Tokkô- Devils Awaken, Volume 1 by Tohru Fujisawa

Ranmaru Shinda is a Police Academy graduate with a mission. He joined the Police after his mother and father were killed in a tragedy called "The Machida Incident". 97% of the people in district in which they lived, Machida, were killed violently, their bodies ripped apart. Ranmaru and his sister, Saya, were away from home when it happened, but Ranmaru has never forgotten it.

The incident was written off as a natural disaster, or the work of some animal, but Ranmaru has never believed that, and he wanted the police to investigate. When they wouldn't, he decided to join the police himself and do his own investigation. Now, he is graduating, and he has gotten part of his wish. He's joined the police.

But there was another aftermath to the Machida Incident. Ranmaru has dreamed about a beautiful red-haired woman, naked, covered in blood and wielding a sword, who appears in his dreams, but never speaks to him. He's had them off and on ever since his parents died, but the dreams are coming with increasing frequency lately, and he has no idea why. He simply finds them disturbing.

Sawa is also part of the Police force, but she's happy that her brother has achieved his dream. And he also already has his first assignment, as a detective in the S.R.S. the Special Riot Squad. It was formed in response to incidents like those in Machida, which have become more numerous. People who have witnessed the incidents say that the perpetrators are not human, and resemble demons or Devils.

These rumors have forced the formation of yet another squad, the Special Public Safety Bureau, also known as Tokkô. And while the rest of the Police know next to nothing about them or what their job entails, Rumors that they carry swords in addition to guns is a popular rumor at the Police Department.

But when Ranmaru's eyes follow a pretty girl, he's floored to learn she's a Lieutenant in Tokkô, and only 18! But she turns to him and offers to let him join when he gets tired of his new position, and licks his face, saying he tastes delicious. As Ranmaru tries to cope with this violation of his personal space, she is already gone, and tells her companion that "He tastes like them."

Back at his new detective posting, Ranmaru finds the police records on the Machida Incident sealed, and he can't break the password on the file. But as strange people run riot through Tokyo, looking like zombies and unable to be killed, Ranmaru and his friend are caught in a public incident where Tokkô must come out and kill these strange parodies of life.

And that's when he gets a sight of HER. The strange red-haired girl from his dreams. He can't believe she is real, and wonders why she has been appearing in his dreams for five years now. But as he ponders what this might mean, another earthquake, like those which have been hitting Japan lately, flares up. As the Tokkô members discuss the possibility of another gate opening, they must decide if Ranmaru is the fifth Hunter, and whether he'll be an ally or an enemy...

Who is this girl, and who are the hunters? Are these people killing and eating people devils or demons, or something else? Who are they and what do they want, and which side will Ranmaru choose? We'll have to find out!

This volume sets up the story in a really interesting way, starting with an incident of the "Devils" of the title, and cutting to Ranmaru's dream, and continuing on with his background and plans to investigate what really happened to his parents. Interspersed with more attacks, all of which seem to come after Earthquakes.

The feeling of paranoia and menace continues to build throughout the story, though much of it is diffused early on when Ranmaru and his friend start work as detectives in the precinct. But Ranmaru's encounters with Tokkô keep shooting the tension up, and when we get to see zombie-like humans moving through Tokyo, it's deeply unsettling.

Later, we get to see how they are made, and that's even more strange and horrifying, though the horror fades when they are killed by the red-haired girl. And now we are left pondering why Ranmaru is so important and what he could eventually be to Tokkô.

This book comes off like a mix of detective story and horror story, and I find it to be closest in feeling to Silent Moebius by Kia Asamiya, although with a fairly upscaled horror element. I can't judge it on this volume alone, I do want to see more, but with the effective staging of the story so far, I can't really complain, and I think this has the chops to be a very good and effective story.