Katekyhoshi Hitman REBORN! VOL 1

Katekyoshi Hitman REBORN! is a manga by Akira Amano. It is a shounen, or boys' genre, manga. It has spawned an anime in Japan, and several video games; so why is it so popular? Let's start with the story.

Tsunayoshi "Tsuna" Sawada is a hopeless kid, he has bad grades, he sucks at athletics, and he's never talked to a girl! The kids even gave him the name "Dame-Tsuna", or "Loser Tsuna" in the English version. He skips school and knows he might get suspended, but in his loser mind he doesn't care! His mother hires a tutor called "Reborn". The ad which sates that he will "make you into boss of the next generation", is pretty shady in Tsuna's mind. Reborn's real objective is to make Tsuna into the 10th boss of the Vongolia Mafia family! Tsuna doesn't believe this at first, but Reborn might just turn his life around! How? He has the "Dying Will Bullet" that he shoots and, someone who had regrets will come back to life, and do thier last dying will regret...but if they don't have any regrets, they'll die!

Now for the review...

The story: The story of Tsuna's loser life can be empathized by all underdogs, and the comedy is great. Especially Lambo, the five-year-old hitman for the Bovino family! He is an assasian sent to kill Reborn! He sadly fails though, Reborn is just too cool for Lambo. In fact, Reborn quotes, "I don't hang around with the lowe echelen!" Tsuna soon relies on the Dying Will Bullet, and uses it any chance he gets! He uses it to fight Gokedara, a kid in his class, and a candidate for the Vongolia Family 10th generation boss spot! Gokedera loses, but vows to serve Tsuna for life, his loyalty goes a litle too far, sometimes. Also Yamamoto, a kid in Tsuna's class, along with Gokedera is one of his best friends. I think that this is a good, light, slice-of life story and has a good flow of events.

The Art: The art is very eye-catching, and is pretty typical for manga, but the way Amano draws the younger characters, like Lambo and Reborn, is very creative. It has a nice clean flow, even in the scenes where Tsuna and Gokedara, who comes later in volume 1 fight.

The Charactes: The characters are great, they have great personalities, even Hayato Gokedara, who seems cold to Tsuna at first, but then becomes one of Tsuna's men in the Vongolia mafia family. Tsuna is basicly your shonen hero, weak, hapless, normal, but then he discovers his hidden ability (if you can call him becoming a mafia boss that...) Anyway, the characters have great depth and grow more as the story progresses. All and all, the characters are memorable.

So, what's my final verdict? Katekyoshi Hitman REBORN! is a great read, and the first volume is a great start into Amano's manga career. It has been released by VIZ MEDIA, and there are currenty 10 volumes in the US, UK, and Canada. So go pick it up.

Sources- Wikipidea, Katekyoshi Hitman REBORN! volume 1.