Onkei by Alisha Cole and art by Tiffany Lei is hands-down one of the best things I picked up at MegaCon this year.
I’ve been looking for a good all-ages manga and, after hearing Alisha and her mom tell me how Onkei is an all-ages non-violent book, I couldn’t read it fast enough. I was given the paperback at MegaCon for this review and after reading it, I bought the Kindle version so I could take it with me everywhere.
The synopsis reads:
“A journey of a thousand miles begin with a single step – Confucius
This philosophy guides Kenji Yoshimoto, A young man who goes from ordinary to extraordinary in a whirlwind adventure of supernatural proportions, after he stumbles upon a meeting of spirits one night that changes his life forever.
Now, he must save Tokyo, get the girl and most importantly, find the hero within as sparks fly in the epic battle between life and death for his fate.”
I love that Kenji is a fun, interesting, and relatable character. It’s not hard to imagine myself in Kenji’s story and walking in his shoes. I was drawn into the story and the characters to the point that I was sad when it ended because it meant there were no more adventures with Kenji, Kane, Al, and Yuu.
My only issue with Onkei is it feels condensed. Some of it felt a little rushed to get into one book instead of expanding it out into a couple of books. There are definitely areas of the story that I would like to see explored, specifically Kenji and his relationship with the spirit world.
If you’re looking for a fun manga to kill an afternoon, I can’t recommend Onkei enough. It’s easily one of my favorite books on my shelf.
Onkei is available on Amazon for $10 print and $2.99 on the Kindle.
Disclaimer: GeekMom was given a review sample.
