''Black Torch'' (stylized in

all caps In typography, text or font in all caps (short for "all capitals") contains capital letters without any lowercase letters. For example: All-caps text can be seen in legal documents, advertisements, newspaper headlines, and the titles on book co ...

) is a Japanese

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

series written and illustrated by . It was serialized in

Shueisha is a Japanese publishing company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. Shueisha is the largest publishing company in Japan. It was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The ...

's monthly manga magazine ''

Jump Square , also written as , is a Japanese monthly manga magazine. Published by Shueisha, the magazine premiered on November 2, 2007, as a replacement for ''Monthly Shōnen Jump'', another manga anthology that Shueisha discontinued in June of that year. ...

'' from December 2016 to March 2018, and later on the digital platform ''

Shōnen Jump+ is a manga platform created by Shueisha. Launched on September 22, 2014, it operates as a free mobile app and website. Jump+ serializes original titles and titles from other Shueisha manga magazines, and also carries digital editions of ''Weekl ...

'' from April to July 2018. Its chapters were compiled in five volumes. In North America, the manga was licensed for English release by

Viz Media Viz Media, LLC is an American entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California, focused on publishing manga, and distribution and licensing Japanese anime, films, and television series. The company was founded in 1986 as Viz, ...

. An

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

television series adaptation produced by

100studio is a Japanese animation studio based in Suginami founded in 2021. It is a subsidiary of HIKE. History In May 2021, HIKE established a new organization under its intellectual property department, focusing on digital animation production. The st ...

has been announced.

Plot

Jiro Azuma is a teenage punk, trained in the art of the ninja, who has the incredible ability to talk to animals. Despite this, he was constantly bullied as a child for talking to animals; he could only find solace with other animals, such as his dog Nachi. One day, Jiro is led into the woods by some birds and encounters a gravely injured cat. He nurses the cat back to health, who is shocked to find out that Jiro can understand him. The cat reveals himself as Rago of the Black Star of Doom, an immortal , or evil spirit. He reveals that he was attacked by other for refusing to help them. Later that night, Rago attempts to escape from Jiro's house, but they are attacked by one of the Rago encountered earlier. This kills Jiro by stabbing him through the chest with his immense claws. Feeling pity and indebted to Jiro for saving him earlier, Rago fuses with Jiro to give him a second chance at life. With their combined power, they kill the ''mononok''e, but are then taken into custody by the Bureau of Espionage. The two later join the Bureau in order to stop more in the future.

Media

Manga

Written and illustrated by , ''Black Torch'' was serialized in

's monthly manga magazine ''

'' from December 31, 2016, to March 2, 2018. It was then transferred to Shueisha's ''

'' online platform, being serialized for four chapters from April 11 to July 11, 2018. Shueisha published its 19 individual chapters in five volumes, released from April 4, 2017, to August 3, 2018. In North America,

announced that it had licensed the series for English release in North America in July 2017. The title became available on its ''Shonen Jump'' digital platform in December 2018. The five volumes were released from August 7, 2018, to August 6, 2019.

Volumes

Anime

In March 2025, at

Emerald City Comic Con The Emerald City Comic Con (ECCC), formerly the Emerald City Comicon, is an annual comic book convention taking place in Seattle, Washington. Originally taking place at the city's Qwest Field (first at West Field Plaza, then at the Event Center) ...

, it was announced that the manga would receive an

television series adaptation. The anime is produced by

and directed by Kei Umabiki, with series composition by , character designs by Gō Suzuki, and music composed by

Yutaka Yamada is a Japanese composer, arranger, and orchestrator based in Los Angeles. His most notable works are the musical scores for ''Tokyo Ghoul'' and '' Vinland Saga''. Biography Yutaka is an alumnus of the Senzoku Gakuen College of Music in Japan, ...

. Viz Media, the company that made the announcement, has licensed the series.

Reception

In 2019, ''Black Torch'' was one of manga titles that ranked on the "Top 10 Graphic Novels for Teens" by the

Young Adult Library Services Association The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), established in 1957, is a division of the American Library Association. YALSA is a national association of librarians, library workers and advocates whose mission is to expand the capacity of l ...

(YALSA) of the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...

. Rebecca Silverman of ''

Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and ot ...

'' gave the first volume a B, praising the character dynamics and story devices, but criticized its rushed start and lack of character development. She noted that Takaki's art style resembles that of

Tite Kubo , known professionally as , is a Japanese manga artist and character designer. His manga series ''Bleach'' (2001–2016) had over 130 million copies in circulation as of 2022. Life and career Kubo was born on June 26, 1977, in Hiroshima Prefec ...

(''

Bleach Bleach is the generic name for any chemical product that is used industrially or domestically to remove color from (i.e. to whiten) fabric or fiber (in a process called bleaching) or to disinfect after cleaning. It often refers specifically t ...

'') and other ''

Weekly Shōnen Jump is a weekly Shōnen manga, ''shōnen'' manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the ''Jump (magazine line), Jump'' line of magazines. The manga series within the magazine consist of many Action (fiction), action scenes and a fair ...

'' authors, but without being an imitation of any of them. Silverman concluded, "If you're in the mood for a new shounen action series, this is one worth checking out, because once it works out its issues, it could definitely go places".

References

External links

* * * * * {{100studio 100studio Action anime and manga Anime series based on manga Ninja in anime and manga Science fiction anime and manga Shōnen manga Shueisha manga Supernatural anime and manga Upcoming anime television series Viz Media anime Viz Media manga