As an avid manga reader, especially being a massive fan or super-power action stories, not having read any Satoshi Mizukami was a black mark on my record. At the request of a friend, and after a long time coming, I read my first Mizukami manga, starting with his first big hit Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer. Running from 2005-2010, Lucifer became prized gem in many manga circles. Let’s Rock.

PLOT: High above the clouds in space is a massive hammer. Known as the Biscuit Hammer, it’s a tool of the Wizard Animus to destroy the world. However before Animus can use the Biscuit Hammer, he has to defeat the Princess Anima and her 12 Beast Knights. Rings are show up on the chosen Beast Knights along with the Animal to guide them in their battle. One such person is our main character Amamiya Yuuhi, the lizard knight, with the talking lizard Noi Crezant. However Yuuhi’s distaste for the world leads him to have no interest in its affairs, that is until he meets the chosen princess Samidare, who reveals to him her plan to defeat the wizard so she can destroy the world on her own. Swearing fealty to Samidare, Yuuhi joins the battle to save the world and carry out their secret agenda. The set-up is simple, 13 warriors battle a wizard and 12 golems to save the world, but it’s executed upon quite well. The various golems Animus throws at the Beast Knights plus Samidare and Yuuhi’s secret plan keep the formula from getting stale. It’s also helped along by some strong character development and a real sense of danger. The plot isn’t complex, as the characters are the real star of the show, but it’s still fun and interesting even if it sounds very cheesy. The ending is pleasant and satisfying, it’s a short series but it didn’t need to be any longer. The plot may not be the most ambitious but it’s successful. The only thing I can see bugging people is how the plot will skip over noticeable time gaps where nothing happens. The story takes place over more months than it has volumes, so it’ll speed through slower months.

8/10, while feeling like something out of a cartoon, it’s done in a satisfying way.

CHARACTER: This is where the series really shines. Staring with Yuuhi himself. His character arc is flat out great, while he starts off as kind of a scumbag, we see him influence by the people around him. Breaking the chains of his abusive past and discovering the person he wants to be. The relationships he has with the other characters is a highlight as they impact each other. I want to bring special attention to Yuuhi’s relationship with Noi, as that was particularly nice to see develop. Samidare is another character of note. Though less connected to other characters, her connection with Yuuhi is a major part of the series. Her role as the “Lucifer” combined with her upbeat nature make her quite the engaging character, just kinda wish she had less panty shots. All of the other Beast Knights are rather well written as well, the way they influence and bounce off each other makes the cast the real push of the series as we get into each of their minds and stories, no character is left behind (even if they die before being introduced). Princess Anima was interesting but I felt like she didn’t have enough screen time to really be much. Animus the Wizard, while not the deepest of characters, was incredibly notable for his relationships with the Beast Knights as he was highly present throughout the series and constantly interacted with the main cast, being a real highlight. There’s not many notables beyond that though. Early in the series Samidare’s sister Hisame plays a heavily recurring role and was generally played a big part of the character dynamics of the time but fell into irrelevancy. Sami’s family were important to her story but weren’t much outside of that. Yuuhi’s family played a similar role but had noticeably tiny screen time. More time was spent talking about them than with them. Any other character was entirely background, though background can be interesting, just not in the case of Hiwatari who would literally just tighten the pacing of the series if removed, playing no real role.

9/10, the highlight of the series for good reason.

VISUALS: I was not a fan of the art of this manga. While not terrible it was noticeably rough, many characters breaking down anatomically anytime they weren’t the main focus of a panel. The backgrounds were pretty passable when present, but there wasn’t much if anything to really write home about with art quality. From a design aspect however, it was smartly done. The characters are all unique and stand out, most could pass a silhouette test. The golems were interesting to look at and the stuff in space was all visually interesting. The manga flows and is panelled quite well, with some cool spreads here and there, but they were more for being smartly designed than being arted well. However I don’t find the art to be problematic, I do think some of the moments could be given more punch with some better skill. Color pages also look nice.

6.5/10, smart design feels slightly hampered by weak art.

FINAL SCORE: 8/10

While not perfect, this is a very solid series. The characters are fantastically done in a story that stays interesting just as long as it needs to. The series is a lot of fun while also containing interesting ideas on connection, recovery, and what it means to be an adult. While I wouldn’t call myself a Mizukami fan just yet, his first big series turned out to be quite a good one, and one I’d definitely recommend to anyone curious.