Innocent W: Volume 1 April 23
Innocent W | Volume 1 (192 Pages) | Published: August 24, 2006
Have I been on a horror kick lately? I honestly have no idea, but Innocent W was definitely a hit with me!
Chapters:
1. Walpurgis Day
2. Wanted
3. Weirdness
4. Wretch
5. Wag
6. Woman
7. Wizardry
Summary: From Kei Kusunoki, the creator of Sengoku Nights, comes a twisted psychological drama about Makoto, a private eye with an uncanny, almost otherworldly ability to get his man. When he is put on the case of a suspected witch, the trail suddenly takes a dark turn along the fine line that separates the guilty from the innocent.
Age Rating: Tokyopop says 16+. It’s got gore beyond an R-rated movie, so I’ll give you a considerable warning; also, the second image and the linked image in the full post may be considered spoilers.
As I’ve already said, Innocent W is a horror series with a lot of gore in it. Makoto joins a group of witches who are being hunted down in a modern version of the old witch hunts. Right off the bat, he’s stuck in the midst of a suspenseful plot taking place in the mountains and everything just rolls off from there. The pacing is fast but never skimps on detail, the art is great and the characters are all pretty interesting; there’s a blaze of introductions and loads of detailed backstory that really gets you empathizing with the cast. The unique abilities of each character really help to keep the action and interactions between characters fresh.
As the title tries its hardest to be significant, all the chapter titles also begin with the letter W. Innocent W refers to the innocence of the witches that compromise the majority of the cast. When you’ve got a cast of young people in a fight for their lives, innocence definitely is called into question: kill of be killed? This is one theme that begins to rear its head towards the end of the first volume, taking off with a whirlwind of storytelling that will keep you reading well into the subsequent volumes.
If you don’t get sick from seeing limbs being ripped off and large amounts of blood, then you’ll probably find a strong sense of satisfaction of the character-based horror elements. We’re not talking about creatures from any Black Lagoons or other stereotypes; this kind of horror is the violent yet psychological kind, like what has been seen in Higurashi no Naku Koroni.
If you’ve got the stomach for a unique horror series that doesn’t take the safe route with storytelling, definitely give Innocent W a read.
