CANDY AND CIGARETTES Vol. 1

Candy & Cigarettes #1

by Tomonori Inoue

When retired cop Hiraga Raizou gets a lucrative gig working for a shadowy government organization, he is in for a rude awakening. The first day on his new job, he comes across a grisly murder and a lone little girl who's far from innocent. She's Suzukaze Miharu, an 11-year-old master assassin -- and his new partner! The arrangement is simple: she kills, he cleans up and hides any evidence. Sure, the pay is great, but how much blood is Raizou willing to get on his hands?

Genres: Manga, Action, Comics, Mystery, Mystery Thriller, Graphic Novels, Crime

196 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 18, 2022

About the author

INOUE Tomonori
Name (in native language): 井上智徳.

Reviews

[Bookishrealm · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just want to give everyone a heads up that Candy and Cigarettes isn't going to be for everyone. There are images related to the main character, Miharu, that are bound to make anyone feel uncomfortable. While, I think that Inoue could be using these moments as a way to address the contrasting themes of innoncence vs. violence/destruction, I am not naïve enough to believe that some of these panels won't make readers feel uncomfortable. I'm going to continue these series to see where things go, but if it begins to become too much for me then I may just do away with the idea of continuing it.

Candy and Cigarettes is told from the perspective of Raizou who is a retired cop who is looking for a way to earn more money after he finds out that his grandson is sick. The treatments cost more than what the family is able to afford. He's able to find work when he comes across a local advertisement that leads him to a shady government agency. They are a set of assassins that complete jobs without being directly attached to the US government. The storytelling in this is pretty interesting and addresses some serious ethical concerns as it applies to Miharu who isn't more than 11 years old, yet she's an expert killing machine. The jobs that they are forced to accomplish are dark and gritty and don't leave much to imagination. I do believe that Inoue does attempt to address what happens when you strip innocence from a child, but I can't really tell yet just based on this first volume. It is action packed with great art. I loved that Inoue added a touch of humor to lighten up some of the darker moments. This was an interesting read for me but I would proceed with caution if any of my previous statements bothered you.

[Mehsi · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting story about revenge, assassinations, and tons of action.


I was in for a new manga and decided to stray away from the lily-covered path of Yuri and Shoujo-Ai. I decided it was time for something different. And I found this one. Full of action, people getting killed, assassinations, but also a great plot in which you will root for the assassins and the guy who has to clean that crap up.

Meet Hiraga, a guy who is a retired cop and is doing pretty OK.. that is until his grandson becomes ill and the costs for hospitalisation and treatment become too high for either mom or grandpa to pay. But grandpa finds a job. Something that pays precisely enough for the treatments each month. Who can blame him that he applies! Then again, maybe if he had known what he would get himself into he may have stepped back. Nah, scratch that, I would see him do it still. He wants his grandson to be fine. To be healthy again.
I had such a big laugh when he got accepted very easily and when he found out what his job implied. Cleaning up after a little girl assassin. She kills and he cleans it up as good as he can so that no one knows anything.

Our little girl, Miharu, is great at shooting. She can shoot 5 people in one go straight in the head. Yep. This girl got skills that you may not want your average little girl to have. It took me a bit to get used to the girl, she was quite hardened and at times a bit too grumpy about things. But when we learn more about her, about how she came to be an assassin, about what her plan is… well, I warmed up a bit more to her and I just wanted to give her a hug. Well, not that I would do that given she would probably kill me, but hey, you get the idea. Haha. But what happened to her, holy crap. 😐 That was just shocking and I can imagine that she turned into what she is today.

Hiraga was such a great guy and I loved how he went from WTF to very helpful and assisting to even helping her out. He got skills after all given his many years as a cop. He may be old but dang this man can kick some serious ass. I loved how he opened up to Miharu and even took her under his wing. Making sure he was there at the right places, but also doing more than that. They are partners, but they are also becoming family. At least that is what I see.

The story is action-packed with tons of gore, blood, brains, and more. It wasn’t too much though, but still at times a bit too shocking for me. There are revelations and twists. We find out more about the organisation, about the purpose, about well, a lot more. We meet bad guys and good guys and supervillains. We meet Miharu’s friends. Yes, our tiny little assassin may be dangerous but she goes to school like every kid and has friends and dance practice. Yes. Really. XD

The art was really nicely done, and I especially liked the character designs of the main cast.

All in all, this is one manga I would love to continue. Yes, it is a bit gory/shocking to me, but I am invested in these characters and I want to know if Miharu will be able to exact her revenge. If that grandson will get better. What is next for this duo.

Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A girl who wants revenge.

A old man who needs money to help save his grandson.

Team up as assassin's/clean up crew to kill horrible people. Very The Professional vibes, but the girl has more pep to her step. I wasn't huge fan of having to see her in her underwear, not something I need in my life but besides that one scene this was pretty great, brutal at times, and also some really touching moments.

I'll check out more for sure!

[Tess · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit of a reverse Léon The Professional, as in the girl is the assassin and the old man is her assistant. I've read up to volume 3 so far and I like the dynamic between Miharu and Hiraga. The setup makes for a good episodic narrative, but there's also an overarching plot that comes into play pretty soon. You have to be able to stretch your suspension of disbelief over what Miharu is able to do, but they do make a point to show that she's vulnerable without weapons and lacking in physical strength.
I was a little worried about the sexualisation of Miharu (this is a manga, after all) and ... eh. She's not sexualised per se, but she's shown in her underwear a lot und wears dresses and skirts in combat that fly up a lot. I know it fits the theme and contrast of deadliness and innocence, but c'mon. You can't tell me those panty-shots weren't absolutely intentional - for whatever reason, I don't wanna know, because that girl is barely eleven and it makes me uncomfortable every damn time.

[❀ Tina ❀ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5*

[Doc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lolita Fatale

Just as a warning this manga is rated Older Teen and has a lot of murder going on as a former police officer desperate to save his family joins his junior assassin partner on a variety of quests to punish those that feed on society. In addition to the violence and blood the matter of the female lead is an eleven year old girl might bother some people as the conflict of innocence and murderer might cause a bit of discomfort in certain readers. As for plot this is basically a revenge plot as the ex-cop (Cigarettes) and assassin (Candy) work together for their shady government agency all while trying to untangle "the Chain" that has connected all sorts of unethical monsters in the underworld. Honestly after having read Dance In The Vampire Bund slightly sexy lolitas are a far cry from a deal breaker when the story is interesting, the characters are likable, and the action is crazy so I wouldn't mind getting more of this series in the future myself. :)

[Djendon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely more enjoyable then what a thought it was going to be like. It’s more like a 3.5 stars as I’ll probably pick up volume to when it arrives.

[Bebete · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so entertaining!! Yes, a 11-year-old assassin! Loved this story of revenge and new found friendships. It is a little gory but loved it!!

[LaPommequirougit · Rating 5 out of 5]

https://lapommequirougit.com/2021/07/...

Wow, ce manga m’a bluffé. Un super beau coup de cœur pour ce titre. Une histoire intéressante, des personnages atypiques et un message de fond touchant.

Raizo est un homme de 65 ans qui ne désire que profiter de sa retraite. Malheureusement, son petit-fils est atteint d’une sorte de maladie du sommeil, incurable. Il existe cependant des soins tests, qui pourraient l’aider, mais cela coûte une fortune. Quoi qu’il en soit, il rassure sa fille, en disant qu’il fera ce qu’il peut pour lui donner l’argent nécessaire, car sa famille est tout pour lui !

C’est ainsi qu’en cherchant des petites annonces, lui, ancien garde du corps, en trouve une proposant une somme d’argent folle. Il s’étonne, mais bon, il n’a pas le choix. C’est ainsi qu’il découvre que cette dernière était une offre, pour une agence qui travaillerait sois disant pour le gouvernement, pour tuer des personnes qui ont échappé à la justice, comme dealer, homme faisait du trafic d’enfant, etc. Il va donc devenir tueur à gages.

J’ai adoré ! En premier lieu, j’adore le duo atypique qui fait la force de ce manga. On y retrouve un homme de 65 ans et une gamine de 11 ans, deux tueurs à gages bien surprenants.

L’action est superbement prenante et c’est ce que j’ai le plus aimer observer lors de ma lecture. Je vous jure, je passais plusieurs minutes à les regarder, tant je les appréciais.

Enfin, le point fort de ce manga est la dénonciation de l’injustice, de la justice. Manque de preuves, personne qui a un excellent avocat ou qui a des relations et paie des pots-de-vin. Plein de mauvaises personnes qui échappent à la prison et aux peines qui leur sont dues et continuent de vivre libres. Je trouve cela intéressant de justement voir ce duo de tueurs à gages s’occuper de ces crapules !

En bref, vous l’aurez compris, j’ai énormément aimé ce premier tome et je suis déjà impatiente de voir ce que les prochains pourraient me réserver !

[sar!!! · Rating 4 out of 5]

This manga was just a quick grab at the comic book store yesterday, but I really enjoyed it. I think that Miharu is definitely over-sexualized since she’s only supposed to be 11, I know this is for “older teens” but that doesn’t mean that they should be sexualizing an 11-year-old?? Other than that part of her characterization, I really like her because she’s still managing to be a kid AND a full blown assassin—also she’s just really rad. The MC isn’t super great, but I admire his reasons for taking the job, and the fact that he’s upset that this 11-year-old is a killer and not just being a kid. I think they’re gonna be great partners and I will definitely be buying volume 2 when I can.

[Genevieve · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun bloody romp containing my favorite troupe of grizzled old man (Hiraga) and young girl (Miharu) teaming up to murder some bad guys. Nice action, humor and the beginnings of a lovely friendship between our ex-cop and a middle school assassin. I will say there is some fan-service with Miharu being in her underwear that is uncomfortable given her age but the rest of the story got me, so be aware of that if you decide to read this manga.

[Aritra Dasgupta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Incredibly solid.

[Preethi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspiration from Hamlet and film noir? Of course I enjoyed it.

[Shaynning - Libraire Jeunesse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Difficile de rester de marbre devant un duo improbable aussi attachant que celui-ci. Un grand-papa retraité, ancien garde du corps, doit trouver un emplois susceptible de lui rapporter suffisamment d'argent pour couvrir les frais hospitaliers requis pour son petit-fils atteint d'une maladie rare et probablement incurable. Raizo vit donc modestement, mais son emplois à la supérette du coin ne suffit pas. Lorsqu'il voit une offre d'emplois offrant le montant qu'il lui faut pour soutenir les frais d’hôpital, Raizo postule. Mais derrière la librairie "Le Horla lit", c'est un réseau secret d'assassins qui le recrute. Il doit faire équipe avec Miharu, 11 ans, une bonne gachette comme on en croise pas souvent. La petite écolière et l'homme d'expérience sont lancés sur les traces de malfaiteurs ayant échapper au système de Justice, souvent protégés par les Hautes sphères du pouvoir.

Un début animé pour un duo atypique de justiciers de l'ombre, le manga promet de l'action, des scènes rappelant les règlement les compte entre mafiosos et le début d'une amitié particulière entre les deux protagonistes. Il y a quelques facilités scénaristiques. Par exemple: Miharu, qui traine un couteau à lame rétractable dans son cartable d'écolière, visiblement, et qui s'en est servie pour se défendre face à des malfras, bien avant d'être une tueuse à gage; Miharu, encore une fois, qui traine son fusil l'arrière de sa culotte, hautement improbable d'un point de vue physique; Miharu, une jeune fille de 11 ans qui vit seule dans un condo de luxe...Bon, en fait, il y plusieurs trucs qui ne tiennent pas le route, mais l'ensemble rend bien. J'aime bien le trait du dessin aussi, même s'il manque un peu de netteté.

Raizo est selon moi le personnage le plus sympathique du manga et c'est un pépé qui tient la forme. On aurait pu penser que Raizo était déjà un tueur, mais en fait, c'était un policier doublé d'un garde-du-corps. Rien à voir, donc. C'est donc l'élément un peu "bonbon" de cette histoire, à savoir un agent de la paix intègre qui fait un revirement complet en devenant tueur à gages et bafouant les lois. Quoique, dans ce premier tome, Raizo ne tue personne, se contentant d'assurer les arrières de Miharu.

Donc, malgré quelques points à retravailler, le manga est plaisant, rythmé et un brin comique, tout en restant dans les marges connues des 'méchantes élites impitoyables et corrompues" contre "des assassins hors-la-loi animés de bonnes intentions". Ça se veut tout de même léger pour un seinen, loin des grands complots élaborés et des antagonistes complexes, pour rester dans les règlements armés en face-à-face et des missions d'assassinat rapidement exécutées. Il faudra voir si cette tangente va se maintenir dans les autres tomes.

Un bon manga en somme , mais qui pourrait être affiné dans le scénario et moins "improbable" dans les détails, sinon il risque de finir dans le genre comédie-policière.

Catégorisation: Manga japonais seinen policier, littérature adulte
Note: 6/10

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wily old bastard, too poor to retire. A psychopathic 11-year-old, too arrogant to know any better. A stone-cold bureaucrat, who eats corruption for dinner.

CANDY & CIGARETTES v1 is wrought with haggard detail and visceral nuance that make its relentless, antiestablishment barking into the night far more legitimately fearsome than one might first think. This is a fun book. Perhaps not as clever as it aims, but fun nonetheless. The world of film and television is full of preadolescent guns for hire, and the manga and anime mediums are undoubtedly no exception. As for this manga in particular, much of its charm rests in wielding a 65-year-old man as its protagonist — a guy with almost nothing to lose.

Raizou left his job as a police officer and lives in squalor while attempting, in vain, to pay the medical bills for his ailing grandson. Miharu is a student who knows her way around a pistol far more credibly than she does her fractions. Kinume supposedly has a background in expenditure reviews and other financial matters, but now serves as the frontline manager of an underground assassin group, called the SS Agency. These three characters are a bit dead inside. But that's okay. As Miharu says, "To be an assassin, you first gotta kill yourself."

CANDY & CIGARETTES v1 is very much what one expects: exquisitely hectic gun fights, blood splatters in public alleyways, frantic car chases in old vehicles, revenge sagas. Fortunately, through the eyes of the old-timer, all of these events carry with them a whisper of incredulity that rips the mask of disillusionment from years of escapism and world-weariness. Raizou is done believing anyone with power is capable of doing good in the world. It's time he got his due. Miharu never had a chance to be anything but a screwed up human, so she doesn't make an effort to be anything else. And Kinume? The expressionless woman with a sense of humor that's just as frigid? Her backstory, currently unknown, is probably just as damming.

Inoue's art style caters to the miscellaneous genres to which this comic pays complex homage. The pseudo-noirish feel of the criminal underworld somehow righting itself is rife with delightfully unsympathetic personalities. And the character designs, which invoke highly expressive faces and sometimes comically overinvested caricatures, pulls influence from action-comedy mash-up authors, like Akira Toriyama.

CANDY & CIGARETTES v1 is fun and fast-moving. The moralizing is kept thankfully brief, and although the genre-dependent characterization goes hard early (e.g., childhood trauma, corrupt finance officials), much of the comic skews toward allowing its characters to tell their own story. This type of book will have no shortage of chaotic villains to eviscerate.

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is essentially trying to be Gunsmith Cats, but with Minnie May and Rally swapped for a retired cop badly in need of money for his grandson's medical bills, and a grade school assassin. The bulk of this volume is...fine, but unremarkable; the art is pretty good, and the action scenes are solid and unflinching in what they portray, but we aren't really given a chance to get to know most of the targets, and thus aren't given much of a reason to care about seeing them punished. Thankfully, the last chapter changes that a bit.

We get more of a feel for Miharu's (the assassin girl's) character and past, along with our first glimpse of a wider conspiracy/organization at work in the wider criminal underworld. Up until that point, Candy and Cigarettes had an almost "criminal of the week" kind of feel to it, but this implication of a larger narrative developing might be enough to get me to pick up volume 2.

All in all, this volume feels like setup more than anything. There's some serviceable action, decent chemistry between our two leads, and it's all presented in an attractive art style. But right up until the end, there's nothing particularly noteworthy about it. I've seen worse introductions by far, but I've also certainly seen better.

[Union County Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

Retired cop Hiraga Raizou needs one million yen, fast. In order to pay for his grandson's staggering medical bills, he picks up a gig at a run down used bookstore. Hiraga discovers the bookstore is actually a front for a secret government agency when he meets his new partner, a plucky 11 year old assassin with revenge on her mind and blood on her hands. His job? Clean up the mess. Fast paced, action packed, and surprisingly funny, this neo-noir story is satisfyingly bitter and sweet.

- Reviewed by Roxie I.

[Schausette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Une bonne surprise ! Malgré des grandes lignes peu originales et assez attendues, Candy & Cigarettes est un bon manga policier avec un drôle de duo qui m’a fait sourire à plusieurs reprises. Le rythme est cependant un peu redondant et je ne suis pas sûre de lire la suite, mais c’est uniquement parce que les histoires de gangsters, ce n’est pas mon genre de manga. J’a globalement passé un bon moment de lecture.

[Oliver · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good compelling premise - I'm a sucker for 'two opposite strangers become friends in a unlikely way' trope. The morals are sound and the art is brilliant at tension. Miharu is often sexualized in the art though.
While I did enjoy it quite a bit, I don't feel intrigued enough to seek out the second volume - I guess it felt pretty wrapped up at the end.

[Cassie Bolton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shoutout to Rachel for buying me this book while we were stuck in the new anime store during the tornadoes. I think this is my first manga, but from what I can tell it is a very basic one. Little girl-turned-assassin feels very typical anime. But it was still good! Moves a little fast, but I think that's because it's a comic book. Worth looking into the next ones.

[Lexyloowoo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting book. I think I would just prefer to read it online though. There’s something about knowing that it is 11 volume song that makes me just interested. Because I don’t feel like it needs to take that long to tell the story. But I do enjoy it.

[Nathan Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

The most American feeling Manga I have ever read. Packed to the brim with gun fights paired with an endearing relationship between a young girl with a tragic backstory and an old man with a good heart.

[DonutKnow · Rating 4 out of 5]

It might be too early to say, but I like the symbiotic relationship of Hiraga and Miharu- she’s in it for revenge but she has no family, and he’s there for the money but also acts as a friend and father figure to Miharu too 🥰❤️

[Elpis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the dynamic between the two main characters, but I am wary of the over-sexualization of Miharu. I get that the inspiration is mostly from film noir and rated for older teens, but it doesn't justify it for me. I'll still read a few more tomes to see where this goes.

[Cédric Enea · Rating 5 out of 5]

J’ai adoré l’histoire et l’action dans ce livre, je le recommande a 100%

[Blake Gama · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very action packed!

[Ingrid Tiffe · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first in a newish mange series. Looking forward to reading the next few volumes available.

[Solim · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5 Starting out with a bang and a lot of mystery. Maybe more character development to come?

[NV · Rating 4 out of 5]

jsp pourquoi j'ai arrêté d'acheter c'était bien pourtant

[Mindi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pleasantly surprised by this one. I didn't really know what to expect, but I enjoyed the first volume a lot. Definitely picking up the next volume.