Customer Reviews

Reiko The Zombie Shop, Vol. 2 (v. 2)

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When Volume 1 ended the last we saw of Reiko was her decapitated head as she sent the serial killer Saki Yurikawa down to Hell. Some creepy people come to make sure she's really dead, sent by "The Master", a person with powers like Reiko that wants to kill all life and create a zombie empire! The Master has gathered together like-minded summoners, and those who cannot be recruited are killed. Two summoners on the side of Good go looking for Reiko and are able to supply her head with a body (don't ask how), and after that, the battle is on!

This second volume is a lot different than the first. Whereas volume 1 was more of a horror manga that was suffused with atmosphere and more episodic stories, Volume 2 becomes an absurd battle manga...which doesn't make it necessarily bad. You see, The Master's minions and Reiko and her pals each have a signature zombie that they use to do battle. For example, Reiko uses the dead Yurikawa, who uses knives to fight, but other characters have gunfighters, giant snakes, Witch Trial executioners, etc. It almost turns out like twisted Pokemon matches, with each Zombie Shop conjuring up an undead with special powers to fight each other. While this is pretty interesting for one volume, I feel this manga could go downhill fast if it keeps with that formula. I saw the same thing happen with the Getbackers, where you had the first couple of volumes having a simple storyline, but all of the sudden it seemed as if the writer wanted to make them into American superheroes. Reiko is flirting with that transformation too. If this continues with Volume 3, my interest in the series will be zombified.

Rei Mikamoto, Reiko the Zombie Shop, vol. 2 (Dark Horse, 2000)

Okay, so how do you write volume 2 of a manga when you finished up volume 1 with the titular character getting decapitated? By having her zombify herself just before death, of course. Reiko, however, has bigger plans, and in order to achieve them, she has to borrow another body (hers is rather indisposed at the moment). This she does, and while the friends of the possessed girl aren't terribly happy about it, they agree to help Reiko track down and destroy the person behind all the evil Reiko's been combating. (I'll not spoil her identity for you.) Oddly, vol. 2 is less ultra-violent than vol. 1. As a consolation prize, though, Mikamoto actually comes up with an interesting storyline and some recurring characters to go with it. An improvement over the first volume, slightly. ***

The second volume of the "Reiko the Zombie Shop" series is more action than horror, but it still holds a good portion of horror at various moments throughout. The main focus here is now aimed towards Reiko's evil twin sister Riruka who wants to dominate the world by making it 'Zombies Only.' Along for the ride are some newcomers who are also summoners with their own Zombies. I don't think their names are worth mentioning though. If you read the volume, you'll probably understand why. Anyway, Riruka also has her goons and that's when the blood spills and guts spin out of control. Reiko is a likeable character though and just the fact that she's not a goofy and naive heroine like what you see in a lot of Manga titles, makes her all the more interesting. One new character that is worth mentioning is Jasmine, a mercenary for hire who summons a weapon's dealer instead of a fighting Zombie. In the end, this volume has pretty much all the fun of the first volume and a nice ending that smoothly transitions into volume three.