Japan (Dark Horse)

    (Dark Horse, 2005)
™ and © Dark Horse Comics, Inc.

Japanese travelers in Spain are transported into an apocalyptic future in which natural resources have been exhausted. That’s no surprise, but the twist is that their once-proud nation has been humbled and its citizens scattered as slaves who serve the harsh tribes from other countries.

It’s hard for Yakuza muscle to get enough social respect to court a television celebrity. However, in a parallel Mad Max world, being brutal and big has its benefits, as Katsuji and his brother whip their wimpy high-school traveling companions (as well as selfish Japanese mercenaries) into shape. If Japan can’t avoid the historical demise of the ancient city of Carthage, at least Katsuji can exhibit the good old mafia cum samurai spirit and win a woman’s heart in the process.

Blending their trademark subjects and styles (Fist of the North Star meets Berserk), the creators spin another “what if” manga one-shot, just as with King of Wolves, to channel nationalistic bravado and change history simultaneously.

— Oliver Chin

From the Publisher:

Yuka Katsuragi, a beautiful TV news reporter, has attracted the affections of a Yakuza thug, Katsuji Yashima, who travels with his brother all the way to Spain to find her, only to have his affections rebuffed by Yuka. A terrible earthquake hits, and Katsuji, his brother, and Yuka, along with four high-schoolers in Spain on a field trip, all fall deep underground. While trapped below the surface, they encounter a mysterious old woman who reveals to them prophecies that the wealthy nation of Japan will meet the same demise as the once-prosperous city of Carthage. Katsuji and the others insult the old woman, who then sends them to see the world of the future with their own eyes, a future of desolation and death…

Japan is a dystopian action epic by two of manga’s premier story-tellers, Buronson (Fist of the North Star) and Kentaro Miura (Berserk).
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