Triage X, Vol. 1

トリアージX [Triage X] #1

by Shouji Sato

Mochizuki General Hospital boasts some of the most well-trained (and well-endowed) nurses in town. But though these ladies spend much of their day battling sickness, their after-hours are spent fighting a very different sort of disease...Under the leadership of the hospital chairman, a handful of staff members and local teenagers form a group of mercenary assassins, targeting the "cancers" of society and excising those individuals before their wickedness spreads.

Genres: Manga, Thriller, Fiction, Action, Comics Manga, Erotica, Comics

166 pages, Paperback

First published December 9, 2009

Reviews

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The rating is a little high for this because a pretty good premise is ruined by the depictions of the female characters.

The concept is one that would work for a television show in a lot of countries (I've been watching some foreign action/cop shows on Netflix so I think I've little bit of an idea). Inside a metropolitan hospital is a secret vigilante group run by a dying doctor. The doctor is using the concept of triage to eliminate those problems that he feels are harmful to the city and its citizens.

If he sees a criminal, or criminal enterprise, that he considers to be a like a cancer he issues a black tag, an execution order. A small team of hospitals employees, and his late son's best friend, carry out these executions. So, yeah from there it's a pretty basic action/violence piece.

But, what blows some of the enjoyment for me is that the women are drawn like some pre-pubscent's boy's wet dream. There remain far too many U.S. publishers who do this, and here it is so over the top I couldn't even muster the the thought that maybe this was intended as parody as the art was in Cannon God Exaxxion (where the writer pointed out in story that in pretty much was parody).

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with many manga volumes I own, it's been ages between buying this and actually reading it, so I don't remember my exact reasons for the purchase. I know it would have been during a Yen Press sale on Rightstuf's website, and looking at the stack from which I pulled this volume it seems I mostly dedicated my wallet to grabbing some Madoka Magica spinoff stuff. I recall having the second Highschool of the Dead full-color omnibus in my cart before realizing Amazon offered it for a lesser price, so I'm going to guess my intent was to finish collecting HOTD that way and begin work on collecting Triage X, and for some reason I only grabbed the first volume when otherwise I'm quite likely to grab three or even five volumes of a series I'd not yet begun reading, gambling on whether I'd enjoy it (I've never fucked up with this method, at least!).

Here's a joke I don't think I've ever tried to pull off before. "I have two simple reasons for liking this manga: tits." (Cue laugh-track.)

But seriously, that's basically the reason I bought this volume. There's no use trying to deflect it; I often buy manga just for ecchi stuff. I don't go around beating off to manga, mind you. I'm just quick to find this sort of thing humorous. When it's meant to be, at least, and I guess Triage X is more a "Hey, look at these boobs! How sexy!" series and less a "Hey, look at these boobs! How funny!" thing, like e.g. To Love-Ru (which is also sexy, but the sexiness works hand-in-hand with the comedy, is what I'm saying).

When I was eleven, I started formally reading the Dragon Ball manga, having understood the whole series to be both halves of protagonist Son Goku's life, not exactly divided into two series as Toei's anime had me believe. From the earliest volumes, I happened to see Bulma's tits a couple times, and this was of great import to myself and my cousin Brett (one year younger than me, and thus also in puberty). I think we were simply satisfied with the fact that there were depictions of female nudity of some easy access to us, as I didn't beat off to Dragon Ball and I feel it's safe to assume my cousin didn't either. The point here is that some years later I would decide I'd "outgrown" manga, and so too did I start to believe it's strange for people to become aroused by cartoons. So when I first watched Madhouse's Highschool of the Dead anime in 2010 or 2011 it was more as a Romero fan interested in seeing a zombie anime (by this time I was trying to get back into anime/manga), and maybe I was internally "facepalming" for every scene of gratuitous jiggling. Ultimately, I wasn't too invested in the anime, and that was I think because I wanted it to be more violent/gory or something. So I have no idea why I bought the first of the full-color omnibus collections of the manga in my first year of college, and all I do remember is that a bit of blood did indeed rush to my glans penis from some of the pinup-y illustrations of the girls in different costumes that appeared between chapters. I assure you, this anecdote is important to this review.

So, this manga is about a handful of girls with big boobs who shoot bad guys. The girls shoot bad guys with guns. Not with their boobs. I'm sure that was clear enough already, but I had Austin Powers on the mind earlier, and I'm thus aware there could be some confusion. There's some zany medical metaphors going on, but the point is that this big-shot hospital director has created a vigilante cell to take out "cancer" in his city, there's really no necessity for the medical metaphors, but whatever, fuck it. It could make more sense if all the girls were dressed as nurses or something, but only one of them keeps her nurse outfit for her fighting (albeit with a samurai-like demon mask...). This isn't a manga that really warrants wasting brain electricity on analyzing the ins and outs, because the whole purpose is guns and tits.

The main character, Arashi, is a high-schooler (of course) who suffered from a terrorist attack some years previous and had to have his limbs and heart replaced with those of his best friend, the hospital director's son. This is mentioned only in the second chapter of this volume (out of five chapters), so it's uncertain right now as to how important this Frankenstein shit is, other than that it informs the protagonist's resolve to keep fighting for the director. He is grouped with a senior from his high-school, Mikoto, as well as another teen, Oriha (who happens to be a pop idol, as well...). They are supported by another three-man group of head doctor Sagiri, head nurse Hitsugi, and anesthesiologist Tsurugi (I feel weird using the given names of the teens and the surnames of the adults, but Yen Press didn't bother preserving honorifics or anything, so I'll take their negligence as an excuse for my own folly). Arashi's pretty ripped, especially for someone with another person's limbs, but you don't see him shirtless much because that's not the purpose of the manga, and I'm really only mentioning it because it's good to know he's not a lanky little fuck like other dudes in similar situations in other manga. The girls are in what's likely meant to be peak human condition for the female side, but this basically means they all have big tits because it's generally not seen as sexy to give women appropriate musculature for high-octane violence. Sagiri is the biggest. I think Tsurugi may be the smallest, but I'm basing this more on the RAITA-like banana boobs she has on the back cover of this volume, as otherwise it's harder to tell the differences between characters' chests throughout the main body of the text. We see shots of Mikoto's butt more commonly than other girls', and Shōji Satō's inconsistency as an artist sometimes makes her butt bigger in some panels versus others (it's basically always nice, but the fluctuating size makes it difficult for me to subjectively decide on what I'd prefer as a reader lol). There's a nice panel of Oriha hanging upside-down to surprise some enemies and we see how plump her thighs are, so I guess that's neat as well. The older women don't get too much chance to shine in this volume, so I can't be too lecherous with my appraisal of their designs, as is commonly warranted by the persona I undertake in these reviews.

Before we get into the weirdness of Arashi's backstory, Chapter 2 also shows us a taste of Arashi's school life, where he remains oblivious to Hinako's attempts to pursue him romantically. Again, we don't see just what effect this will have on the series at large, so right now it feels like Satō wanted to throw in the potential for high school hijinx as something of a back-up, in the event that he runs out of steam for the more action-focused scenarios and needs a "get out of jail free" card to reset the pacing while ramping up for more violence. Otherwise, the structure of the manga is pleasant so far, with each of the missions we see being linked to one another. The fallout of Chapter 1's case sets up the mission for Chapter 3, and one dude fleeing the scene in that scuffle sets up the mission that will presumably take place in the beginning of Volume 2 (Volume 1 ends with the characters preparing for a big fight). The connection between cases feels better than if this was mere "monster of the week" stuff, and, like HOTD before it, makes the manga feel more like "an action manga where all the female characters have big fat titties" versus "a big fat titty manga where the female characters sometimes shoot people." The difference between the two is pretty important if the reader plans on taking the story remotely seriously. The thing is, I kinda came here for the ecchi, but I guess I am actually invested in the action. It's arguably more fun, honestly.

One weird thing, we see Mikoto's nipples in the beginning of Chapter 2, but otherwise the chapter (and the volume as a whole) covers nudity a bit, including one scene where Mikoto's nipples are tastefully censored by a big-ass sound-effect. It thus seems the manga is not exactly out to show boobs at every opportunity, or possibly that the magazine in which it runs (Monthly Dragon Age, a shounen magazine) has rules against wanton nudity (which wouldn't necessarily deter artists from showing tits, but wouldn't not deter them either). I guess my point is that this manga receives a "Mature" rating mostly for its nudity, despite technically being a series for teen boys. The violence isn't terribly graphic, reminding me of something like Tite Kubo's Zombie Powder which received a 16+ rating for its "graphic violence" despite having less bloodshed (in terms of volume of ink) than Kubo's better-known Bleach. In Zombie Powder's case, I think it's just that the violence was more "realistic," with guns shooting people in the head, or knifes being thrown into skulls, compared to the more overt "fantasy violence" of Bleach's big-ass swords. Triage X is published by Yen Press, rather than the two VIZ works I'm referencing, so maybe the different companies have different standards, but the "worst" we see in this volume is that one guy gets a finger shot off by a bullet that also enters his skull. The entry wound is just solid black with some ink splattered about to resemble minor bloodspray. Nothing too crazy. It really does feel like Yen Press hit this with a Mature rating because of nipples, as well as an utterance of "Fuck" that likely would have just been "kuso" in the original Japanese, and thus could have easily been translated as the more mild "Shit." I personally hold an opinion that Western manga translation/localization companies like to throw "fuck"s and "shit"s around to further "justify" Mature ratings for manga that otherwise only show the occasional nipple. Compared to other Yen Press stuff I own, Prison School has an "M" rating for nudity, and Higurashi and Umineko skate away with "Older Teen" ratings for their nasty, gruesome images of the aftermath of brutal acts of violence. Classic America example of graphic violence being perfectly suitable for children, but only legal adults are allowed to see cartoon nipples. Not sure why I'm bitching since I'm 26, and anyway no one checks your ID when you buy manga. Just something I had on my mind, is all.

[Robert Bussie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sexy nurses work undercover as vigilantes to stop evil organizations. This sounds like a pretty cool concept for a manga.... But the result is anything but cool.

The book starts out like the reader should already know who the characters are and what they do. Confusing. The first 3/4 of the book is frustrating trying to figure out who these people are and what the story is about. The last quarter of the book clears it up and makes more sense, but there is no transition pages or even dialogue boxes between the scenes. Again frustrating trying to figure out what is going on.

Speaking of dialogue, I do not know if it is a translation issue or if it is actually written this poorly in the original Japanese. The conversation between the characters are very disjointed and some of what they are talking about seems to come out of left field.

The art is a mixed bag. There is plenty of fan service, especially for the breasts. I understand that it is common in comics to draw the ideal stereotypes of human forms. Such as the woman having thin waists, big boobs and big butts. The men are usually have unrealistic overly done muscles. I accept this as a fun part of the comic medium. However, in this manga the women's breasts varies from large to just weirdly shaped. It is very distracting.

[David Doel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have 15 volumes from this series; I was probably attracted by the noir feel and the art. It seems like the story started in the middle and I'm being asked to play catch up. What I can tell so far is that all the girls have gigantic boobs and long legs (except for the grandmothers). Triage seems to refer to eliminating people who are a cancer to society. Hopefully, the stories will improve as I get to know the players.

[Musashi · Rating 4 out of 5]

muy bueno

[Samuel Faulkner Bourdeau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book

Hey guys this book first book in what looks to be a long series isn't half bad ! Pleasant surprise. Will read the next one.

[Porta-Caliginis · Rating 3 out of 5]

TRIAGE X wurde mir immer wieder mal empfohlen, weil mir HIGHSCHOOL OF THE DEAD ganz gut gefällt und da solle ich mir eben auch einmal TRIAGE X ansehen. Dies habe ich nun getan und ich weiß noch nicht genau, was ich von halten soll…

Als Empfehlung in Zusammenhang mit HIGHSCHOOL OF THE DEAD entsteht eine gewisse Erwartungshaltung und die wurde nicht ganz erfüllt, aber ich kann auch nicht sagen, dass ich enttäuscht wurde. Die Handlung ist schon gut und man bekommt schon was zum Anfüttern in diesem ersten Band, aber es fehlt irgendwie der Aufhänger, der einen dran bleiben lässt.

Jetzt erst einmal woum es überhaupt geht – und zwar um eine geheime Untergrundorganisation, die sich “Black Label” nennt und das Gesetz selbst in die Hand nimmt, ohne durch dieses selbst belangt werden zu können und hier in der ersten Mission trifft es einen korrupten Bauunternehmer. An sich ist das noch nichts Besonderes, denn geheime Organisationen, die das Verbrechen bekämpfen sind nicht wirklich neu, aber hier wird dieses Konzept etwas anders aufgezogen, denn ein Krankenhaus dient hier als Tarnung für Black Label und so ziehen sie ihre Missionen auch als Operationen im medizinischen Sinne durch. Sie sehen die Stadt als Körper und der korrupte Bauunternehmer ist ein bösartiger Tumor, der entfernt werden muss. Diese Idee gefällt mir ganz gut, nur sprang da eben noch nicht der Funke über.

Im Vergleich mit HOTD gibt es hier mehr Action, ein etwas schnelleres Erzähltempo und recht früh schon mehr nackte Haut. Alles nichts was sich irgendwie negativ auswirken würde, sollte nur erwähnt werden. Wieder ist auch medizinisches Fachpersonal mit etwas zu sehr überdimensionierte Oberweite mit dabei – da scheint sich ein Muster abzuzeichnen, aber ich wollte auf den Zeichenstil hinaus. Den würde ich als schlicht mit seinen klaren Linien bezeichnen, dennoch gibt es immer wieder kleine Details, die das Ganze aufwerten. Leider gibt es keine Leseprobe, woran man sich ein Bild davon hätte machen können.

Ich werde mir in naher Zukunft auch mal den zweiten Band von TRIAGE X besorgen und schauen wie es weitergehen wird. Hab auch in manchen Kommentaren gelesen, dass es ab Band 2 besser wird – davon würde ich mich gerne selbst überzeugen. Wie sagt ist der erste Band nicht schlecht oder langweilig – es ist bisher mehr Durchschnitt und bleibt hinter HIGHSCHOOL OF THE DEAD doch ein ganzes Stück zurück.

[Sean O'Hara · Rating 4 out of 5]

One thing that makes manga better than American comic books is that authors retain complete creative control over their series, so we don't end up with Astro Boy running for fifty years under two dozen writers with five separate reboots to bypass the accumulation of continuity problems. The downside, however, is that if an author flakes out, his series will go on indefinite hiatus.

Daisuke Sato, author of Highschool of the Dead, is especially prone to flake-outs. The series already went on hiatus once between 2008 and 2010, and it only came back for a year before he flaked out again. After eighteen months, there's still no word on if or when HotD will resume publication. Which must really suck for the series' artist, Shouji Sato (no relation). To keep busy in the meantime, Shouji has started his own series, Triage X.

It's the story of a group of doctors who've realized that curing patients does no good if they don't find a way to wipe out the cancer that's eating away at society. To accomplish this they form a vigilante group that goes around performing extreme triage -- i.e., murdering criminals and corrupt businessmen.

This is, of course, all drawn in Shouji's inimitable style where no female character has breasts smaller than a D-cup. But while in HotD his penchant for oversized mammaries often distracted from the seriousness of the plot, here, with Shouji writing the story in addition to drawing the pictures, the art style fits much better. The story feels very much like a '70s exploitation film, and the improbable boobs are part of that.

What the series does share in common with HotD is that the female characters, despite their looks, are serious badasses. The main character is a dude, but apart from the Charlie of their organization, every other protagonist is of the female variety, and the story makes clear that each of them could take down a SEAL team by herself.

I'd still like to see a conclusion to HotD at some point, but this series will tide me over in the meantime.

[Skjam! · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an entry in the ever popular “vigilante justice” sub-genre. Mochizuki General Hospital is the secret headquarters of Black Label, a small group of assassins that target “seats of disease” that spread the cancer of crime. All but one of the field agents are well-endowed young women, with a token high school boy. (The head of the group is an old, terminally ill man.)

As is traditional in vigilante fiction, the police are either useless (having been bought off by wealthy criminals) or stupid (so they don’t figure things out as fast as the vigilantes do.) The main police character, Detective Tatara, is more in the latter category, though he might get something done if he weren’t constantly on the same investigations Black Label is.

The violence levels are about what you’d expect for a vigilante series (TRIGGER WARNINGS: torture, attempted rape), but the fanservice is overdone. The naked shower scene is excusable as a plot point to reveal the male lead Arashi’s horrifically scarred body (and that he, unlike his female teammates, does not have nipples.) But frequent and intrusive shots of underwear, cleavage and suspiciously clingy clothing leave no doubt that the primary audience is horny young men.

Aside from the medical terminology and some use of chemicals, it’s a fairly standard vigilante plotline with villains who are cardboard cut-out evil and nothing creative in the way of plans. If this is your first vigilante series, and you likes you some gratuitous fanservice, it’s not bad, but it’s nothing to write home about either. (This does not preclude better villains in future volumes.)

[Angel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to rate this higher, but the plot at times is very convoluted, and the art, while great, can also be a bit cluttered on the page. Those issues aside, this manga has a great premise: a group of hot-looking nurses and some teens joining with a doctor to run a vigilante group to rid society of its worst cancers. The eye candy is great for one. Two, the action and adventure are very good as well. This is the first volume, which leaves you in a cliffhanger, so, I will still be looking for the next one. Not great, but it does make for a quick, light escapist read, so we'll see if the series gets better or not.

[Keya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Take HOTD, add an all nurse cast, replace zombies with gangsters and you have Triage X. You'll like it if you like Shouji Sato's art or smut.

[Ty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well this one was recommended, at first it threw me off, but after a couple of action scenes it might just grow on me

[アレツクス コツト · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really love how the story is about actual nurses with a twist about them being assassins. Great start off. This would be an amazing anime

[Sheila · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bastante prometedor!

[Bill Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun read, filled with a lot of fan service.

[Variaciones Enrojo]

Edición española, tomo 1.

[Roberto Rho · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bello. Un pó caotico ma bello.

[Shu Gie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great!!!

[Dallas Nateweyes · Rating 5 out of 5]

triage x volume 1 2009..