An Unfinished Dream

Zombies? Rings of the Dead? Punk-Rock? Sign me up!

What do you get when you mix a western setting with ultra-violent showdowns, a comedy that seems at times unexpected and rings that if left unchecked can eat away at you and leave you like an empty husk of a being? The short answer is Zombie Powder! This was the first “long-running” for Kubo Tite. The very same author for the smash hit manga that once was famous all over the world along with Naruto and One Piece, Bleach, forming what was once known as the legendary Big Three. However, this topic on Bleach is best saved for a future post. For now, let me introduce you to the world of Zombie Powder.

Taking heavy inspiration form the likes of Trigun, American western films and high levels of violence seen in films like Mad Max, this manga tells the tale of S-Zero level criminal and ring-hunter Gamma Akutabi. A rather tall, lanky young man with silver hair, long fur coat to just look cool, black leather looking clothing under the coat all come together to deliver the sort of desert punk rock aesthetic that the author and designer wanted to bring to the reader. However, how does a man this stylish defend himself in the harsh environments of the desert? Two simple answers really:

1.      Black armor covering his entire right arm and part of his face. Designed to catch bullets and crush them into fine gun powder, this has also been used to grab a rocket just as it leaves the launcher and sends it flying back to its owner.

2.      A sword that resembles an oversized hunk of iron with chainsaw blades attached all over the sword. One good rev and Gamma can basically make mincemeat out of anyone and anything.

The story centers around Gamma’s quest to become immortal, how would he do that? Simple, gather all twelve rings of the dead and then use up all the powder stored in them to essentially either bring someone back to life or grant oneself immortality. Sadly, however, this series was canceled by Shonen Jump after just four volumes, roughly 24 chapters. The reason being was that the sales and people reading it was just not enough to push it for a longer serialization in the industry. But, nonetheless, this manga has garnered a cult following of sorts for fans of Kubo early art style which followed all the way to the early years of Bleach.

This work is a must-have for any budding Kubo fans to see how he started off and how he drifted into the territory that would become Bleach. Though it is a shame that this series got canceled, it definitely had the potential to be run for at least a couple more volumes. Yet it is viewed as a fun read for those looking for a short western with ultra-violence and a sort of ambiguous end.