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Tobei is just a little kid when he's forced to stand up for himself in order to survive in a reality where nobody cares about him. On the contrary, he is looked down upon and considered scum. He grows up being remembered every single day how much of a curse he is and completely by himself, heedless of what affection is. To live on he can't do without scavenging for food and stealing, harming or even killing all those who attempt on his own life. The time to pay the piper for all his wrongdoings soon arrives and he is publicly beheaded, but this deed ... doesn't put him out of misery: hell is awaiting for him. There, Tobei is steadily undergoing terrible punishments. Although many years go by, he doesn't show the minimal sign whatsoever of repent and relentlessly tries to find a way out. The story starts when he is given a second chance: he is handed over a powerful wooden stick named Togari and dispatched back to Earth to collect 108 evil spirits within 108 days. Provided he succeeds in this feat, he will be freed.
The original concept may not be unheard of, still I kind of like it and believe it offers plenty of interesting ideas for the development. I thought many times that such a story, if rendered more mature and darker, could have made it a great manga. Nevertheless, what's important here is the actual use the author made of it and what this manga really is like.
First and foremost, I am not fond of this genre; you may not agree with me, but most of the times I wind up dealing with never-ending series which, at best, after a (little) while no longer spark my interest, and at worst never do so to begin with. In general, what I can't stand is them dragging their feet, aimlessly wandering around and leading astray even after a promising beginning (such a waste!). Instead, I must admit Togari positively surprised me. Truthfully speaking, the story is not that intriguing, after all there are no sizeable turn of events and it is chock-full of fights, but it was well directed and not shoddy afterall. Despite it traces the typical shounen pattern, it is totally devoid of fillers: everything inserted in the story has a precise purpose and accordingly the story itself doesn't drift away from the main objective, resulting in a flowing and overall quite pleasant reading. As a matter of fact it didn't excessively protract itself and drew to an end pretty early, so that a sequel was required to answer the unsolved questions.
The author tried hard to bestow a certain “thickness” on each character, especially on the protagonist, so they could appear more human. This goal is mostly pursued by flashbacks, which slowly deepen the background and guide the storyline. Regardless, I am not satisfied as for this aspect, because there are many characters left kind of stereotyped and lacking, but all considered Togari is not as shallow and empty as one might figure before giving a stab at it.
The art style is not bad, but a more detailed one would have been way more fitting and catchy.
I'd recommend it to this genre's lovers seeking for an undemanding title, otherwise steer clear!

I first approached Desert Punk watching its animated version, but it didn't take long before I passed to the original work the latter was inspired by. There are some traits this story possess that won me over without me realizing it, starting off with the plot itself. I think the aspect that stands out the most and which lays at the core of the opera is the inherent greed and selfishness of human beings, as well as their stupidity. In Desert Punk's universe, mankind reached such a knowledge, wilfully exploited to fulfil its egotistical desires, that it brought about its own demise. The Kanto region, ... where the story is set, turned into a desert, wherein inhabitants have to struggle to live on in spite of the harsh weather conditions: during the day, the scorching sun bakes them for good, whereas during the night the temperature is so low that the risk of freezing is real. An example of how to survive in this unforgiving place is provided by the adventures the protagonist, Mizuno Kanta, experiences at first hand while working: he's a well-known handyman throughout the entire Kanto Desert, who goes under the nickname “the Desert Punk”. His assignments range from simple delivery to more dicey tasks, for instance involving shoot-outs.
The author underlines multiple times humans' powerlessness before such extreme conditions and takes the advantage of it to rise some serious ethical-related questions and to make, out of the blue, important reflections which might very well catch the reader off guard. All of this because of the variety of characters encountered during the chapters that happen to run into each other: their interactions represent a mean to put in contrast various attitudes to face life with Kanta's, who solely cares for himself to such an extent he wouldn't even be afraid of leaving behind a comrade nor of using him as bait, if the situation required it. I say it could come unexpected as the story has not the pretence to stop to give birth to extremely long and in-depth thoughts concerning the human status whenever there is a chance, but rather it is rich of action, alternated with slow-paced but not necessarily boring segments during which strategy has the upper hand. The story also presents a certain content of dirty jokes (luckily, nothing overwhelming at all), not as frequent as in the anime and overall not disturbing. In other words, although the carefree atmosphere it seems to give off in the beginning, I think there's something more concealed behind the appearance, and proceeding with the reading more mature themes are brought up.
As for the art style, I'm cool with it: I don't love it, but I don't despise it either. I gradually started to appreciate it with time because it demonstrates attention to details, especially when it comes to equipments and weapons, whereas at the beginning, judging by the characters' look, I thought it was kind of plain. For example, woman are practically drawn the same way every time, except for, at most, some minor particulars.
I like Desert Punk because, besides the interesting initial idea from which the story has been developed, at least up until now the author didn't let its potential go to waste. Instead, he created a manga worthy of being read. It's hard to sum this all up through a number considered it hasn't been concluded yet, but I guess that if I had to pick one, an 8 should do the trick.
I'm sorry if my english is not top-notch, but it is not my first language. Anyway, I hope this will be helpful to someone!