Innocents Children Crusade v1

In honour of the 20th anniversary of the original release of Pokemon Red/Green in Japan, I bring you a manga about another fun fad children took part back in the 13th century: the Crusades! Yes, this is Furuya Usamaru's Innocents Children's Crusade! It wasn't a project I ever intended on shelving for so long since I'm a big Furuya-fan, but circumstances led me to do so when I found myself out of raws and I was busy with Tomorrow's Joe and Sangokushi. But with the help of the skilled editor Kennit, we quickly wrapped up the remaining 3 chapters in the first volume and will be bringing volumes 2 and 3 soon enough (current plan is to finish before May).

For those of you who haven't heard of this manga, this is a fantastic... Ero-guro tragedy. Now, I know that isn't exactly the most esteemed of genres in story-telling, but it's a great violent tragedy nonethless so do give it a try. If you've read and liked Furuya's Litchi Hikari Club, this will be right up your alley as LHC's influence on Innocents Children Crusade should be clear to all. I think a common complaint with LHC was that there was only one volume to get to know (and then say goodbye to) 9 boys, so the characterization, character growth, and plot development all had to fight for limited room, which didn't make for the best pacing. I think Furuya Usamaru himself may have felt this way about LHC, which is why he immediately afterwards decided to draw Innocents Children's Crusade, a spiritual successor of sorts. The 3 hefty volumes he dedicated to this series consequently makes for much better pacing, so you really do feel more attached to the characters as they're corrupted and meet their ends. As a fan of history and tragedies, this was a great read for me and I'm quite excited to continue its translation.

That's all I have to say for now so enjoy the opening act! The violence and tragedy will soon follow in v2...

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Innocent Children's Crusade v1:   Mega