Rest assured the Rooster Fighter continues in this second volume to come to save us, poor humans, giant monsters. But, the rooster will have to team up and solidarity is not his forte…
Back in the farmyard
The Rooster Fighter returns to kill the kijū who devoured his sister. Since the first volume, we know that the giant monsters threatening Japan are a virus. This disease is transmitted by a sting but it is triggered when rather nice people are rejected by society. The sting then becomes a giant foam that transforms humans into destructive and vengeful giants. We know the name of the Rooster Fighter since the end of volume one: Keiji, nicknamed the ambitious rooster. In this suite, he is now assisted by a chick. Together, they face more powerful monsters. More intelligent, they not only destroy everything in their way but establish attack strategies. They now resist his cocori-K-O and Keji comes out seriously wounded from a fight. Keji is also confronted by a strange hen, Elizabeth. This summary shows that action is at the heart of this second volume.
Writer and artist Shu Sakuratani continues to tell a complete story by chapter. Shu Sakuratani's drawings are still as successful as ever. While each fight seems totally unequal in disproportion, Sakuratani makes Keiji totally believable. Its layout offers pages of anthology combat. The monsters are as hideous as they are original. He not only parodies Godzilla but invents complex monsters. A human has become a slug but he also has tentacles acting as eyes or small faces with sharp fangs. A demon is not only gigantic but its body is covered with zippers.
A lonesome rooster?
More than saving human lives, the Rooster Fighter comes to restore justice but without imposing itself. A migratory bird, it fulfills its mission and then goes hunting for a new kaijû. We can think of westerns. Keiji is a cowboy who comes to restore order and then leaves. This can also create problems for him as here his tendency to multiply conquests …
Even if he refuses this charge, the Rooster Fighter is now accompanied by a chick, Piyoko. The latter was despised by others for her weakness and naivety but she was the darling of her master. Together, they watched yakuza movies. He even tattooed a mafia mantra on his back and since then the chick insists on respecting a code of honor. Upon seeing Keiji intervene, Piyoko decided to join him because he believes that his love has caused the transformation of his master. This addition is a great success because the gap created by this chick so human is very funny. He does not see himself as the assistant of the Rooster Fighter but as his companion.
Rooster Fighter continues to be a hilarious series by parodying cinema. Scenes seem to be taken from a romantic movie except that the protagonists kissing are a rooster and a hen. If we laugh very often, the emotions are very varied. We are moved to see all the inhabitants of a village digging until they die. The first monster in this volume is not just a slug, it is a stalker and the next demonstrates the endless lure for money.
Edited by Mangetsu, Rooster Figter keeps the crest high in this second volume. The reading is also entertaining thanks to the scenes of successful actions and the humor always so absurd. This series also diverts the clichés of animal series. Keiji is of a vulgar anthropomorphism because, if he is certainly a hero, he has a pig character and treats chickens as Don Juan multiplied conquests.
Discover on these links the beginnings of the series and Ping Kong, another crazy series of Mangetsu.
