Treasure Hunter Book 2: Figurehead of Souls 1995 CPM Press   Buy It Now

For archaeology, treasure hunting is a pretty big problem.  As “treasure hunters,” or looters take the materials left behind by previous cultures for their own collections, the archaeological record is destroyed bit by bit.  This has been going on for a long time, and it is often unintentionally encouraged by media.  Lara Croft the Tomb Raider is one example of media encouraging the looting of artifacts; it has had a large series of videogames and movies that encourage this practice.  Also, there is the infamous case of Indiana Jones.  Don’t get me wrong, I love the Indy movies and would love the series to continue, but it shows a professional anthropologist that blatantly hunts for artifacts to sell to museums (or keep out of Nazi hands), without conducting proper research.  With these problems, I was a little worried about the content of a manga called Treasure Hunter.

 Luckily, I found that Treasure Hunter is not set in the world as we know it.  The story is about a young merchant named Jubei who is determined to provide any object that his customers may want.  He relies on his physical prowess, his best-friend Carpet, and a toad mouth bag filled with useful magical items in his endeavors to find the most precious and elusive items.  Jubei lives in a magical world where there are strange skeleton-like humanoids, anthropomorphic toads, and the spirits of the dead can be visited.  It’s a fantastic place that resembles our own reality only superficially. 

In this book, Jubei spends all his time searching for the “Figurehead of Souls.”  This is a magical item that has the power to keep any ship from sinking.  The leader of a band of pirates has hired Jubei to find the item, so that he can win a war with a rival group of pirates.  This item is located in a mysterious place called Jelly Island, which is a penal colony for the spirits of the worst criminals and baddies to ever exist.  Jubei and Carpet team up with an up and coming medium named Pipillota on this journey, because she also needed to go to the island to develop her skills.  The three must work together if they are going to survive in this dangerous place.

This book is a quick read and is entertaining throughout. It is easy to get lost in this strange world that Jubei lives in; it has fascinating characters and interesting locales.  Treasure Hunter seems to have a very unique style; I wasn’t too sure about the quality of art at first, but it grew on me.  Jubei and the other humans are drawn somewhat simplistically, but Carpet and the various creatures within the stories are quite intriguing and innovative.  I didn’t like the look of Carpet at first, but his appearance become more comfortable and endearing once there was more character development on him.  Although the backgrounds are not always featured in the cells, when it is it can be quite detailed and beautifully drawn.

This is a tale of a Treasure Hunter that I can really get into and not feel guilty about enjoying.  The world that Jubei lives in is so fantastic and different from ours, that the obtaining of precious items is an exciting and important part of Jubei’s society.  This book has action, adventure, and humor; providing a quick paced and light storyline.  I am definitely curious to see what item Jubei will have to acquire next, and what feats he will have to complete to get it.

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Genre: Adventure   Written By:: Hitoshi Tomizawa   Art By:: Hitoshi Tomizawa   Pages: 200