Manga Review: Kekkaishi

Title: Kekkaishi
Author: Yellow Tanabe
Release: Weekly
Status: Ongoing
Genre: Shonen, Supernatural, Comedy
Art: B
Originality: S
Story: A
Characters: A
Humor: A
Action: A

Impression: This is about two heirs to two different branches of Barrier technique masters that work together to protect a territory that the founder of their techniques said to guard. The guy is a year younger than the girl and has harbored a crush towards her since their childhood days while she only sees him as a younger brother. Their techniques revolve around forming a barrier and destroying whatever demon is trapped inside their barrier so battles are more on the tactical side than the sheer strength of their powers. It’s a pretty good shonen manga that knows not to waste too much time on dull battles and work on progressing the plot or developing characters during them. That being said, it does seem to be progressing somewhere as we find out more about the grounds they’re protecting and the conflict they’re pulled into because of it but it’s hard to tell if it’s almost at the end or is still a quarter left to the end. It’s a good read that’s different from the other long running shonen manga.