GOKURAKUGAI - Tome 1

The PIKA event series from 12 June 2024.

When this district succumbs to darkness, only they can help!

Lively, colourful, saturated with the smell of tasty food, Gokurakugai has all the makings of a popular neighbourhood par excellence! At least... on the surface. But the different populations who live there and the nature of their activities make it more of a lawless area. And when the sky darkens and the street lights fade, Gokurakugai reveals a dark and hostile side to its inhabitants. In the face of danger, only the "Resolutions Office", run by Tao & Alma, can come to your rescue! This time, their mission is to help a young boy find his missing friend. There's every reason to believe that this case is linked to the increasing number of animal corpses being brutally slaughtered in the neighbourhood...

The Gokurakugai solving office

A fantastic shônen, Gokurakugai skilfully blends the supernatural with action. From the very first pages, readers are plunged into the mysteries of Gokurakugai, a district where monsters lurk in the shadows, but where hope lies in the hands of Tao & Alma, from the Resolutions Office! In this rundown district, the most destitute have little recourse. Our two protagonists accept all business, regardless of the client, as long as the price is right! As detectives of the supernatural, they work to solve investigations, murders, disappearances and other problems... and try to survive in the face of hardship!

Ultra-charismatic characters, Alma and Tao form a powerful duo! Their bond is almost fraternal, despite the fact that almost everything pits them against each other! There's a pact between the taciturn Tao and the exuberant Alma! Underneath her childlike exterior, Alma possesses a phenomenal power that enables her to fight Maga - monsters created from human or animal corpses - only if Tao allows her to use it by means of an incantation!

In this captivating shônen, each chapter reveals new and exciting cases, and the plot quickly unfolds with secondary characters lending a helping hand to the protagonists, as well as the rapid appearance of a shadowy organisation with dubious aims, which seems to be responsible for the Maga invasion of the district...

A real page-turner, Gokurakugai is an addictive shônen where the action is skilfully distilled into each chapter and the storyline will keep you on the edge of your seat from the very first pages.

The series

The series began with the one-shot Gokurakugai Sanbandori No Ken ( ????????), pre-published in Shueisha's Jump Square magazine. It was a kind of pilot for the series and met with great success. The series began in July 2022 in Shueisha's Jump Square magazine (Black Torch, Blue Exorcist, Platinium End), and Gokurakugai (???) now has three bound volumes published in Japan. This is the first work by Yûto Sano, a mangaka with a huge online community of almost 400,000 followers on X (formerly Twitter).

Gokurakugai has been a huge success in Japan, with each new volume ranking in the top 10 of the Oricon bestseller list alongside current bestsellers such as Chainsaw Man, Dandadan and Mashle.

From 12 June 2024, Gokurakugai Volume 1 in shops. Pika Shônen collection. Series in progress. One volume every two months.