Rose Hip Zero

    (Tokyopop, 2006)
™ and ©

“From GTO creator Tohru Fujisawa comes this hard-boiled tale filled with firefights, love bites, and schoolgirls packing lots of heat!” Fujisawa’s Great Teacher Onizuka was practically a “Dirty Harry” as a schoolteacher, so you can bet that this thriller about gun-happy Detective Kyoji Kido of the police’s Division Four (Anti-Terrorism) has no stops to be pulled out.

Kido already has a grudge against A.L.I.C.E., the international terrorists who killed his sister in London, so, when they come to Tokyo to assassinate high-ranking police officials, he jumps at the chance to be assigned to stop the gang. Kido expects to work alone but is dumbfounded to be assigned a special partner: Kasmi Asakura, a seemingly innocent 14-year-old cutie who can outshoot him. She’s an ex-A.L.I.C.E. terrorist who has defected to the police!

Spectacular commando-S.W.A.T. blowing-stuff-up action and suspense, but turn off your brain to believe that Kasumi uses only “custom-made non-lethal bullets” and only the bad guys’ bullets really kill anyone. This is the origin story of Fujisawa’s popular Rose Hip Rose manga.

— Fred Patten
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