KAMEN RIDER KUUGA (VOL. 2), from Titan Comics on January 24th, 2023, continues Godai’s ascension as this generation’s Kuuga when the Gegeru competition heats up.
The Details
- Written by: Shotaro Ishinomori, Toshiki Inoue
- Art by: Hitotsu Yokoshima
- Translation by: Jonathan Clements, Motoko Tamamuro
- Letters by: Jessica Burton
- Cover art by: Hitotsu Yokoshima
- Comic Rating: Teen+
- Cover price: $12.99
- Release date: January 24, 2023
Is It Good?
Well, KAMEN RIDER KUUGA (VOL. 2) is making waves among the English-speaking manga-reading community for a supposed lack of quality in the translation. After reading this volume cover-to-cover, it’s clear the translation is… not great. The story is readable, but there are a few spots where it’s probably more enjoyable to ignore the words.
When last we left Godai, he transformed into the Kuuga for the first time to stop one of the monsters from killing (via poison) a group of hostages. Now, Kuuga fights the monster into a retreat and saves the day, but his secret is now out to Det. Ichijo and the monsters now know a new Kuuga is present in this generation to interfere with their Gegeru (killing tournament).
This volume does what practically every Kamen Rider iteration has done before – establish a monstrous threat, grant the Kamen Rider power to an unassuming character with a good heart, and force that Kamen Rider to stretch and learn to level up. In short, this volume has got everything you’ve come to expect in a Kamen Rider series.
That said, the difficulties are in the details. Either the original dialog or the translation of the original dialog is, again, not great. The phrasing and grammar are very weird in spots, and the lettering choice to mix alien and English dialog in the same word balloons is cumbersome. You can get the gist of what’s going on, but this is a tedious read.
The art is good to very good. Sometimes the characters’ movements are stiff, but Yokoshima shines in the action department. As most readers would pick up this property for the Kamen Rider vs Monster fights, the art accomplishes what it needs to.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at the covers, or Click Here to jump right to the story description with some spoilers.
What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
Check out our KAMEN RIDER KUUGA (VOL. 1) review to find out how Godai’s journey began.
We start with Godai transforming into Kuuga-mode in front of witnesses to stop the death of the hostages. He fights the monster into a retreat, but his secret is out to Det. Ichijo. When Godai reverts to human form, he works with the Ichijo to get the hostages to a hospital to treat the poison.
Later, the monsters spread the word that a Kuuga is present in this generation, and they make plans to speed up the Gegeru competition before the Kuuga can make trouble. Their competition, we now know, involves killing a set number of humans within a specified time limit.
The next monster to compete is a cricket hybrid who loves high places, so he kills humans by hopping onto rooftops and throwing humans to the street below. The volume continues and concludes with a rooftop chase, many innocent deaths, and a new task force.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at preview images of the internal pages, or Click Here to jump right to the score.
Final Thoughts
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KAMEN RIDER KUUGA (VOL. 2) is a passable collection of the next set of Kamen Rider Kuuga chapters. The story and art accomplish what’s expected for a Kamen Rider series, but the art is stiff in spots, and the English translation is rough.
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