Shaman King, Vol. 9: Voyage of the Shaman

シャーマンキング [Shaman King] #9

by Hiroyuki Takei

After a long, draining battle, Yoh has advanced past the Shaman Fight preliminaries...and he and his friends have a chance to kick back and take it easy before the tournament proper starts. But Yoh just can't seem to catch a break as new challengers come out of the woodwork to defeat him before the tournament can even begin. Just who are these guys?! And who is Hao, the puppet master pulling their strings behind the scenes...?

Part of the comiXology Originals line of exclusive digital content only available on comiXology and Kindle. Read for free as part of your subscription to comiXology Unlimited, Kindle Unlimited or Amazon Prime. Also available for purchase via comiXology and Kindle.

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Supernatural, Comics, Fiction, Action

194 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 2, 2000

About the author

Hiroyuki Takei (武井宏之 Takei Hiroyuki) is a Japanese manga artist, best known as the creator of the manga and anime Shaman King. His brother, Hirofumi Takei (武井宏文) is also a manga-ka.

Reviews

[Dimitra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun volume!
Here, for the first half of it, the story of Ren is developed. Interesting but a bit clumsy in terms of execution... And a tiny bit confusing at times. But OK.
At the second half, the battle has begun, finally! Time to begin the main challenge... We are introduced to new characters, of course, and they seem very very interesting...

[Vikas · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the series has progressed, we continued our story in China from the last issue as the team worked to help Ren. And now the team is on the way to the actual Shaman Fights so let's see now as we see more and more fights as the scene moves to another country. It was another nice issue so let's see what's next in the store and then let's Keep on Reading.

I have always loved comics, and I have I can. I love comics to bits, may the comics never leave my side. I loved reading this and love reading more, you should also read what you love and hope always to love them. Even though I grew up reading local Indian comics like Raj Comics, Diamond Comics, or even Manoj Comics, now's the time to catch up on international and classic comics and Graphic novels. I am on my quest to read as many comics as I just want to Keep on Reading.

[Lashaan Balasingam · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mandatory chapter to forge Ren's character and build his friendship with the gang. While it was interesting at times, it was a very choppy execution. It could've had so much emotional depth to it, but ended up feeling flat and rushed.

The second half of the volume moves on to everyone's goodbye as the qualified shamans gather up for the next round. Hao makes a rude introduction as we get a glimpse of his own gang and what we're bound to see more from in the near future.

Yours truly,

Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog: https://bookidote.com/

[Adrian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This kid named Yoh Asakura-kun transferred to my class from lzumo... and it turns out he's a shaman! It seems shamans can bridge the gap between the spirit world and our world, commune with gods and spirits, and even draw on their strength. He came here to hone his abilities and took the ghost of Amidamaru, a samurai who died 600 years ago, as his spirit companion. Just after Yoh-kun arrived, the Shaman Fight, a knock-down-drag-out tournament that occurs only once every 500 years, began... and he managed to fight his way through the preliminaries and advance to the tournament proper. But we just found out Tao Ren went back to China to confront the hate in his heart and defeat his father. Unfortunately, he was taken prisoner... and now it's up to us to save him!

Ever since Amazon linked up with comiXology, so that readers could get comics, graphic novels and manga on their kindles, I have been meaning to check out what they had. Under Amazon Prime Reading you get a number of titles for free and this comiXology original is one such series.

The epic saga continues with the gang travelling to China to save Ren from the clutches of his evil father. With the Shaman Fight proper around the corner they cannot afford any mistakes as they must travel back to Japan.

Easy to read and engaging, I enjoyed this and it felt just like reading a paperback manga, even on Kindle, as you have to click through the book backwards. A nice little touch. Another solid 4* and onto the next volume!

[Siegfried · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one is hard. We finally have a proper introduction to Hao (and one of the most convoluted and confusing info drop before One Piece.)
I understand why ppl don't "get" Shaman King and feel like there's not much explanations.
Hao's backstory is a drop here, a drop there and a lot of context and deductions for a real understanding.
And also, this is the beginning of my favourite part of the manga: the road trip saga.
It's fun, insane and a load of laughs.
Still, over a quarter of the manga and... It's still amazing, well written and solid.

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I guess we're accustomed enough to the world/lore of Shaman King that Takei can take audience-surrogate Manta away to focus on the fighters.

Tao makes amends with his family, learning the classic shonen battle manga "power of friendship."

Hao is formally introduced, with Takei also showing some of his minions, setting up the final boss fight as well as a gauntlet of mini-bosses.

We've moved from Japan to America, so the series will now be full fighting.

Good stuff.

[James Rodrigues · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first half of the volume concludes Ren's family conflict, developing his character and giving a better look at his family. While I enjoyed it, and especially the layers which were uncovered, the execution was rather choppy. The second half took us to the next round of the Shaman Fight, introducing us to some of the characters who would be partaking, and getting a first look at Hao, before taking an interesting turn as to the next task which must be completed.

[Maraya21 (The Reading Dragon) · Rating 4 out of 5]

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[Tesutamento · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seri ne uzuyor ne de kısalıyor, aynı çizgide devam ediyor. Bu cilt Ren'in karakter gelişimi adına güzeldi. Tao ailesinin mirasını reddedip kendi yolunu çizmesi güzel olsa da Ren'in duygusal gelişimi üzerinde pek durulmadı ve üstünkörü geçildi. Yani karakterin gelişimi yok yer aksak bir şekilde aktarıldı. Serinin başından beri çeşitli tempo sorunları olduğu için bu tür sorunlara artık alıştım. Ciltteki en önemli olay Hao'nun ortaya çıkışı ve Yoh'un ekibine kendini tanıtmasıydı.

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yoh rescues Ren…and then it gets good. That’s it. All the write-up you need. Just kidding. Ha ha ha The band gets together to go toe to toe with Ren’s father!!! The Shaman Fight Officially begins in this volume as well. A lot of things originally made me feel it had begun (preliminaries) and battles but then again, looking at this only being volume 9 it is understandable that the foundation to the series must be built prior to the event which will eventually crown the Shaman King. Hiroyuki Takei delivers a solid volume of goodness in both the art and the storytelling. The volume flows very quickly and ends in a way that gets you excited for the upcoming volumes!

[Kira Nerys · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of frustrating that my local library seems to own the entire series except this volume. Wishing I felt a little more confident about the translations from the free site that showed up on Google.

Did anyone else find Tao En's codpiece-thing extremely vulgar?

There seemed to be plenty of odd moments in this volume. Perhaps expected, but rushed character development, imo. Hiroyuki Takei is good at resolving character growth but perhaps not the best at provoking it.

[Silvio Carrera · Rating 4 out of 5]

I get that the whole thing about Ren's father was just so there was a reason for them to come together and help him. I remember not liking this part when watching the anime and reading it was the same feeling.

The fight just doesn't feel interesting. It feels a bit out of place and the stakes don't feel high at all. Well now at least the real fights begin :) !

[Keeloween · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best

This is the best volume so far. The friend group has been created and I know there's at least one more chibi to meet before the friend group is completed. I loved getting to know Ren just a little more.

Hao is finally here and I can't wait for him to shake everything up.

[Jordan Isaacson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seeing Ren face his demons and come out victorious is a very good feeling. At times, things seem a bit too "silly" for the situation, such as when Ren figures out his dad's secret after being tortured. Overall, it was a very fun detour from the normal antics of Yoh and his buddies.

[Ty Ridgway · Rating 5 out of 5]

good book

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a bad manga, just not my favorite.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25

[Ali's Library · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me encanto el viaje en avión 😅😅

[Vanessa Rincon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a fun adventure! (And Faust is so, so creepy)

[duniamimpigie Anggi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ada beberapa adegan yang bikin saya kepikiran, "Ah, ini khas komik-komik shonen jadul," dan jadi geli sendiri XD

[Jaymin Ewens]

Next challenge

Getting ever closer to the Shaman King final fight. I can't wait to see what the other shaman are like.

[Mosley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lot'e of bad guys in this volume. I just wanted to scream at Yoh to open his eyes when he meets Hao.

[Cztery Strony Prozy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Co mam pisać? Kto polubił, będzie czytał dalej z taką samą radością. Kto się odbił już pewnie nawet na półce nie ma.

[Kiwi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Jedyna zaletą tego tomu jest to, ze to już koniec historii Lena.

[Klau · Rating 4 out of 5]

W końcu Hao ❤️

[Gabriela Zambrano A · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5 ⭐️
Este volúmen se convierte en uno de mis favoritos, al ya tener conocimiento sobre uno de los personajes más importantes de la historia 🔥
Estoy ansiosa por saber leer el siguiente volúmen.

[FayexBooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sadly this is the last part I'll be able to read.
Fun tho

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recovery of a friend. A strange family. Flight test of spirit power.

[Jena Hemsworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good ending on the Tao story, and left me salivating for what's next even though I watched the anime countless times...

[Melissa]

i remember where this is when the story gets good :')