Tony's review
Color of Rage by Kazuo Koike
Not Koike's best work, but even the contrived premise of this story is buffed away by Koike's storytelling ability. This collection of 9 stories follows two escaped slaves, one African and one Japanese, as they try to carve out a life for themselves in 18th century Japan.
It's interesting, the parallels that Koike draws between the treatment of the Japanese peasantry and the African slaves of the Americas. At one point, the African character King feels pity for the Japanese people.
I liked this book. I wouldn't recommend it to someone just getting into Manga because there is a lot of nuance lost if you're not familiar with the style of storytelling. Still, this book is another perfect English translation from Dark Horse.
