Title: Choujin X Vol. 11
Author: Sui Ishida
Publisher: Viz Media
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 231
Genre: Supernatural, Battle
Publication Date: February 17, 2026
The Story
This volume was about 95% action and 5% story, so the story section here will be a bit short. We have all of Yamato Mori’s teams split up after Zora’s tower rearranged itself, and now, major battles have begun against some of Zora’s children. The battles are set up as follows:
- Sandek and Arthur – Re-establishing communications
- Ely, Simon, Michael, and Michaelangelo – locked in battle with Jing and Tawashi
- Tokio and Momoma – locked in battle with I.C. Ice
- Azuma, B.B., Denku, and Tagawa – locked in battle with Bador Vlad
The volume cycles from one battle to another, as we see our characters get their butts whipped; however, in typical fashion, they each find their way to grow and overcome the odds… except for the case with Bador Vlad. It seems as if he is going to be the strongest of Zora’s children, and quite the pain to take down. So much so that we were given a complete backstory on him and how he came to be.
During one of the battles, however, a huge revelation is made that shocks the team to their core! While they figure out how to deal with that, Batista also makes his move, but he has no interest in fighting Yamato Mori… instead, he has his own goals to achieve!
Characters
Bador Vlad was given the most attention in this volume. During the Great Choujin War, he was an aristocrat and soldier from Iratis until he met Sora (aka Zora) once Iratis fell to Queen, and he joined the allied forces of Yamato Mori. He followed her, devoted his life to her, and became her top general. In human form, he was so powerful on the battlefield that he was nicknamed The Fiend of War, and this carried over to his Choujin form. His powers allow him to manipulate the blood of his enemies along with his own blood, and as long as a single drop of blood remains, he can regenerate over and over and over again, making him insanely powerful!
We got some background on I.C. Ice as well. He was once a sailor, and the ship he was on carried an unexploded warhead from Queem. That warhead decided to randomly go off, killing his entire crew, except for him. Zora appeared before him, giving him her blood and restoring him. Because of that, he owed everything to Zora and began to follow her.
We also received a small amount of backstory on B.N., Denku, and Tagawa back when they were training five years ago. They were a playful bunch, always ragging on one another; however, when it came time to decide whether they would be offense or support, they devised a rather unique attack formation, which explains why they were teamed up with one another, and why they work so well together!
Final Thoughts
If you love action, Volume 11 is going to give you plenty of it. I have to commend Sui Ishida here because it seems as if he learned his lessons from Tokyo Ghoul. The battles in Tokyo Ghoul were very hard to keep track of because he would jump from one battle to the next with very little explanation. Plus, with a massive cast of characters, it was hard to keep track of who was who without the use of a spreadsheet. Here, he clearly defined who was in each group, and not only did he define it, but he also reiterated it whenever the scene switched to a new battle. He made sure you knew who was fighting at all times without having to guess. Plus, it helps that the cast is a bit smaller, and the characters are more uniquely designed this time around. Just those little changes made keeping up with everything happening much easier!
As for the battles themselves, I don’t mean to make this sound negative because the battles themselves were thrilling, but it wasn’t anything new that we haven’t seen in any other action series. What I mean by that is that it followed the same formula of our heroes getting their backs pressed against a wall in a seemingly helpless situation, only to find a way to evolve, power up, and win. It’s an overused formula we’ve seen time and time again, and maybe that’s the formula that works best in Japan, but it’s quite tiring to see it across series after series after series. I don’t find myself feeling as if any of the characters are in any sort of peril. I’m simply flipping through the pages waiting for the moment they turn it around, and when it happens, I simply shrug my shoulders and say, “There it is.”
For new readers just getting into manga and/or anime, this might be something they find riveting and exciting, but when you see the same formula for over twenty years, you just become numb to it. Again, I don’t want this to be a reflection on the quality of the action because it was pretty top-notch. Sui Ishida knows how to make action scenes sing, and this is no different. I just wish he had taken a chance and executed the battles differently than just relying on the same overused formula.
I know… a nitpick to address a problem that’s not truly a problem, but that’s what I do. I’m a critic, a reviewer, and I call it like I see it.
Other than that, I loved the volume. The major reveal in it about Zora and her children does create quite the dramatic scenario, but rather than leaving it to stew in our minds, we have the Batista factor, which just might have given us the answer to the problem, because our main characters can even process the problem. We’ll see if I’m right, as we may get more of this next time around!
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This item was provided for review by VIZ Media
