By Q Hayashida. Released in Japan by Shogakukan, serialization ongoing in the magazine Ikki. Released in North America by Viz.

I was pleasantly surprised at the first volume of Dorohedoro, and was expecting a lot from Volume 2. And it did not disappoint, giving me more of what I wanted – humor, gore, mystery, and the occasional sweet moment.

The humor comes in shades both light and dark, as despite living in a dystopian crapsack world, both our two heroes and our two ‘villains’ are determined not to let it get them down. I feel bad for poor Ebisu, who clearly is meant to be the character that we laugh at whenever bad things happen to her. She’s healed up only to be killed by zombies, then resurrected, traumatized, and almost eaten again, then forced to carry a severed head in her knapsack. It sounds horrific, but is hilarious. And I can’t spoil the funniest gag of the volume, which involves a man with a turkey mask who can make duplicates… that just happen to come out looking like dinner. See for yourself.

There’s also plenty of violence and gore. Caiman and Nikaido square off against Shin and Noi early on, in their first major confrontation, and it’s a bloodbath. If you aren’t fond of limbs flying off and blood spattering everywhere, this is not the manga for you. The last chapter, which features a crooked boxer, is notable for being the LEAST violent. I mean, boxing? Pff. Not nearly as dangerous as crushing zombies.

Most of what’s going on is still a mystery, but we do get a few more tidbits, mostly dealing with Caiman. His ability to grow back any body part, even a SEVERED HEAD, seems a bit overdone, but he knows this, and is clearly a little weirded out by it himself. Meanwhile, it appears we may have actually seen what his human face looked like, at least, only to find that things are far more complex than we expected. As for the revelation about Nikaido, it doesn’t come as too much of a surprise to me, but it will be interesting to see how everyone reacts when it comes out.

Caiman and Nikaido, of course, are absolutely adorable together. True, there’s no romantic overtones, and he’d be the first to say he’s only in it for the gyoza, but the two have lots of sweet moments, and Nikaido’s worries about her past are given more depth because of this. Likewise, Shin is a grumpy old cuss, but he and Noi also clearly have a deep friendship, even when they aren’t ‘at work’. Nikaido and Noi are both very cheerful young women, which is good, as it gives Q Hayashida an excuse to draw big smiles, something that she’s very good at. (And yes, I totally ship Shin/Noi. I doubt anything will happen, though.)

Much like the first volume, this isn’t so much something you read as something you take in. It’s a sensory experience, and some of the senses you’re activating may not be to your taste. But Dorohedoro is highly enjoyable for me, and I can’t wait for Volume 3. Readers who liked Appleseed or Battle Angel Alita will enjoy this a great deal, I think.

By Q Hayashida. Released in Japan by Shogakukan, serialization ongoing in the magazine Ikki. Released in North America by Viz.

This is one of the SigIkki titles that doesn’t seem to get as much chatter. Children of the Sea has the beautiful landscapes, Afterschool Charisma, has the celebrity clones, Kingyo Used Books has the manga meta-love, and I’ll Give It My All… Tomorrow has the indie-comic lovable loser thing going for it. Really, Dorohedoro probably compares best to Bokurano: Ours, as they both depict what appear to be soul-crushing dystopias.

However, Dorohedoro has a healthy dose of humor, and some really likeable anti-heroes, so it didn’t really crush my soul at all. World-building manga, where you spend the first few volumes finding out about the city/state our heroes work in, is difficult to carry off, and you have to create interesting lead characters or else it will simply read like a travelogue. Hayashida does that here.

Not that the two leads are particularly likeable. There’s no real good guys and bad guys in this story yet. We root for Caiman and Nikaido because, well, we met them first, and they seem to be the viewpoint characters. But the ‘villains’ we’re introduced to later, Shin and Noi, seem equally likeable in a different way (I loved the reveal on Noi, which was done quite well.) In a crapsack world where everyone’s a killer, you take what you can get.

Like many of the series I’ve seen from Ikki, Dorohedoro seems to pride itself on striking and grotesque images – the manga opens with a man’s face between the jaws of a giant lizard creature – and I enjoyed Hayashida’s art, which conveyed a sketchy, indie feeling without being difficult to understand. I can’t help but be reminded of the similar Dogs: Bullets & Carnage, which has similar stylings (and plots). The action is quick and violent, and the girls are cute even as they’re catching brains in baseball caps.

I didn’t think this would be my thing at all – the gore can be a bit much, frankly, and the words ‘sorcery’ almost always put me to sleep – but it ended up being a quick, riveting read. I want to see Caiman and Nikaido face off against Shin and Noi, and wonder who I’ll root for. I’d like to see more of the weird skull-mask soreceror girl. And who wouldn’t want to see more of Fujita getting humiliated? I’ll definitely be getting the next volume.