Kekkaishi, Vol. 8

By Yellow Tanabe

Book Overview

Students by day, demon hunters by night

By night, teenager Yoshimori Sumimura is a "kekkaishi"--a demon-hunter who specializes in creating magical barriers around his prey. By day, Yoshimori's got other demons to battle: an addiction to sweets and a seriously crotchety grandfather Yoshimori's pretty neighbor and childhood friend, Tokine Yukimura, is also a kekkaishi, but their families are feuding over who is the true practitioner of the art.

With the help of their new kekkaishi-in-arms Gen, Yoshimori and Tokine battle the Dark Watchtower, a mysterious cabal of hideous ayakashi demons, to defend Yoshimori's ancestral lands But the three friends are badly outnumbered, and when Gen's fury causes him to go too far, they may lose him forever--in more ways than one...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1421508281
• ISBN13: 9781421508283
• Release Date: February 2007
• Publisher: Viz Media
• Length: 200 Pages
• Weight: 0.44 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.1" x 7.5"
• Age Range: 14 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 9 to 12

Customer Reviews

Gen's Past

Yoshimori and Tokine are caught in a trap, and without Gen as backup. Their Kekkaishi powers have been nullified and all that remains are the abilities of two School-Aged teens. Story overview: Tokine executes a plan of action that uses herself as bait. Not on board with this is Yoshimori, whose main goal is to keep Tokine safe. Instead he comes up with a better plan (amazing for him), which destroys the barrier restricting their Kekkaishi powers. Meanwhile Gen--after mostly recovering from his injuries--nearly transforms into his full ayakashi form. Thankfully for him a man named Hiba (as we discover was put in charge of watching Gen) puts a stop to this. Later we are shown Gen's childhood and how he goes berserk and almost kills his beloved sister. (With his brothers and parents the way they were, there's no wonder Gen acts the way he does.) Thankfully his sister didn't die, but Gen finds himself taken away by Masamori to learn to control his power. Back in the present time we rejoin our Kekkaishi duo. The battle goes on until all but the head ayakashi, Kaguro, is left. He himself actually kills the last ayakashi since he didn't like the creature's tactics. Walking away, he decides to come back and try again another day. Once the two Kekkaishi meet up with Gen, they are thankful to find the boy hasn't been kicked out of the Shadow Organization. My thoughts: It was interesting to learn how there are two types of half-ayakashi: (1) Parasitic type, which can only alter a specific body part, and (2) Integrated type, which can totally transform, but in doing so they turn into a complete ayakashi and lose control. Gen is the latter form. Interesting story for sure. There's always a new mystery unfolding and great character interactions: still a page turner even in its eight volume. Things to consider: Same rating as the others: thirteen plus and targeted mainly towards boys. No sexual situations or major cursing. Just typical manga violence that appeals mostly to boys (and yes, to me as well). James D. Maxon Author of, The Cat That Made Nothing Something Again Manga and speculative fiction reviewer: [...]