Comic Review: 'Shishi of the Meteor' (197th Night of 1000 Consecutive Nights)

Since its serialization began last year, the popular shonen battle manga 'Shishi of the Meteor' begins its story in the early Edo period, when the lingering heat of turmoil still remained, in the deep mountain hidden village of 'Kusagamori' in the San'in/Bitchu region.

The protagonist, Shishi Iwato, is 17 years old. He is the heir to the village's guardian shrine, 'Amakusa Shrine,' and is a boy with a gentle demeanor. However, it is said that the secret weapons 'Meteor' and 'Comet,' forged from iron meteorites, sleep in the shrine's storehouse.

Possession of swords is prohibited in this village.
Therefore, Shishi has thoroughly trained in ancient martial arts such as taijutsu and bojutsu, and especially in 'chain arts.' What hangs in the shrine grounds is not a shimenawa (sacred rope) but a 'chain.' It is a symbol that simultaneously serves for purification and restraint.

However, one night, a group of ninjas calling themselves 'The Cradle' caught wind of the secret and attacked the village. Shishi barely managed to repel the ninjas using the 'chain' hanging in the shrine grounds, but his father, Hakuso Iwato, lost his life, and the weapons in the storehouse disappeared.
Yet, on his deathbed, his father revealed to Shishi: 'The Comet is a short sword, and the Meteor is... that "chain" you just wielded.'

From here, the tale of revenge begins. The true nature of the chain 'Meteor' that Shishi uses is that it is flexible and retractable by housing a meteoric iron core, with the weight drawing a trajectory like the tail of a star. The offensive and defensive mechanism is full of shonen manga-style catharsis, but at the same time, the core of this work is that the Shinto priest's act of purification is incorporated into the combat. He chants incantations and draws barriers with the chain. Violence and prayer coexist.

On his journey, he meets Iori Kujo, a ronin from the Hagi domain and a master of the long sword. He is tall, taciturn, and cold-blooded in battle, but he carries the past of his village being burned down. Furthermore, there is Masoho, a kunoichi who escaped from 'The Cradle.' She harbors doubts about the 'organization like a womb' and seeks to break away.
The character design, which lacks users of common Japanese swords or swordsmanship, is also challenging, and the combat where long swords, chains, short swords, and taijutsu intersect creates a unique sense of distance.

And the biggest surprise is the true identity of 'The Cradle.' They are not mere ninjas. They are a direct secret intelligence agency of the Imperial Court, a group that secretly gathers war orphans, steals their memories and names, and implants 'new personalities'—a 'cradle' that raises people as weapons.
Also, the 'power of heaven and earth' residing in weapons derived from meteoric iron amplifies the owner's spirit. It leads the gentle to the light of purification and those who harbor hatred to a star of destruction. The goal of 'The Cradle' was to overthrow the shogunate using that supernatural power.

Shishi, burning with revenge, eventually learns that his own anger warps the power of the 'Meteor' and himself. The compassion of a Shinto priest and the hatred of a son. That conflict is the core of this work.

Can a star become something that rises rather than falls? Can a chain become something that connects rather than binds? The story that began in the deep mountain village of Kusagamori expands its stage to the Seto Inland Sea, the underground mines of Iwami, and the rough seas of Izumo, eventually connecting to Kyoto.

With its rare weapon setting of chain arts, the duality of prayer and violence, and the battle against the children of 'The Cradle,' 'Shishi of the Meteor' is a new-style shonen battle manga where stillness and motion are in equilibrium, revolving around two weapons bearing the names of stars.

A review of a manga that exists only in my imagination.

If it gets a lot of likes, it might actually get a comic adaptation☆

Reference article)

Perspective. It's seriously difficult for a shonen manga...