I am the kind of person who usually reads manga based off recommendations.
If I hear a lot of praise about a series, or the mangaka is connected to another one I follow (like with Centuria), I will check it out.
It is rare for me to just check out a first chapter with no expectations, but when I stumbled across the link to the first chapter of Night Light Hounds, I had nothing else to do so gave it a shot.
Upon finishing the chapter, I knew I just had to review it.
Night Light Hounds is written and illustrated by Haruhisa Nakata, a mangaka with experience in the industry.
He is most known for Levius, which I have not read so cannot speak about its quality.
I can speak about the quality of Night Light Hounds’ first chapter though and, if that is any indication of its future potential, then this is going to be really good manga.
Chapter One, “Night Hounds” begins by presenting the story’s setting of Silent Bay City, a 1920s inspired city ruled by gangs.
We see this immediately, with the first scene following a group of gangsters shaking down a business and attempting to threaten the owner into joining their protection racket.
The artwork immediately stands out, with the city and characters having a realistic style that persists throughout.
The business owner refuses to cave to the lead gangster’s demands, so he calls in the lookout, our main character, Jimmy, instructing him to act like he is going to kill the businessman to get him to cooperate.
This serves as a test for Jimmy, but he fails it, as his hesitation and compassion give the old man enough time to leap up and grab the gun from him, resulting in the gang leader killing the businessman.
While failing in his task, this also gives the reader plenty of reason to care about Jimmy, as we get our first look at how he is not a bad person but is rather forced into this cruel line of work by circumstance.
The gang leader is nowhere near as compassionate, punching Jimmy for his failure and ordering him and another gang member, Viktor, to dispose of the body in a shed.
However, only Viktor is allowed in the shed because he has the mark of the family and Jimmy does not.
Whatever Viktor sees in there clearly gets to him because he is prepared to leave the family immediately after.
He seems to almost warn Jimmy about what he saw inside the shed but stops himself.
Later that night, Jimmy is at the roof of his apartment, where he considers suicide, due to the state of his life, only to be halted by a baseball being repeatedly thrown to him, seemingly from nowhere.
Attempting to find out the identity of the thrower leads to Jimmy accidentally falling off the roof, only to be caught by a little girl with absurd strength.
In a humorous exchange, Jimmy has to throw the ball back onto the roof to get her to drag him back up, since the girl does not seem to understand him.
Over the next few nights, Jimmy meets with the girl on the roof and bonds with her, suspecting that she is an orphan.
It is kind of funny that, although Jimmy clearly comes to care about the girl, he does not focus on her absurd strength too much, and also fails to notice what looks like a muzzle hanging around her neck.
Still, Jimmy does act like a big brother, teasing her about the vampires she claims are at the gang’s headquarters across the city.
He also tells her his backstory, informing her and the reader of how he lost his parents, brother, and then became indebted to the gang.
Is it a bit too convenient for Jimmy to reveal his backstory to a little girl he just met so we can care about his past?
Yes.
But it gets the job done, and Jimmy even says the girl reminds him of his little brother.
Continuing the brotherly connection, he even gives her a name when he learns she does not have one: Lili.
Just when it seems Jimmy is set on looking after Lili, her caregiver arrives, a mysterious man in a suit she calls K.
Jimmy gets angry at the man for leaving Lili alone but he, in turn, calls out Jimmy, saying he looks disappointed knowing Lili is better off than him.
This may be too cruel of an assessment, though, as Jimmy saw Lili as having no one, like him.
He is most likely saddened by the apparent loss of that connection, and obviously insulted when K tries to pay him off with cash.
Jimmy throws away the money and storms off, which Nakata uses to show off more world building, as numerous homeless people begin desperately grabbing the thrown money, showing just how bad off the poor are in Silent Bay City.
The next day, Jimmy is still fuming about the exchange, while also being curious about how a wound on Lili’s hand disappeared.
His distraction accidentally leads him and his fellow gangsters back to the shed where he and Viktor dumped the body.
The gangsters go inside, leaving Jimmy in the car.
When he hears gunshots, he goes inside to investigate and finds the horrifying sight of his coworkers dismembered bodies, and a shadowy figure standing over them.
Fleeing the shed, Jimmy goes to the police.
Probably subconsciously leaping onto Lili’s vampire claim, he tells the police officers that is what he saw, only to switch tracks when he realizes this is not working and turning on the gang.
Unfortunately, the police are bought by the gangs, and they turn him over to the lead gangster, who brings him tied up to the shed, where Viktor has also been killed for trying to leave the family.
Here, Nakata shows off his artistry once more, as the gangster actually reveals himself to be a vampire, showing off his snake-like eyes, long fangs and enlarged tongue.
Revealing that there are other vampires within the family, the gangster goes off on a monologue, knowing Jimmy will tell no one since he is going to kill him anyway.
This proves to be his mistake, as it gives Jimmy enough to time to break free and prove he does have the guts to shoot a gun.
Jimmy nearly makes it out, but the vampire’s healing abilities and supernatural strength get the better of him.
He accepts his death, only for the vampire to stop dead, horrified at something on the roof above him.
Jimmy looks up, and we get the best panel of the chapter, a double spread revealing a shadowy wolf-like creature lurking above.
The wolf easily and brutally kills the vampire, and is then joined by K, who blows up the shed.
The werewolf then drops Lili’s baseball at Jimmy’s feet with “I am Lili” written on it, revealing her identity.
Although it was pretty obvious that Lili was the wolf from the moment it showed up, what with her previously shown super strength, healing ability, muzzle, and knowledge of vampires.
K tells Jimmy that they are the Night Hounds and will meet again.
The chapter then ends on another sprawling panel of the city, with Jimmy narrating, “This is how, in Silent Bay City, a good-for-nothing like me got caught up in a conflict between monsters.”
I am curious to see what K wants with Jimmy.
Perhaps he wants him to join the Night Hounds, given his connection with Lili and proving himself competent by surviving the vampire attack?
This first chapter also foreshadows potential future conflicts in the story, with the vampire working for the unseen underboss named Dorothera, who Viktor claims is going to be the next head.
Since the lead gangster was a vampire, it stands to reason Dorothera is too.
It seems likely Jimmy is going to find himself on the side of the werewolves in this conflict.
Overall, “Night Hounds” is a solid start to this story.
The artwork is great, its main character is likeable, as is his bond with the child werewolf, and it seems like Nakata has set up the future of the story nicely.
This was a great first chapter, and I am already looking forward to seeing where Night Light Hounds goes.