I have to admit that at frst glance and after reading the first couple of chapters I was thinking: "Oh great here is another shonen manga that probably gonna go over 250+ chapters with fighs spanning 10-5 chapters per fight" boy was I wrong. The first couple of chapters start out slow, and for a moment there because of the way the lead character was acting I thought this story was gonna go in a completely different direction and I'm glad it didn't. It's like the mangaka suddenly woke up and decided to get this show on the road. Suddenly *BAM* after the first 10 or so chapters, every new chapter has got plot development, character development or even character backgrounds and backstories. No filler chapters here ladies and gentlemen not one single chapter is wasted and thank goodness the other actually avoided what I consider the shonen manga's biggest cliche: "long ass battles. The battles here don't last long and the mangaka chooses to favor plot over mindless bloodshed and massacre (not that those aren't present in the story, don't get me wrong). I totally recommend this to anybody who enjoy's plot development and a really well thought out story + character development.

At the start of the manga, Rikuo's hesitation as a character about what path he wishes to walk mirrored the author's own indecision about how he wanted the story to feel (e.g. balance betwen serious and comic) and what direction he wanted to take various members of the large cast of characters in. There seemed to be a wide variety of bishounen, with few female characters and lots of male comradery, so this manga deserves comparison to Hitman Reborn. I kept reading because there were many good points from the beginning: 1) the characters are all really likable, especially fan favorite Tsurara, with some good "secret identity" character intrigue, 2) the art is beautiful and has only gotten better, and 3) the author really does his research on youkai while putting interesting spins on old ideas. I guess you could say the plot was the weak point, because it progressed only very gradually in an interesting direction.

The manga got better. At some point into the Kyoto arc (the 2nd/3rd major arc, a really long one that composes the entire 2nd season of the anime) NuraMago settled with a mix of a heavy amount of dramatic action, a lot of plot intrigue, and some enjoyable side comedy that doesn't trivialize the plot. Rikuo takes up the mantle of protecting his friends and his family, fighting beside his honorable youkai comrades against aggressive and evil youkai with unpredictable powers. In other words, NuraMago is now a story about Rikuo's battles and those who play important roles in them such as fighting or being in need of protection.

As a change of pace from other WSJ fighter manga, the plot and the action are constantly in motion, with little focus on pride or on 1-on-1 matches. Major points for having the Yuki-Onna youkai Tsurara, be a girl who's constantly fighting, and yet we don't ever hear that "I can't fight girls" line. The main antagonist of the Kyoto arc is also a girl, and she makes quite an impressive villain.

NuraMago is lacking a few things. First is that the characterization is sometimes a bit direct, as the plot intrigue spins things out faster than characters can react interestingly. Second is that while the way that youkai powers work in battle is really clever, it's hard to follow and very hard to measure power levels (compare it to Negima with its billion spell names). Reborn does a way better job with power levels. Third is that the author has, for now, chosen to develop the relationships between characters gradually or indirectly; it's a million times better than little or no development like in Bleach or One Piece, but I still really wish he'd look to Yuyu Hakusho for inspiration there.

As of chapter 180 we're in the middle of the arc after the Kyoto arc, and it feels quite fresh and exciting. The author definitely has a talent for designing great villains.

I think this manga is an excellent mix of original and standard, generic shounen elements.

The first few chapters do suffer a bit from monster-of-the-week syndrome and the timeline is a little confusing as it jumps around a bit (and where does the original oneshot fit in, or is that not canon?). However it doesn't take long at all for this series to find its footing, and I was hooked after about 10 chapters. It also feels like there is real character development happening, as even with the relatively small number of chapters that are out now some of the characters have already started to grow and mature (And no, by 'grow and mature' I don't mean 'trained and gained new powers'. I mean actual character growth.).

The fight scenes have been cool but mercifully short (at least so far...it looks like that might be changing, though). I do get annoyed by the tendency of shounen manga to drag out fights for chapter after chapter, but that hasn't been a problem with this manga (yet). There is also a potentially interesting romantic subplot developing, though it hasn't really been the focus thus far.

Anyway, to sum it up I think this series gets off to a bit of a confused start but quickly develops into something that has a lot of potential. There's action, comedy, romance, and enough original ideas to keep things interested. What more do you want?

... Last updated on February 4th, 2009, 11:22pm

So far, it seems like a pretty good story. I have learned more about youkai from this story than Inuyasha (much of the story is like a youkai encyclopedia). The characters are decent enough. Rikuo is actually one shounen star who actually knows how to use his power instead of going through the painfully long process of gaining strength as he goes along.

The only problem I have is that all of the youkai have called him "Rikuo" in his night form in front of Kana and Yura...how long is it supposed to take for them to realize who he is?

I find it to be an enjoyable series with superb artwork. Each character has their own unique personality, and the sheer amount of yokai that you can learn about in this manga is amazing. They are portrayed in such a way that they are recognizible to those who are into mythology.
Overall: 9
Art: 10-Artwork is different from many of the other manga i've read. It's unique and yokai are recognizable due to their physical characterristics. Panels that include fighting sequences can be a bit messy, but otherwise, the artwork is amazing.
Characters: 7- Characters all have their own unique personalities. I found the character development lacking in quite a few places, but otherwise decent. One thing that I find annoying is the sheer amount of characters that appear/reappear in the series. Characters that disappear for a while are barely (if even) remembered later on down the storyline.
Plot: 7- Plot is quite repetitive. The plot is also a cliche shounen (Hero fights big bad guy--> Hero loses--> Hero has hissy fit next chapter--> Close friend/ whoever snaps Hero out of emo moment--> Hero somehow becomes unbelievibly stong in a short amount of time--> Hero goes back to defeat enemy--> Next enemy comes in), but despite it being cliche, it is also an excellent series that I will continue to read until the end.

Brilliant shounen manga. Has humour,main character gets insanely strong,hint of love interest-an atypical shounen manga. But it's done briliantly, it's too bad not to many people read it. In my opinion it's as good if not better than bleach or naruto.

The oneshot certainly caught my interest mildly so I continued on to the series. A slow start with the first few chapters seeming to take a 'Jing-like' style of being fairly unrelated stories. However stick with this one, the plot gets surprisingly good and the the last few chapters have been very interesting. Has good potential and is living up to it so far, unfortunatly I think I would have enjoyed this more had it been around a few years a go. Still it's unique and good as a light read and sits comfortably in the middle of the manga's I've read so far.

... Last updated on October 4th, 2008, 7:34pm

One of the things I love most about this manga is the art style. It's got a very traditional Japanese and calligraphic feel to it while not appearing outdated at all. It's like a perfect mix of that neat, bold flow and typical school shounen style. I kind of feel like the story and characters are the same way- all kinds of traditional type youkai (plenty to keep you eye and brain busy without being confusing) and the somewhat strange but otherwise normal kids from middle school. There's mystery, there's action, suspense, hilarity and a little bit of romance, all the things I like in a manga. And though, ya, the battles can get a little long-winded sometimes (it's a shounen thing apparently, can't escape it) they have enough surprises and cool twists to keep me interested.

this is a very interesting manga , although some might feel its a little bit generic shounen and some might feel the pace in the beginning being somewhat disconnected. but i say give this manga a chance , it does have the potential to be really good, at least i enjoyed it and feel its worth my time

i like most manga i read but this is one of the best so far y:awesome art, action where needed, humor, great character reactions, good character personalities, youkai are scary-ish looking, outfits are really cool and traditional, the 1/4 of youkai really adds drama to Rikou's life and my fav part is his really big personality change from day form to night form