Shaman King, Vol. 13: The Return of Faust

シャーマンキング [Shaman King] #13

by Hiroyuki Takei

Yoh and his friends finally arrive at the Patch village...which they soon learn is the resting place of the Great Spirit, the strongest of all spirits on the planet. All the shamans in the village must form teams of three to prepare for the Shaman Fight...and if Yoh and his friends can't find partners, they'll be out of the running before the battle truly begins!

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, Fiction, Comics, Action

192 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 2, 2001

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

[Vikas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now the fights move the main draw "The Tournament" of 3 member teams and in the first fight of Team Ren vs Hao's minions we see some backstory of Joco, so let's go this was amazing and let's find more and 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]

This volume essentially sets up the upcoming tournament as everyone is brought to create their teams. On top of that, old faces return to the scene and new ones make a dramatic entrance. In fact, a huge chunk of this volume presents us with an introduction to Joco and his oversoul through the first round of the tournament.

I often feel like there's a lot of plot holes, intentionally jumped over, for the sake of moving the story forward a bit faster. I won't complain if it'll help the series get to the juicier and deadlier parts quicker. Especially when Yoh seems to be taking a lot of rest in these recent volumes.

Yours truly,

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

[Adrian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yoh Asakura not only sees dead people, he talks and fights with them, too. That’s because Yoh is a shaman, a traditional holy man able to interact with the spirit world. Yoh is now a competitor in the “Shaman Fight,” a tournament held every 500 years to decide who will become the Shaman King and shape humanity’s future. Dropped (literally) into the wide-open space of the American west, Yoh and company make their way toward the Patch Village, joined along the way by Lyserg, an English shaman with a vendetta against Hao. As they near their destination, they fight off attacks by Hao’s minions and deal with the formidable X-LAWS, a mysterious group opposing Hao. Finally, they reach The Patch Village, but what strange events and beings await them there?!

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 finally arriving at the Patch Village, together with the other Shamans who will make up the final 63 in the tournament. They now must team up into groups of three but Lyserg is missing. Will they find another competitor to team up with? Meanwhile, Manta has run into Faust again? Will it spell further trouble?

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. Back to 4 stars. The plot is coming together and we finally learn more about the great spirit.

[Dimitra · Rating 4 out of 5]

The previous volume was a total disappointment for me, but this one was totally different!
I loved the fact that Faust has returned and the whole team thing with the fights etc was so fun!
It's getting more and more interesting after each volume. I LOVE IT!

[Scott Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

The next level of the Shaman Fight becomes the Shaman Fight proper, a tournament between sixty three different shamans divided into eleven teams of three. Our boys are all split up Ren grabs Horohoro and a new character Joco, Lyserg seems to have joined up with the X-Laws, and Ren has Ryu and a surprising returning character as the allies on his team of three. The Patch village itself and the building of both the teams and the tournament was all right, and the first battle pitting Ren's team against another trio, is fairly well-executed and timed to split this volume and the next as is typical of the series' narrative structure. One of my favorite moments was seeing Joco actually fighting, and then getting at least a peak at his back story. There are some annoying aspects to Hiroyuki's execution of his character, but I find him overall far more intriguing than the other recently introduced new characters.

[James Rodrigues · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many of the recent volumes have felt like set-up for the next stage of the Shaman Fight, and though the same is true of this volume, it feels less noticeable. The characters have made it to the Patch village, and are informed of what the next stage shall be. This leads to the return of Faust, one of the strongest characters in this series, and the introduction of Joco, a wannabe comedian. It'll be interesting to see what occurs in the next volume.

[Siegfried · Rating 5 out of 5]

Those one is nice.
First off, while I get sad that Ponchi & Conchi had their genitals covered,I fucking LOVED the new "Joko" ex-Chocolove looks.
Falei didn't understand how racist it was and the change make one of my favorite black characters even better!
Also, Faust coming back (and Anna's reasoning made me laugh) sober is really great.
Sadly this volume ended cutting Joko's backstory, but oh well. It's great nonetheless!

[Hannah Belyea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now that Yoh and his friends are reunited in Patch village, the time to choose who will be teaming up with who is now - and it means that friends are about to become foes! Takei increases the tension in this defining entry to the "Shaman King" series. Will Yoh be able to choose the right partners for the coming battles...or will he let his feelings for his friends get in the way?

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now that the gang has all made it to the Patch Village, you get the feeling that this next stage in the Shaman Fight is finally about to take place! It to me feels a little dragged out as even though this is only volume 13, the way they are progressing to the Shaman Fight "Finals" (as I have dubbed it) seems to be less plotted out and more that the creator Hiroyuki Takei is enjoying the series and adding wrinkles and extensive ideas as it continues. Back to the particulars of the Shaman Fight, now the tournament is between 63 different Shamans. Those Shamans are split into 11 teams consisting of 3 members. So that essentially splits up the gang and brings a new feel to the characters. I will say Yoh has seemed to pose more than act lately, but I do know that the way the story is going...sometimes less is more for the sake of power-ups and one can only engage in so many battles as the roster of characters (like any true manga series it seems) has slowly (or quickly) ballooned up and everyone needs some spotlight time. Some flashbacks exist in this volume as well.

[Cztery Strony Prozy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bardzo podobają mi się różnice między mangą a starym anime. Są tego nie da się ukryć, ale pokazują głębię tej historii i jej wydźwięk społeczny, bo ostatecznie oprócz prostej rozrywki i żartu, manga stawia więcej pytań o przynależność, szacunek wpływ doświadczeń na późniejsze decyzje. No frajdę mam nieziemską.

[AsianMerr · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a volume of two halves, setting up for the next round and the first match of the tournament. I really don’t like that Faust is such a minor character now when he was so big when he debuted. The first fight is fun, glad to see returning characters. Looks like we’re diving into Joco’s backstory next volume and I can see the potential of it being sad and I’m here for it.

[Silvio Carrera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Faust finally joins the gang! I like the nice humor the comes out of him specially with Manta. Joco joins the team as well. Though a bit out of nowhere. That being said his backstory is intense. His first fight showing off his skills with the jaguar was awesome.

[Jaymin Ewens]

Fight fight fight

Definitely not the teams I was expecting to see forming, but it definitely makes things more interesting. It is driving me crazy that they keep ending books in the middle of a fight.

[duniamimpigie Anggi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chocolove muncuuull~
Dan Faust mulai memperlihatkan gelagat komedi(?)nya bareng(?) Manta meski sepanjang setengah buku akhir dia cuma duduk diam di tribun penonton. Suka dinamik Faust dan kelompoknya Yoh tuh! XDD

[Ty Ridgway · Rating 5 out of 5]

good book

[Booklove · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ich liebe dieses Buch. Man konnte gar nicht aufhören zu lesen.

[Vanessa Rincon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bye, Lyserg. Hello, Anna and Faust! But most of all: CHOCOLOVE IS FINALLY HERE! *happy dance*

[Mosley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Old faces return and the gang now has to part ways and split into groups of three to face off in the next round of the Shaman tournament.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Forgiveness. A change in roster. The Great Spirit is witnessed.

[Rodri · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5: let's go team battles

[Jaime Guzman · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this volume we get introduced to Joco and his Jaguar totem/spirit along with his origin story. Starting the first battle in the tournament we learn that Joco is not all that he seems.

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

The pieces were in place ages ago, but we've finally done it: motherfucking tournament arc....

My brother and I used to have an inside joke about the ubiquity of martial art tournaments in shonen manga. We'd do this thing where we might come up with a story of our own, plot it out a little ways, then slap a fucking tournament where one never needs to be. Dragon Ball, Yu Yu Hakusho, "Knights of the Zodiac," Yu-Gi-Oh!, &c.

Shaman King was a gray area for us. Like Zatch Bell, the basic idea is a bunch of people with superpowers are tasked with fighting each other for domination. The manga/anime went on quite a while in this vein, a tournament in name, but without the "bracket" structure from e.g. Dragon Ball. It was funny when the Shaman Fight actually did shift to the 3-on-3 tournament format seen here (though, in fairness, the anime ended without our noticing, and I only kept up with the manga the few times I could find Shonen Jump magazines in Wal-Mart).

****

Faust has officially joined the main heroes... at the cost of Lyserg fucking off to X-Laws almost entirely off-panel. Yeah, he was kinda impressed with their power. Yeah, he wants to actually kill Hao. Yeah, the X-Laws are planning to use their great power to kill Hao. It isn't too crazy that Lyserg would defect. It -is- kinda shitty, though, since we only had him in the cast for a little while, he never really got the chance to do anything, and he kinda just disappeared after everyone reached the Patch village, meeting up with the X-Laws somewhere along the way, with Takei only showing us the tail end of their conversation after Faust asks to join Yoh and co., allowing Faust to slip right into the team in the following chapter.

We finally see Chocolove in action. He kicks ass, despite his silly personality. He gets his ass kicked by a Mexican dude with skeleton dolls and a cactus-shaped Oversoul. We get the beginning of a great backstory about Chocolove's time in Harlem, angsty as fuck because his parents were murdered on Christmas, and how his angst is quelled by a weird hobo, whose Oversoul Chocolove is capable of seeing.

Really, the greatest thing about this volume is the beginning of Chocolove's story.

Another item of note is that I just realized "BoZ" are named after "BOSE" from seeing the logo on their shit. This means I am too stupid for shonen manga.

[Gabriela Zambrano A · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5⭐️
En este volúmen ya la historia va tomando camino a hacia al tema central, además se tuvo un nuevo personaje; el cual siempre me ha llamado la atención su historia y que es de gran apoyo al grupo de amigos de yoh. 😌🍫🐆 Emocionada por el volúmen 14. 🤗

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

YAY!! Faust VIII is back! And so is Manta!! We have such a good dynamic now and our group continues to grow. We meet Joco and he joins the group, We encounter The Great Spirit. And the tournament finally begins.

[Дени ★ Проданова · Rating 4 out of 5]

Тъй като анимето свършва някъде тук, то от тук нататък ще ми бъде наистина интересно. Новия образ не ме радва особено, но не може всички да са ми по вкуса предполагам. Историята му е твърде изтъркана: момче от гетото, израснал сам и си има пищов. Скука.

[Timothy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Back to the good o'l bracket matchups.

[Rana · Rating 4 out of 5]

JOCO

[Marc · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5*
Je ne me souvenais pas que c'était si moyen...

[La Revistería Comics · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vuelve Faust y ya nada volverá a ser lo mismo... Mentira, pero igual el tomo es de lo más entretenido.

[Dony Grayman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Edición argentina, tomo 13 de 34: El paredero de "L" y "F".