To quote the trooper of a scanlator who translated the majority of Jiraishin Diablo and saw it through to its convoluted, unsatisfying end, "Something went wrong here."

I love, love, loved Jiraishin and I consider it to be one of the seminal works that make seinen manga my favorite genre, so when I recently reread it and realized the sequel was completely scanlated, I was stoked. It was time for the return of ice-cold Iida, ruthless detective of the Shinjuku Police Department as he brought criminals to justice alongside his partner Eriko! ...At least, that's what I thought this series would be.

The ending of Jiraishin left us on a somber note and I was excited to see how Eriko and Iida rebounded from the shock of losing so many loved ones in such a short span of time. I was expecting, at least, more exaggerated, improbable crimes and Iida's gratuitous use of lethal force. At best, I was expecting some more backstory on Iida, and an examination of his human side as he coped with the devastating loss he faced in the original Jiraishin.

Jiraishin Diablo provided none of that. Instead, it gave us an Iida, blinded by keratoconus (a disorder that doesn't cause blindness), a grown-up, inexplicably wealthy Aya Koike ( Remember her? No? That's because she was a minor character who showed up like, twice), and a terrorist cult claiming independence as a new "kingdom" of randos ruled by a brainwashed ten-year old and a mass murderer.

In a terrible and seemingly unplanned mistake, the entire sequel is composed of one confusing, painfully unrealistic (even by Jiraishin standards) "file." Maybe it was meant to be a typical case arc and spiralled out of control, maybe it was the result of poor editorial decisions, maybe it was the result of the mangaka regretting ever rebooting a series in which he described himself ending with a sense of "relief." Whatever the case, Jiraishin Diablo is a dumpster fire of a manga in which Iida-turned-crim can barely be considered a tritagonist as he throws in his lot with the type of people he once hunted for a living. His motives are shaky at best, nonexistent at worst, and as you read the manga you find yourself thinking, "What is going on? Why is Iida doing this? Where tf is Eriko? Why am I taking the time to read this?"

You keep reading, in the hopes that Takahashi-sensei was just screwing around and the Jiraishin universe will be restored to its former glory in the next chapter for sure, but by the time you reach the nineteeth and final chapter, which reeks of an axed ending, features a suddenly depressed(?) Iida, and provides no semblance of closure, you realize that you were better off not reading Jiraishin Diablo at all, because not only did you just lose several hours of your life, you also lost some of the respect you once held for the masterpiece that is the original Jiraishin.

It's hard to judge this manga when there are only so few chapters released, but from having read all that's released, in my opinion, Jiraishin Diablo is as good as its prequel.
I won't write review specifically for this manga, I guess I just wanted to share my impression of it with those who've read Jiraishin.
As for rating, I won't give 10 only because there aren't enough chapters yet ^^

... Last updated on April 4th, 2011, 10:02am