Manga Recommendation: Gachiakuta

So a while ago I did a post recommending the manga series, “Ayashimon”, so I decided I’d do another one on another new manga I’ve been following since it first dropped, Gachiakuta.

So Gachiakuta is a manga by Kei Urana who was an assistant to Atsushi Okubo, the creator of Soul Eater and Fire Force. Now Okubo is one of my favorite mangaka of all time, so I was super there to pick up something by one of his assistants.

So the general premise of Gachiakuta is that in this world is split into two distinct areas: the first is a rich bustling paradise like city, with the second being the Abyss, a pit that those in this paradise dump all their trash and even their criminals into.

In paradise there’s also a class divide with the richer member and this group called the Tribespeople.

In this tribe is a boy named Ruto, the son of a man committed to the Abyss, who lives with his mentor and adoptive father Regto. Regto gave Ruto a pair of gloves he treasures the covers up the scars left by his biological father.

One day Ruto is found guilty of murder and is thrown in the Abyss, swearing vengeance on the real culprit and all of the rich people condemning him to the hell of the Abyss. Down there, Ruto learns of monsters known as Aberrant Beasts, creatures almost indestructible made of trash. Which are exterminated by an elite group in Abyss called the Janitors using items valuable to them that gain power thanks to their bond known as Jinki. Rudo now joins these Janitors as he works his way out of the Abyss to seek his revenge.

That first the series seems rather basic in concept and even a bit edgy with its garbage world aesthetic and theme. But like many things, the strength is in the execution of the series, the concept of one’s attachment to an object empowering it to a super weapon is cool in getting individualized skills and the creation of Aberrant Beasts from a phenomena of objects of discarded memories and attachment forming into these titanic terrors is a cool flipside to it.

The series message of its evils of social hierarchy is shown on full display, even if is rather vulgar in its way of depicting it. What helps is a level of self awareness in the writing of its own edginess, often remembering that these characters are empathetic even in a world of trash. Rudo isn’t a full blown angsty boy, even starting out delinquent and driven by vengeance, Rudo is still given moments of vulnerability and dressing down for some of his selfish actions.

A character capable of being presented like this:

While remembering to show him like this.

And as you can probably see by now, the art is this series is very nice, emphasis on design with real visual flare. Something you can definitely see that Okubo influence in.

The series is still young, only 11 chapters as of the time I write this and it certainly has potential. With good art and action with some genuinely touching moments, I think it’s something that fans of barebones battle Shounen, fans of Okubo’s work, and people looking for a more grungy manga will likely enjoy.

It’s worth mentioning that at this this series is sadly not professionally translated by Kodansha, so you will have to use scanlations. I personally use the ones on MangaDex. But that aside, I do hope we see Gachiakuta stateside soon.