Written & Art By Daisuke Ishihara
Viz
ISBNs: 978-1421577647 &978-1421577654
Creatures from another world called Neighbors are attacking Earth. They first appeared in Mikado City and the Border agents, select group of fighters, who use triggers to gain fighting power and special abilities, are the only ones who can defeat them. High schooler Osamu Mikumo is a low-level agent and he notices something suspicious about the new student Yuma Kuga in his class. Yuma doesn’t understand certain human behaviors and he also has super strength. It turns out Yuma is a Neighbor, but he doesn’t want to harm Earth and he wants to keep his identity secret. The two become unlikely allies, but Border is hot on Yuma’s trail.
World Trigger doesn’t start like most shonen manga. Sure, it has the bad guys, an outcast student hero, and special, and powers that will probably become stronger and more outrageous as the series progresses. Instead of the hero being tossed into a situation he doesn’t understand or trying to compete for even more power, he goes about his routine with Yuma tossed in. Okay, so maybe the new student is a clichéd plot device, but Yuma is different. He’s a laidback character without a defined mission and he is passive, but he does react when someone attacks him proving to have great power. He’s also extremely smart, except for human customs adding the required humor bits. Osamu fits the typical ostracized high school student, although he doesn’t seem to mind. He’s more involved with being a border agent and learning about Yuma. In a way, he is passive as well, because he’s not the strongest agent and can only react to situations he’s tossed into. The characters’ passivity actually make them fresh, new heroes. Their world is very active, however. Border has unclear plans for Yuma, there are a well-done fight scenes, the Neighbors’ motivations are still an intriguing mystery, and the side-characters are being interestingly developed.
Asihara’s style has a light tone not often found in shonen manga, contributing more to the story’s freshness. It feels more like a humor comic, given how Yuma is a small, cute, and rounded. This is traded off with more sharp action scenes, but even they have a more organic quality to them.
World Trigger is fresh take on the shonen genre and it goes too quickly, leaving you wanting the next volume.
