Iron Knight

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Today I will present manga (Iron Knight) written and illustrated by Tomohiro Yagi, the first release was on December 5 2013. Tomohiro just entered into the world of manga but he has long been known in the art, 2012 he was awarded the Golden Future Cup for Goblin Night and One Shot manga he created.

The story revolves around a young boy named Teppei Ushizume (and full on the words "Iron Soldier"). Although he does not live with his parents, because his mother died and his father has to be away from home for long periods of time because of his job, he stays with ... Tsubasa Himegami, a very close friend of his and her family until his father returns. Unlike other children, his body is hard as steel.
But the quiet life begins to change when more people appear to have a goblin virus. The virus changes people and turns them into a monster that attacks all around, but it seems that the majority of infected are criminals. Although caring boy, he ends up infected, but unlike the others, he can control himself and use his newfound powers to fight evil goblins. In a short time he encounters battles with groups of goblins, inexperienced he slowly learne their skills and capabilities. While moving through his hometown, he sees the destruction goblins made and it gives him a reason to defend people.

Throughout the work one can get a feel of the weight of emotions, on the other hand it calls the animal in us to go out and act as justice. The illustration is good and shows a lot of detail in the battles, as an artist, Tomohiro uses more free art features than the expressive detail.

As for the story, is popular but still would like to emphasize that somewhat resembles the modern epic stories such as Iron Man, but still described in the spirit of the Japanese tradition. As recently dabbled in the world of manga, I expect and hope to see soon more work from his workshop.

Iron Knight is a manga that has just been serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump. There's only been 5 chapters so I'm only judging on the five chapters that have come out.

Story (5/10): The story is about a 10 year old kid called Teppei. He wakes up one day in a post-apocalyptic world runned by goblins that eat humans. Apparently somehow he's able to turn into an iron skinned goblin hence the name "Iron Knight." With his new power, he's currently trying to find his parents that disappeared overnight.

Art (8/10): There's really nothing special. The drawings are pretty good.

Character (6/10): As for right ... now, there's not a big variety of characters. There's only the main character. Teppei is EXTREMELY naive. The main character is 10 so it explains his naivety.

Overall, this story is a near ripoff of Attack on Titan. The plot elements are the same except a couple things: lacks the darkness aspect, the character is very naive, and not really amazing action scenes.

Iron Knight died after a one-shot, 17-ish chapters and a singular chapter after the fact. It was certainly short-lived, but it told its story in a straight line. It never explored the interesting possibilities this manga could have become, and it could've lasted longer; Much, much longer.

Iron Knight tells the story of Teppei, a boy so naive and hard-headed it's sickening. He has the ability to become a goblin through the Goblin Virus epidemic and protects humans. He is simple, innocent, and square. His feelings are so dull, and not much is done to give his backstory attention so readers can relate to him. ... His personality could've reached a spectrum of different feelings; but instead, he's either happy, crying or angry. Near the end, Teppei undergoes a personality change caused by the virus, which happens completely between two chapters, remaining unseen by the reader. This breakdown could've been explored much further, to create that impending doom of this collapse. The plot could've jumped so far, to explore more situations and more feelings, but, it ended in 20 chapters, and two major arcs.

Iron Knight has several battles that can be pleasing. Scenes are drawn well, and Teppei's goblin design is neat. There is some tedious fanservice. Yet, there are about 3 or 4 major battles, which, as I said, leaves room for so much potential.

Iron Knight could've been a long running shounen that could dive its characters into emotion, explore a plot that could twist and turn, and leave its readers begging for more. I could've loved it. But instead of being that, it is dull, uncomplicated and simple.