is a dark and violent novel series published in the 1970s by Japanese writer, Kazumasa Hirai.It is about an ex-

race car Race, RACE or The Race may refer to: * Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species * Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...

driver who hunts down and kills

zombie A zombie (Haitian French: ; ; Kikongo: ''zumbi'') is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. In modern popular culture, zombies appear in horror genre works. The term comes from Haitian folkl ...

Plot

The main character, Toshio Tamura, was once a

grand prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural ''Grands Prix'') most commonly refers to: * Grand Prix motor racing, a form of motorsport competition ** List of Formula One Grands Prix, an auto-racing championship *** Monaco Grand Prix, the most prestigious ...

champion who finds himself to be one of many people on a jungle island where he goes through a series of survival tests. He discovers that the purpose of the cruel and deadly games was to find people worthy enough to hunt down alien parasites that hid inside corpses, turning said corpses into zombies. Toshio initially rejects the offer to become a zombie hunter since he sees his would-be boss as a dangerous and sick man, but soon finds himself forced into the role when his loved ones are endangered.

Manga adaptation

It was adapted into a manga starting from June 1998, illustrated by Korean comic book artist,

Yang Kyung-il Yang Kyung-il (; born March 26, 1970) is a South Korean ''manhwa'' artist from Incheon, South Korea. In 2009, he and frequent collaborator Youn In-wan began serializing their manga '' Defense Devil'' in '' Shonen Sunday''. Works * '' Area D ...

. The manga series has not proceeded after the publishing of volume 4, with rumors of conflict between Yang and Hirai.

References

Kazumasa Hirai (author) 1972 Japanese novels Action anime and manga Enterbrain manga Fictional monster hunters Horror anime and manga Manga based on novels Science fiction anime and manga Seinen manga Zombies in anime and manga Zombies in comics Novels with illustrations by Noriyoshi Ohrai {{Manhwa-stub