they would get the cold shoulder, as if breaking the most important law of life.
From this imaginative game comes the making of Kekkaishi. In the first volume, we learn that in order to make a barrier, called a kekkai ("protective ward"), a Kekkaishi must perform three acts: (1) say the word "Hoi" to designate a target, (2) say "Joso" to position the Kekkai, and (3) call out "Ketsu" to create the barrier. Once that is established, the user has the option to either say "Kai" to let their prey go, or "Metsu" to destroy it.
Since the first volume is so filled with content--more so than most manga--my brief overview only covers a little bit. So just keep this in mind.
Story overview:
Where a Junior and Senior High School stands, there once towered a castle. Buried deep below the school is the spirit of the master of that castle, who was from the Karasumori clan. He possessed a power that to this day attracts nasty beings called ayakashi. If they spend any significant amount of time in the school grounds, they will grow bigger, more powerful, and dangerous.
Two children, who have special Kekkaishi powers passed down from generation to generation, are designated the guardians of the school. Since ayakashi are creatures of the night these guardians must lose out on a lot of sleep. If that wasn't enough, it just so happens that their families are in a feud over who should be the true successor. This puts both Yoshimori (age 14) and Tokine (age 16) in an awkward position, as they so often end up working together.
When Yoshimori was nine years old, his naivety lead to the scars on Tokine's arm. To this day he has two major goals: (1) never allow someone to get hurt in front of him again, and (2) make a castle cake big enough to live in. His dream to build the cake is constantly being overcome by his crotchety grandfather, lack of money, and fighting off ayakashi. As is the case when he finds out that one of Tokine's teachers happens to posse inhuman powers, and the two of them must put a stop to it.
My thoughts:
The characters are wonderfully designed, the artwork is top rate, and the story is brilliant. A page turner for sure. This is currently one of my favorite manga series.
James D. Maxon
[...]
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Ketsu!Jan 08, 2009
A lot of anime and manga have the protagonist banishing demons, monsters and ghosts. Not unique.
But "Kekkaishi" manages to be a lovable little story anyway, mainly because of the way Yellow Tanabe tells the story. The first volume of this long-running action/comedy manga is filled with with plenty of humour, action, a hint of potential romance, and a scruffy young hero whose duty is to zap evil supernatural beasties.
Yoshimori Sumimura and his older friend Tokine Yukimura are the heirs of rival clans of kekkaishi, whose duty it is to zap ayakashi (little ghost-demons) who gather at a powerful spot at their school. Several years ago, Tokine was badly hurt when Yoshimori hesitated in killing an ayakashi.
Now Yoshimori is obsessed not only with becoming stronger, but protecting his older friend -- when he isn't trying to beat her at the kekkaishi game. But he suddenly is confronted by some slightly odd problems -- including a dead confectioner who starts tagging along with him, and witnesses how the kekkaishi have to deal with ghosts.
And Yoshimora crashes when Tokine says that he's creeping her out, followed by a hunky teacher asking her to meet him after school. But of course, the teacher isn't all that he appears -- and this particular ayakashi is a powerful one. And Yoshimori's enthusiasm for pastry lands him in trouble when the confectioner puts him in line for the best cake in the world.... and he promptly gets called away on kekkaishi business.
"Kekkaishi Volume 1" doesn't make it immediately obvious whether the series is going to be good, bad or middle-of-the-road. The concept is promising and Yellow Tanabe quickly spins out an intriguing backstory for the two kekkaishi families -- and a believable backstory for the two lead characters. And his unique artwork -- with rounder faces and realistic bodies -- adds to the feeling.
If there's a problem, it's that the first volume's stories are relatively fluffy pieces -- it feels like Tanabe was figuring out how his series would go, and was making some lightweight tales about pastry, flaky ghosts and Yoshimori's pre-romantic troubles. But there are some spectacularly nasty moments as well, such as a demented ghost threatening the heroes with scissor-hands.
And Tanabe sprinkles it with plenty of comedy, from Yoshimori's sexy "lookalike" shikigami to his constant use of kekkaishi to thwart his grandfather. And the feud between the two clans -- which involves lots of brawling and verbal abuse between the old folks -- is more hilarious than harrowing.
Yoshimori is a likable hero -- he's naturally pretty lazy and unmotivated at being a kekkaishi, since his chosen calling involves making vast candy castles. But his determination to become stronger for Tokine's sake is quite sweet, although Tokine (who swings between sweet and standoffish) is a bit of a dark horse. Oh yeah, and the demon dogs who accompany the two kids are quite fun.
The first volume of "Kekkaishi" is a bit frothy in places, but it has the makings of a brilliant manga series. Definitely worth checking out.
A great mangaMar 30, 2006
I first found out about this manga from one of the manga fliers at the bookstore... you know, the kind with the editor's picks and promos... but in it was an excerpt from this book, and it interested me. I went out and bought it not long after, and fell in love with it. It has a lighthearted "fun-ness" about it that I just love.... and yet, there's the part where Yoshimori tries so hard only to protect Tokine... they really are two great characters, and I can never wait for the next one to come out!
Demon hunting for youngstersMar 07, 2006
So, let's say your a demon hunter in training in Japan(God knows there's alot of them there!)but your sick of your grandpa's constant bitching about family tradition, and all you wanna do is be a baker. That's the premise for Kekkaishi by manga-ka Yellow Tanabe.
Yoshimori is the latest in his family's group of spiritualists. They have the power to set up barriers around demons, and either exorcise them to the afterlife, or just contain them in an attempt to ward them off. At the same time, there is a rival clan of from the same order whose latest disciple Tokine is Yoshimori's neighbor and schoolmate, although she goes to the high school part of the campus while he's still in middle school(they sometimes mix in grade schools in Japan). Most of the ghosts and other undead nasties habitat around their school because it was the site of a temple that was overrun with demons centuries ago. Now, both Yoshimori and Tokine's plans recieve payment from a mysterious benefactor for keeping the area clear of spooks.
Yoshimori gets help from a dog demon named Madarao who is indebted to his family's service for the past few centuries. Tokine gets help from a similar canine called Hakubi. Between the two of them, they have to deal with possessed teachers, pesky chef ghosts, and other things that might make campus life more like an episode of Buffy.
Kekkaishi is a pretty fair manga. It's not as gripping as say Bleach which is also about teenage ghost chasers. But it does have a pretty original story and interesting artwork. It seems to develop more and more with each chapter, so its worth looking into further volumes of.
by day junior high student by night yoshimori is a kekkaishi!!Dec 30, 2005
kekkaishi is about yoshimori a kekkaishi (a kekkaishi is a demon hunter).well any way the manga was great and cant wait for no. four to come out!!the manga kekkaishi is also rated teen and in my perspective it shouldn't.kekkaishi has some vilonce but nothing offensive and there is demons but its not like there all freaky(like the one in the manga deatnote ugg)but its suitible for ages 10 through your age.i loved the manga and cant wight to see what yellow tanabe dishes out next!!i found this manga in borders i desided to try something else than what my friends told my to like naruto and shaman king thats how i found this manga.who knows maybe you could try something new like ohhh ummm let me see umm KEKKAISHI!!!!
^_^
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