this manga has me going cluckin' mad 🐓 (MINOR SPOILERS)

tldr: Rooster Fighter is an action/comedy parody that currently has four volumes out in Japan (with volume 2 scheduled to be released in English November 2022). Has reminded me a lot of Fist of the North Star, One Punch Man, and Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo. Very well drawn, extremely entertaining, and a surprisingly investing plot. Despite being a newer series, I hope to see a lot more from Shu Sakuratani work-wise and on his Instagram! Scroll down to the end to see manga recs similar to this series 🤙🏻🤙🏻

When I first saw VIZ announce Rooster Fighter back in October 2021, I immediately knew I had to buy it. A story about a Kaiju-fighting rooster with a heart of gold and a bottomless stomach was something I needed in my life/collection. So after waiting for what felt like a lifetime, I finally got myself a hand on a copy right before my vacation to Ecuador August 2022. 

To quickly sum it up: In a world riddled with giant Kaiju/Demon monsters, Keiji (our feathery protagonist) is on a quest around the world to enact his revenge on a specific demon. He is a rooster with a lone wolf attitude and a high moral standing despite being a major glutton and dimwit at times. He encounters other extraordinary animals and humans throughout his journey across Japan as well. 

After quickly reading through it (bc I didn't DREAM of bringing this on a plane), I realized my expectations were beyond exceeded. I loved the emotional rollercoaster I went through turning every page 🙌🏻  (from laughing my butt off a few pages in, to watching Keiji bond with humans, to then getting super pumped reading these action panels/pages of Keiji obliterating a demon 🤯🤯) Something I also appreciated in this read were the bird puns sprinkled in between chapters and their titles 👍🏻 It was something extra that helped immerse me more into the RF world.

Once getting back from vacation, I added Rooster Fighter to the ever-growing pile of manga I created for myself and decided to take this reading how I would usually do with manga. I felt that my initial reading was a bit rushed (vacation mode was real 😂) and I was more excited about having this unique manga in my collection. What I love about Rooster Fighter is how it's able to combine so many dynamics from manga and form a brand new twist on the genre. 

Art style-wise I loved the intensity of each panel. I usually find myself having wandering eyes when I read complex manga panels, causing me to lose track of what's going on. With Rooster Fighter, the transitions from Point A to Point B within the panels felt so natural and I was able to keep the momentum of the story continuing .The shading within panels were unbelievable and makes me wish there were color panels within the book 😭 It reminded me a lot of One Punch Man in how impactful action scenes and panels are formatted throughout, and with how both series revamped the idea of an super-powered protagonist.

During my second reading, I was also brought back to memories of when I was younger and watching Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo reruns on Toonami. The clash between action and absurdity felt so nostalgic to see on page, and I only kept finding more influences from the Adventure manga genre. It made me realize I see a lot of Kenshiro (from Fist of the North Star) in Keiji: the powerhouse hero with a heart of gold, a personal vendetta to atone, and with the typical yet classic child companion. All of these tropes/traits only made me grow to love our winged hero (despite my fear of birds 💀). It made me want to be more bold and nonselective with my manga purchases. It kind of gave me that extra push to enjoy books through a less serious perspective and have fun with it like my pre-collecting days. 

I also felt the need to do some research on Shu Sakuratani. It's a habit I developed as a bookseller and it's just nice to be knowledgable of authors/artists/mangaka that you love and respect. I was shocked to find barely any information on him (in English that is 😭) and that Rooster Fighter has amassed a HUGE FOLLOWING in Spanish-speaking countries. And his Instagram is super fun to look through too! Despite being active for only a year, Sakuratani has gained 5k+ followers and posts unique art of Keiji and cast (my personal favorite is Keiji shreddin' 🛹 and playing soccer ⚽️).

Overall, I really enjoyed reading Rooster Fighter! It's one of those series that I see myself rereading solely for how it makes me feel during each turn of the page. Its use of classic shonen/seinin tropes while also establishing a new take on the genre really plays with my brain as a manga reader/collector. Shu Sakuratani has done an amazing job creating an engaging, action-packed, heartstring pulling manga that I can't wait to reread and follow!

I found myself thinking of other series as I finished my second read-through (besides the ones said before). I mentioned Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo earlier and felt it necessary to mention The Elusive Samurai by Yusei Matsui (FUN FACT: He used to work on Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo as an assistant). It's a historical manga about an 8-year-old heir who has to learn to become warrior to avenge his fallen family. There's also Kaiju No. 8 by Naoya Matsumoto. It follows 32-year-old Kafka and his childhood ambition to join the Defense Corp and protect those close to him. Similar to Attack on Titan in the apocalyptic setting, it centers more on the idea of individual growth rather than freedom. Both these series have some comedic/non-serious undertones sprinkled throughout the story that drive it to be both pleasurable and memorable.  

If you've made it this far, thanks so much for reading! I try to blog and highlight manga on Spacehey whenever I'm not busy at work. I plan on being more active on all my socials, and want to set up a manga haul post for the months of August/September sometime by the end of the month! I have a MASSIVE PILE waiting to be bought at work and I want to get started on reading/writing about it. If anyone has any recommendations, please feel free to message me on any of my socials! Hope to write again soon 

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