A Thousand Miles

Succubus & Hitman

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Succubus & Hitman is a Supernatural Action Seinan Manga by Makoto Fukami and Seigo Tokiya. It started serialization in Champion RED magazine in February 2020. Seven Seas published the first volume in English on January 18th of this year, with the second slated to be released in May.

Cover Appeal

Dynamic Duo – A sharp eyed reader may pick up on the fact that we’ve seen this artistic pairing before. Makoto Fukami and Seigo Tokiya are none other than the duo that brought us Magical Girl Spec Ops: Asuka. And even if you didn’t recognize them from that, you’ve likely still experienced Makoto’s writing in things like Psycho Pass.

Shouya’s Going to Shoot You – This is our main pair: Armelina the Succubus and Shouya Gamou the proxy-hitman. This a great primer for some of what you’ll be getting from them in the story. Armelina is playful and Shouya’s more aggressive business. They’ll both take part in murdering you, if need be- but it’s the small details that count, right?

The Gist

Gamou Shouya, a wrestling loving high school student falls into a coma. All hope for Shouya seems lost, but he miraculously awakens – with only a case of amnesia. In reality, through a series of contracts, Shouya Gamou is now an entirely different person. The person running the show now is the spirit of a deceased boy looking to avenge his own family and he’s contracted with a succubus, Armelina, to do it. Shouya is now a proxy-hitman, harvesting hell-bound souls for Armelina. Can Shouya find the people that killed his family and what kind of monsters is he bound to find if he does?

The Cast

Gamou Shouya – High School student at Omura Memorial Nakano High. Part of the Pro Wrestling Club and an all around wrestling otaku. Presently houses the soul of a deceased boy looking to avenge his family.

Armelina – Succubus. Contracted with both Gamou Shouya and the boy presently inhabiting his body. She provides support for Shouya when he’s in battle.

Gamou Riri – Shouya’s younger sister. She’s picked up on the fact that something just isn’t quite right with her brother…..something far more than just “post coma amnesia”

Ootachi Kururi – Hacker. The “great knowledge, poor judgement” type. Shouya saves her from being killed by the Yakuza. Can see spirits like Armelina, apparently.

The Rub

“Hitman & Succubus….”

Alright, interesting star-

“High Schooler Gamou Shouya….”

OH GODDAMNIT.

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My initial annoyance aside, I like Hitman & Succubus. It has that certain kind of premise that’s proven itself workable time and time again. You know that kind: one you can immediately grasp, with a world’s worth of potential in front of it. A dying boy contracts with a succubus as a hitman to find those that killed his family. Very straightforward (kinda), very high-concept.

I will always give some sideeye if you try to do “sexy” and “high school” in the premise (something pairing up a literal succubus with a high schooler heavily implies) but our protag is refreshingly above the influence, resonating more with Armelina’s demonic side, rather than her sexual one. Shouya is all business – and quite shrewdly so. He ruthlessly intimidates Ootachi Kururi into working for him, threatening to leave her at the mercy of the Yakuza and/or feed her to Armelina himself if she doesn’t cooperate, and coldly rebuffs Armelina’s advances. It’s almost as if a boy who watched his mother get raped and killed, his sister kidnapped (likely to be sold into sexual slavery) and then was brutalized and killed himself might not be interested in the hanky panky. Just sayin.

Kururi herself is kinda interesting as this “smart person who made one dumb mistake”. She’s a hacker, so she’s obviously knowledgeable, but she stole from the wrong people, nearly got herself killed and is now doomed to be put upon by Shouya and Armelina. You can’t feel TOO sorry for the girl, but you do kinda feel bad considering she’s likely going to be the butt monkey from here on out.

Now, as mentioned earlier, art is provided by Seigo Tokiya. Much like Magical Girl Spec Ops, Succubus & Hitman has it’s fair bit of action. It’s mostly centered around gunfighting, but there’s some hard hitting melee mixed in with the likelihood of more coming in future volumes. Makoto Fukami, not to be outdone here, paces Succubus & Hitman to my liking. I understand where the story is starting from, got a workable cast of characters, a central conflict and a power system that makes sense presently. Only gripe I have is the assertion that Succubi can’t interact directly with humans. Because bestowing your “blessings” upon a human, ushering their soul to hell (or eating it) or creating weapons they can use to shoot each other SURE AS HELL sounds like directly interacting with humans to me. Is it more likely that Succubi can’t directly KILL humans? Would certainly make more sense….

In Conclusion

Let’s just cut to the chase: Will I continue Hitman & Succubus? HELL YEAH! I’m really digging this unconventional duo infilitrating and taking heads in the criminal underworld. It all feels very Hit-Monkey or what I imagine a magic fueled Boondock Saints may look like. Furthermore, it wasted no time getting to the first crucial step in Shouya’s revenge quest. I’m really stoked to see what powers Armelina can offer and what other proxy hitman would be like.

Continue?: Hell Yeah