Arm of Kannon, Vol. 1 [Paperback]

Masakuzu Yamaguchi (Author)

Book Description

Series: Arm of Kannon | Publication Date: May 4, 2004

The archeologist Tozo Mikami discovers an ancient Buddhist relic, The Arm of Kannon, an object of strange and mystical power. But soon afterward, he disappears, leaving behind a wife and two children. Three years later he reappears... but he may not be the man he was. His son, Mao, suspects the worst. And when a mysterious warrior shows up as a protector for he and his sister, Mao begins piecing together the secrets of the relic that may lead to a secret organization committed to exploiting the magic of the ancient relic for the development of super soldiers for the military.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Appeals to fans of Battle Royale and Priest Mature-themed horror in the vein of Clive Barker, the author of Hell Raiser

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: TokyoPop (May 4, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591828104
• ISBN-13: 978-1591828105
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 4.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,853,872 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Feel the wrath of my Kannon, May 14, 2004

By 

Del Keyes "Elaborate Chattering Nut" (In The Middle of the Sunshine) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Arm of Kannon, Vol. 1 (Paperback)

[IMPRESSIONS]

Hold on! There's softcore porn in my manga. It's kinda hard to believe that a horror manga like Arm of Kannon would have something as risque as that, but I'll explain about it later in this review. I had high hopes for Tokyopop's latest release, because the company's other horror graphic novels just couldn't get the genre right ("Priest" and "Pet Shop of Horrors" didn't exactly give me the heebie-jeebies). It's twisted around the edges, but unlike others who give negative remarks on this manga, it isn't half-bad.

Arm of Kannon's premise is a good one. In this day and age, where weapons continues to evolve, only one weapon controls all and can bring chaos to the world by the one who wield it. No, it's not the Ring of Power, Tolkien-geeks, though the Arm of Senju Kannon has its similarities. A secret organization wanted it, a mysterious young man from Isurugi temple wanted to destroy it, and both of them knew that the source of its wherabouts came from a teenager who has a thing for visualizing bleeding women...in the nude (that's maturity, for you). That teenager, Mao, is already having a bad day as it is: he had a wet dream in front of his skimpy older sister Maya, he got beat up at school, then his father came to his life after being AWOL for three years, killing his mother, and turning into a monsterous being that attacked and infected Mao with the evil power. Not only that, he and his sister were kidnapped by the organization to use Mao as a test subject to further their research on why us humans have "lizard genes." Oh, and the organization has the technology to turn humans into lizard people.

This has a wonderful art setting that seem to bring back 80s nostalgia. Otherwise, Arm of Kannon has one of the lousiest character designs I've ever seen. Characters seem basic and sometimes sketchy, and talk about their hairdos. Mao's hair kind of looks like me when I have bedhair, and by the way, Maya, Elvira called, she needs her wig back. The monsters look good, but compare to the ones from "Berserk", they have a lot to be desired.

From the monsters come to one's mind: Arm of Kannon is DEFINITELY not for everyone. Tokyopop really takes its mature rating by the name. Not only is this manga bloody and violent in the most off-the-wall scale, but so is the sexual activities. Panty shots are to be expected, but there's this one scene when Mao is captured and was taken in to the laboratory, he was naked and a female scientist wanted to see if he contains the power of the Arm of Senju Kannon by...let's just say, I didn't see that comming (Oh great, I just did a sex joke in a review). There's a primary flaw behind Arm of Kannon, and that it's too one-sided. I'm mostly seeing the Isurugi warrior fighting one bad guy after another, and so much action scenes beg me more depth in the manga's storyline. Plus the action scenes aren't exciting, either.

Bad art design and tedious scenarios kind of dulls down the exictment that this manga has with its premise, and to the fact that this is more close to the gross-out factor, than the actually fear factor that I expected. Arm of Kannon isn't bad, but this isn't the psychological horror title I'm looking for.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Beware of What You Look For, December 22, 2004

By 

Joshua Koppel (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Arm of Kannon, Vol. 1 (Paperback)

Mao is a teenager. His sister, mother and himself were left by his archeologist father several years ago. But one day as he and his sister are attacked by thugs, they are rescued by a mysterious super-warrior from Isurugi temple. He claims to be their bodyguard.

Then Mao discovers that his father has returned. He is an emaciated shell of his former self. He apparently went looking for a powerful artifact called the Arm of Senju Kannon, which he found and became possessed by. Now he wants to share it with his son. Mao makes some disturbing discoveries and is soon abducted by a secret research facility.

At the facility, they have been working on turning men into monsters using the unused DNA hidden away in everyone, especially the reptile DNA. They are very interested in Mao, the Arm and how it may have effected them.

This first volume is the only one so far without a parental warning and, oddly, has the most explicit scenes in the series so far. Although the series is called "The Arm of Kannon", the artifact is always referred to as the Arm of Senju Kannon. I have read the first several volumes and unlike other reviewers seen no similarity to "Overfiend" although the story of a weapon (sword, gauntlet, knife, etc.) that possesses its user is not new, this book pulls out most of the stops. While not the best horror comic I have read, it earns the title of horror better than most titles currently being written.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars FREUDIAN NIGHTMARE, May 16, 2004

By 

Sesho "www.sesho.libsyn.com" (Pasadena, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Arm of Kannon, Vol. 1 (Paperback)

It's been 3 years since Mao and Mayo Mikami's father, a respected archeaologist disappeared mysteriously after he found an ancient Buddhist relic named the Arm of Kannon. It holds great power which the government wishes to use to transform ordinary soldiers into demonic death machines. The problem is that the Arm cannot be controlled once its power is unleashed into the world. It seems that everyone is interested in finding Mao and Maya's father, including a mysterious superhero-like swordsman who shows up to save them from a street gang, claiming that he is their bodyguard. Can even he save them from the Arm and the equally evil government?

The Arm of Kannon succeeds on some levels but not on others. If you like the dark sexual horror of Clive Barker mixed with equal parts squish in the dark H.P. Lovecraft you would probably like this. It does have a disquieting atmosphere and is definately recommended for 18 and older because there is some very graphic sexual scenes in it. It's too early to tell whether the series will get better. The swordsman seems to be the most interesting while the brother and sister just seem the stock victims of powers beyond their control. Hopefully Maya will become stronger. Also, the monsters in the manga are almost laughable sometimes reminding one of goofy looking monster antagonists from a Godzilla movie.