Blaster Knuckle

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Alternative Titles

Japanese: ブラス・ナックル

Information

Type: Manga

Volumes: 3

Chapters: 20

Status: Finished

Published: Dec 11, 1992 to Jul 28, 1995

Genres: Action, Fantasy, Horror, Supernatural

Theme: Historical

Demographic: Seinen

Serialization: Young Animal

Authors: Wazarai, Shizuya (Story & Art)

Statistics

Score: 6.79¹ (scored by 2,030 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #11810²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #3650

Members: 5,697

Favorites: 43

6.79

Ranked #11810Popularity #3650Members 5,697

MangaYoung AnimalWazarai, Shizuya (Story & Art)

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Volumes: /3

Chapters: /20

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Synopsis

America, 1885. Slavery has been abolished and African Americans are able to live freely. Yet, tensions still run high in the country—they are shunned by the majority of the white population and ruthlessly killed by the vicious Ku Klux Klan. Amidst this era of uncertainty, former heavyweight boxer Victor Freeman contends with prejudice while evading the law and bounty hunters looking to collect the high price on his head. Though charged with the murders of several white folk, the truth driving Victor's actions is much more horrific than any truly realize.

Hiding among the human race are intelligent, man-eating demons, who have assimilated themselves into positions of power and taken advantage of mankind's bigotry to fill their bellies. Having witnessed his father being brutally devoured by demons as a child, Victor vows to eradicate their kind for good. However, slaying them leaves nothing but a human corpse behind, effectively casting him as a cold-hearted killer. Regardless, with his robust arsenal and unparalleled boxing prowess, Victor soldiers on to destroy demonkind—even if doing so will turn the world against him.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

More characters
Characters

Freeman, Victor

Main

MacGregor, Alex

Supporting

Reviews

Sep 11, 2021

Glasses-Swirly

Recommended

Blaster Knuckle, much like RED, is a highly underrated manga with a lot of pure amazing things going on with it.

It immediately brings you into the action and also gets you up to speed fairly quick and the characters are all charming in their own rights.
Basically think if Guts from berserk was a black boxing bounty hunter fighting racism and the demon KKK with a special explosive fist.

Its as rad as it sounds.
It also does a great job of keeping the pace going with only a handful of slower moments that serve to make the experience better.

Similar to RED as well, it takes its time ...

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Apr 23, 2017

comiclove

Recommended

'Blaster Knuckle': A niche seinen historical horror manga from the early 90's created by a good friend of THE Kentaro Miura. Sounds good already, right? Unfortunately, it was cancelled only 20 chapters in (you can surmise why after reading the story segment) and was never continued again. The existing chapters, however, make for a good weekend read thanks to a strong plot, gloriously gory art, and well-rounded characters.

[Story - 8]

The story is rather unique for a 'monster-hunter' setting: It follows the adventures of Victor Freeman, a black man living in the southern USA during the 1880's. After witnessing shapeshifting beasts eat people alive as a ... child, he dedicated himself to becoming the best beast hunter alive. Naturally, he would face many more hardships than usual due to his status as a visible minority in the deep south during a period of rampant racism.

The story follows typical plots of this specific genre during its run, but also mixes in the impact of hate crimes and division amongst ethnic groups. While it can be rather ham-fisted at times, it's still worth praising since it can be handled rather well at other times. It feels very 'tough-dudebro-masculine', but I don't particularly find that an issue as I expected it going in, and so no complaints are found there. The pacing is mostly solid: While the very first chapter is a rather long-winded introduction, the two arcs that come afterward are handled just fine and feel natural. The last arc has a satisfying ending in spite of its cancellation, although it definitely brings up concepts that would have been further explored had it continued.

[Art - 10]

The art is the most noteworthy feature here: While not super unique, it still stands out due to the beautiful shading palettes and intense degree of detail put into every panel. The character designs are rather timely and unique to everyone, especially in regards to the beasts that are hunted. The weapons look rather authentic, and naturally the gore resulting from their usage is grossly amazing.

[Character - 8]

Since each arc involves a different specific locale, the cast changes: the only constant is our protagonist Victor. He comes off as rather bland at first, but is soon shown to have a complex moral dilemma inside of him as he deals with the beasts and the discrimination he faces. Despite that, he has a rather tragic backstory fitting of the genre, and can be rather cliché at times with the dialogue.

The other characters don't have a lot of depth to be frank, but I attribute this to both the format of the arc structure and the early ending this series had received. The only other character worth noting would be the anti-hero/anti-villain/neutral/yougetmypoint bounty hunter, Andy MacGregor. He comes off as a typical 'cowboy' archetype, but is actually engaging once he encounters Victor. You'll see why if you read it, but I know he would have been a recurring character - and a fun one at that.

[Enjoyment/Overall - 9]

This series was honestly such a blast to read. Sometimes it's fun to lose yourself in straight-forward 'action horror' manga, especially if it has a unique take on it. I definitely would love to see this series make a comeback (even if it is nowhere near being a favourite), but that's obviously never happening anytime soon. I'd definitely recommend this to people who love this sort of manga (over-the-top monster-hunters), and if you want to see a fairly unique setting in manga.

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Feb 19, 2016

711nono

Recommended

I've always been a sucker for over the top and ridiculous action in anime and manga. What makes this type of action even better is if there's a special spin or twist added in to make the action more unique. Blaster Knuckle is a manga that is unique in many ways. Anime and manga that take place in the Western Hemisphere aren't exactly unheard of but they aren't common either.

Coming into this manga I thought it was gonna be just basic action with gun duels and a great western feel. Well I was correct on 2 thirds of that prediction but the ... action in blaster kunckle is anything but basic.

Well let's start with the basics, Blaster Knuckle is a 3 volume long manga written by Shizuya Wazari. This series is often compared to berserk which I cannot comment on because I have not read berserk yet. But I'm definitely going to say that in my opinion Blaster Knuckle is a very special manga with some interesting concepts ingrained within it.

One thing I really liked about this manga is the premise. I would have never expected that the Ku Klux Klan would be portrayed as demonic beasts that eat the flesh of humans. The narrative is fueled primarily by the vengeance which is what the main character is seeking for. The setting is the southern United States which is pretty interesting and it connects to the context of the Ku Klux Klan and racism. The time period is captured very well in this manga which is important.

The characters here were pretty good but the only two characters that can transcend the realm of decent are the main protagonist Victor Freeman and an important side character named Alex Mcgregor. These 2 characters are very well done. Victor in particular really drives the story with his extremely cool character design and demenaor. Mcgregor also exentuates cool but adds some comic relief and humor into the story.

One can argue that this story is driven solely by action which is kind of correct. The action sequences here are great and ooze cool. Victor has fists and Mcgregor has guns in unexpected places and watching them destroy the demons was entertaining.

The conclusion of the manga was good but I large problem I had was that some crucial info about the two characters were info dumped way to late into the story and could have been further elaborated. The length of the series was also a slight issue because the majority of the anime is taken up by that third story arc. I felt some other interesting stories could have been weaved if the manga was longer.

The art here is great with the monsters being very detailed and the character designs were also top notch. The backgrounds were drawn well and captured the time period in both art and dialogue.

So overall I enjoyed this series for its fresh plot elements and creative story. The world that this anime takes place in was well done and the character design was meticulously detailed. This is for the people who love straight up action and monster flicks that dont mind gore. Definitely check this out for the western atmosphere, the detailed main characters, and that wonderful dose of brutal action.

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Poll: Blaster Knuckle Chapter 1 Discussion Rocko52 - Sep 17, 2014	6 replies	by xthewarwithinx »» Jun 8, 2023 8:52 PM
Poll: Blaster Knuckle Chapter 5 Discussion SzJ - Jan 31, 2015	3 replies	by Individuo80 »» Jun 29, 2022 7:36 PM
Poll: Blaster Knuckle Chapter 11 Discussion SzJ - Apr 12, 2015	3 replies	by outolunch »» Apr 13, 2021 1:54 AM
Poll: Blaster Knuckle Chapter 3 Discussion SzJ - Jan 31, 2015	3 replies	by outolunch »» Apr 13, 2021 12:16 AM
Poll: Blaster Knuckle Chapter 20 Discussion SzJ - Apr 19, 2015	7 replies	by ManWild »» Apr 4, 2021 9:27 PM

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