‘Rooster Fighter: Vol.1’ – Shu Sakuratani (Viz Media)

 


Page Count: 192 Pages

Just a quick reminder that this blog isn’t just about zombies, Warhammer 40K and Conan. Well, it mostly is but just for today, it’s about demons… And the rooster who fights them :o)

My eldest daughter loves her Manga so I thought I’d give some a go too, have something to read and chat about while she’s reading :o) The only problem was, where to start…? As a fifty year old guy (who hadn’t read any Manga since the earliest days of his earliest blog) it felt a little weird to be seen with some of the stuff that my sixteen year old daughter reads. And then I saw the cover for ‘Rooster Fighter Vol.1’ and there was no longer a question about what my next read would be…

Giant demonic monsters wreak havoc and level Japanese cities! While the citizens flee in terror, it’s up to one brave rooster to stand his ground!

In a world where terrifying monsters walk the earth, one heroic rooster is destined for greatness. When giant demons threaten the innocent, he’s going to show them who’s boss!

The neighborhood cock of the walk is more than just an ordinary rooster—he’s humanity’s greatest defender! His opponents may be ten stories tall, but nothing is bigger than his stout heart and his fearsome battle cry—cock-a-doodle-doo!

I’ll be honest, I had no idea what to expect from this book, other than what the title promised, erm… a rooster, that fights :o) And as it turned out, I didn’t get a lot more than that. I’m not sure if I’d invest more time or money in this series but as a one-off trip into what Manga can offer a reader like me, I had some fun with this title.

‘Rooster Fighter’ very much does what it says on the tin, almost to the exclusion of everything else. Our rooster hero sees a demon, fights it and then it’s on to the next fight, all in the name of a quest for revenge that is only hinted at here. And that’s ok for a ‘first book’, that is clearly here to introduce our hero, but for this reader, I’d like some confirmation that the plot is going to thicken before I think about picking up Vol.2. As a concept, ‘rooster fights demons’ is good for a single book but I think I’d personally need more than that across a series.

For what it is though, I had a lot of fun reading Vol.1. Sakuratani delivers his concept with just the right amount of seriousness and gravitas for something so essentially… silly. This kind of approach is guaranteed to pique my interest and keep me reading, that’s exactly what it did here. Vol.1 was full of ‘laugh out loud’ moments delivered by a rooster that either takes itself far too seriously, or really is a hero. Like I said, I’m really undecided over continuing but I can definitely appreciate it in the meantime. And the artwork was very easy on my tired old eyes so I’m also very grateful for that.

Not a bad read at all but still a read that raises questions about the rest of the series. On the off chance that anyone reading this has read more ‘Rooster Fighter’, where does the series go next?

Comments

  1. Bookstooge3 June 2026 at 10:13

    I have never heard of this. It definitely sounds silly :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Graeme3 June 2026 at 12:21

      I'm struggling to think of anything else so silly that's treated as seriously as this, it works though :o)

      Delete

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