Jormungand (manga)
Encyclopedia
is a manga series by Keitarō Takahashi and serialized in Monthly Sunday Gene-X magazine. The manga is published in North America by Viz Media
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Jonah (Johnathan Mar)
Valmet
Mao
R
Ugo
Lutz
Tojo
Wiley
Kasper Hekmatyar
Chiquita
Schokolade
Mr. Chan
Karen Lo
, summed up the series as being enjoyable, but underachieving.
Matthew Warner feels that the story in the fourth volume is more focused on the business of trading weapons, describing it as a nice change of pace for the story, but Warner was disappointed that the violence and "dark, twisted plot points" of earlier volumes in the series were not present.
Erica Friedman
noted the yuri potential of Valmet, but declared the manga to be "just a dumb manga that I really like".
Karen Maeda enjoyed the action shown in the sixth volume, regarding the panels as being easy to follow, and hoped that Jormungand would be produced as an anime.
VIZ Media
VIZ Media, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, is an anime, manga, and Japanese entertainment company. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ Media LLC, which is jointly owned by Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha, and...
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Plot
The series follows Koko Hekmatyar, a young arms dealer who sells weapons under HCLI, a weapons corporation. As one of the company's unofficial weapon sellers, she secretly sells weapons in many countries while avoiding the local authorities and law enforcements as most of her work is actually illegal under international law. Traveling with her is her team of bodyguards who are mostly composed of ex-military veterans. Her latest addition to her crew is Jonah, a seemingly emotionless child soldier who is skilled in combat yet ironically hates arms dealers. Jonah joins Koko as he wishes to find the arms dealer responsible for his family's death. What follows is Koko and her crews escapades around the world.Characters
Koko Hekmatyar- The series protagonist. A young arms dealer whose is the daughter of a global shipping magnate . Belongs to HCLI's Europe/African Weapons Transport Division. Her personality is quite cheery and happy, most would say even childish. She considers Johan a little brother during the times they are together. Valmet has a crush on Koko, but Koko is oblivious to this.
Jonah (Johnathan Mar)
- A child soldier. His family was killed and he wants revenge for the person responsible. He joins Koko's crew despite his overall dislike of arms dealers and the fact that he absolutely hates guns. However, his opinions of the crew changes, so he finds himself staying with them.
Koko's Bodyguards
Lehm- The oldest member of Koko's crew and the second in command. He is a veteran mercenary with strong leadership skills.
Valmet
- A ex-mechanized jäger major of the Finnish Rapid Deployment ForceFinnish Rapid Deployment ForceThe Finnish Rapid Deployment Force is the spearhead international force of the Finnish Defence Forces . It can also be used for national defence....
who is skilled with knives. She is in love with Koko, but Koko is oblivious about it.
Mao
- A former artillery officer from an Asian country, he was discharged from the military after a deadly training accident and was later recruited by Koko.
R
- A former Italian Army BersaglieriBersaglieriThe Bersaglieri are a corps of the Italian Army originally created by General Alessandro La Marmora on 18 June 1836 to serve in the Piedmontese Army, later to become the Royal Italian Army...
intelligence officer.
Ugo
- A former mafia driver, Ugo was recruited by Koko after the mafia organization he worked for was wiped out by Koko's team for trying to make their payment with drugs. Ugo was spared as he was the only one disgusted because his brother died from drugs.
Lutz
- A former sniper from a police counter terrorism unit. Serve as the team's sniper.
Tojo
- A former member of the Japan Defense Agency's secret SR unit.
Wiley
- An explosive expert.
HCLI Corporation
Floyd Hekmatyar- Koko and Kasper's father, who is head of the HCLI and a global shipping magnate.
Kasper Hekmatyar
- Koko's older brother. He is the one who sold the weapons responsible for the death of Jonah's parents, and also the reason Jonah joined up with Koko.
Chiquita
- Kasper's ruthless head of security and Lehm's ex-wife. Both Chiquita and Lehm used to serve as Floyd Hekmatyar's bodyguards.
CIA
Scarecrow- A CIA agent targeting Koko and other arms dealers. With good instincts on shady deals, he is attempting to track down and seize the dirty money from the arms trade for the CIA. Unfortunately, due to his clumsiness or unexpected factors, not everything works as he plans which is why Koko is able to escape from him many times.
Schokolade
- A CIA asset in South Africa assigned to work with Scarecrow. She's more sympathetic to Koko and secretly works as Koko's informant.
Taishinhai Company
Officially a Hong Kong registered company that handles shipping and trading of machine parts and natural resources. In reality, the company is a front for China to develop oil and gas resources in third world countries as well as handling illegal arms trade and providing securities. All security personnel were officially discharged from the People's Liberation Army first before "joining" the company as civilian security contractors.Mr. Chan
- The Head of Taishinhai, who is always seen with a cane. Under his polite and well mannered appearance is a ruthless man willing to do anything for the interest of China. Held a rank of major general in the PLA. He is the target of Valmet's revenge as her unit was killed by Chan and his men during a UN mission. Eventually Valmet gets her revenge and kills him after finding his base.
Karen Lo
- A former PLA lieutenant. Officially she is Chan's secretary but actually she serves as his bodyguard as well as the commander of his soldiers.
Reception
Scott Green, writing for Ain't It Cool NewsAin't It Cool News
Ain't It Cool News is a website founded and run by Harry Knowles, dedicated to news, rumors and reviews of upcoming and currently playing films and television projects, with an emphasis on science fiction, fantasy, horror, comic-book and action genres...
, summed up the series as being enjoyable, but underachieving.
Matthew Warner feels that the story in the fourth volume is more focused on the business of trading weapons, describing it as a nice change of pace for the story, but Warner was disappointed that the violence and "dark, twisted plot points" of earlier volumes in the series were not present.
Erica Friedman
Yuricon
Yuricon is an anime convention geared toward fans of yuri anime and manga. The first Yuricon event was held in 2003 in Newark, New Jersey with about 200 attending, although Yuricon has existed as an online entity since 2000. The event was organized by Yuricon, LLC., which continues to run...
noted the yuri potential of Valmet, but declared the manga to be "just a dumb manga that I really like".
Karen Maeda enjoyed the action shown in the sixth volume, regarding the panels as being easy to follow, and hoped that Jormungand would be produced as an anime.