Manga Spotlight: Uratarou
Uratarou is an action, comedy, and seinen manga written and illustrated by Atsushi Nakayama, who also wrote and illustrated Nejimaki Kagyuu. It was published by Weekly Young Jump in July of 2016.
Uratarou follows Taira Chiyo, an energetic young girl who is determined to live her life to the fullest because she only has one year left to live — and values life, and everything that it has to offer, more than anyone else. While searching for a way to become immortal, she meets the sullen Uratarou, an immortal who highly values the respect of the dead, as shown by the scene where he becomes upset after he learns that one of the villains had resurrected the deceased, and has grown weary of living. Uratarou agrees to help Chiyo look for a way to become an immortal, because he does not know how he became one himself, after she promises that she will, in turn, discover a way to kill an immortal.
Uratarou handles its dark tones admirably. In many stories with darker themes, it usually serves more as shock value for audience than for the growth of the characters. However, in Uratarou, I think the sudden dark tonal shifts serve the purpose of pushing the main characters to their absolute mental limits. This is especially true for Chiyo. Her values of life are constantly being challenged by the narrative. You’ll see just how far she will go to uphold them, and how strongly she holds those values. These themes also affect Uratarou. The more time he spends with Chiyo and sees her overcome — as well as be defeated by — the challenges she’s presented with, the more he slowly learns about a side of himself that he didn’t know he had.
Uratarou’s story moves at breakneck speeds, which is both a positive and a negative. On one hand, certain scenes can feel a bit rushed because of it and the plot can be a tad hard to follow. However, there hasn’t been a chapter so far where nothing of value has happened, which makes it a delight to read both in bulk as well as just reading the newest chapter.
With 20 chapters and counting, I think that Uratarou is definitely worth the time of any fan of the action/adventure genre!
