Genre: Crime/Action
Rating: Older Teen
Price: $9.99
Kai Eto may look like a squeaky clean kid, but the Greater Kanto narcotics Control Division’s new investigator hides a violent alter ego and a dangerous past. With his stoic partner Hal Kurabayashi, Kai is assigned to track down and stop the distribution of Dragon Speed, a dangerous new drug. But Ryugen, the syndicate trafficking the drug, is almost impossible to infiltrate. Add street violence and a jurisdiction war with the Meguro Police, and poor Kai is in for some very long days at the office.
When I first heard about this series, my first thought was that it was a rip off of MPD Psycho, but nothing could be further from the truth. Kai Eto seems more like a clueless, happy-go-lucky Bruce Banner, that can “hulk out” when pushed hard enough.
When we first meet our protagonist, Kai Eto, he is on the way to a bust, carrying a boy who hurt himself that he met on the way. Not the best first impression for his first day on the job; late, and carrying a boy. Kai’s superiors don’t seem to mind, only Hal Kurabayashi, another new recruit, who finds Kai’s naïve and carefree attitude annoying. So of course, they are partnered together.
The way characters are introduced in this volume leave a lot to be desired. Other than names, we know next to nothing about anyone. The mangakas just throw us into fray with no frame of reference. The volume blurb gives more information. It’s very disorientating for a first volume. The first story gives us just what we need to know about Kai; he doesn’t like to hurt or get hurt, but when pushed too far, he can change into the opposite, someone who can and does enjoy inflicting pain. And…that’s it for the rest of the volume about it. We follow Kai and Hal as they go on new assignments.
Kai, who’s supposed to be the protagonist, plays more like the comedy relief, as he stumbles around at his job, not knowing much, as opposed to Hal, who is competent and serious about their work. It’s your typical “opposite partners”, which does work well. Kai, for all his faults, seems to genuinely care about his work. Hal, the cool and serious partner does play well opposite him. If there were a straight crime drama, without the “hulking out” I would have enjoyed it more.
The art is crisp and clean, but the characters all look the same. Their hair is wild and messy, always covering their faces. It really gets annoying after a while. The comedic moments are nice, as they break up the drama. I appreciate a drama more that uses both, than one that is straight drama.
Switch has a lot of potential. The characters interactions are entertaining, and the investigations lead to to some interesting situations. But, the whole “switch” with Kai seems more of a gimmick than a plot device, as through the whole volume it only happens once, and no one seemed concerned about it.
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