The Hunters Guild: Red Hood, Vol. 1 Review

We Ride Together We Hunt Together

Release Date
December 13, 2022
Story and Art By:
Yuki Kawaguchi
Publshed By:
Viz Media

I have a scenario for you. Let’s say you’re at home, it’s early in the morning, and you decide to go outside and do your normal daily activities. Then all of a sudden, wolves are outside your door. What would you do? That’s what the new manga series The Hunters Guild answers.

The Hunters Guild: Red Hood, Vol. 1 is a story about a kid named Velou who lives in a village called Hamlet. Just outside the village, werewolves live there and attack the people. It’s up to our heroes to defend the village from the werewolves that are just beyond. The Hunters guild  Vol.1 has a mix of serious and Funny moments. It does an excellent job in its balance, never to overshadow profound moments. Yuki Kawaguchi takes the time to set up the story in a fun way that is not too serious but is engaging.  From the first moment that each of the characters makes their appearance, Yuki Kawaguchi does a great job not overshadowing each other

The art style in The Hunter’s Guild vol.1 is unconventional. It looks like two different forms of art put into one story. Personally, I wish the style was more consistent throughout the book.  The best way to describe the art style is erratic. It took me out of the story when the art shifted until I got used to the transformation. With that said, the best part of The Hunter’s Guild was every action scene. Every time I didn’t think it could get better, it proved me wrong. I was honestly hanging on to every scene, waiting to see what would come next.

The Hunter’s Guild Vol. 1 action scenes show and emphasize the difference in scale between the hero and villain. Some of the issues I had about the story were that they played up the angle of “I’m just a kid.” When in all seriousness, I would’ve aged him up a bit more, still kept the same jokes, and it would’ve been fine. The pacing is slow in the beginning and takes its time to make an impact. Overall, The Hunters Guild Vol.1 is a good read. I honestly couldn’t put it down. Each and every part of the manga only improved as you read through the story. The setting is set up very well and establishes the world you are in as the reader and the characters as both protagonists and antagonists.

The Hunters Guild: Red Hood, Vol. 1 Review
Pros
The setting of the story is spot on
Every action set piece between both halves of the story get better and better
The villains are very well written
Cons
The story is slow
The art style is consistent between the protagonist and villains
Having a younger protagonist isn’t really needed.
3.5
Score