One of my all time favorite series from one of my all time favorite authors — Master Keaton seems like it’s overlooked in favor of Urasawa’s other masterpieces, Monster and 20th Century Boys, but I think it offers a ton of thrills and heartfelt moments as well, and I’m excited to finally finish the series (five volumes to go!). Every moment spent looking at Urasawa’s cartooning is a delight and a privilege. Taichi Hiraga Keaton is a former SAS man now working as an insurance investigator, and he also has a background in archaeology that comes in handy during his work. He appears to be harmless and somewhat bumbling, but he usually ends up having to showcase his survival and fighting skills at some point in these stories. Each chapter is a standalone story and they all wrap up in a satisfying way. Keaton also has a family (ex-wife, daughter, and father) who have shown up more in previous volumes, but they’re not really in this one. Keaton’s on his own, fighting the Italian Mafia, ex-Soviet military, SAS members, German illegal loan syndicates, avoiding dying in a plane crash…the list goes on and on of his exciting exploits.
There are also some quieter stories in here, like one where he helps a Spanish man solve a mystery about an ancient tapestry, which showcase the emotional core of Urasawa’s work. He has such a gift for portraying human emotion and Keaton is a great character to do it with. Despite all of the murder and other terrible things he sees, he remains an optimistic and kind character who tries to help the downtrodden and the misunderstood. I really love him, he shows up on the scene and you know things are generally going to be okay, and the moral standards he keeps bring a light of goodness with him that people respond to. There are definitely tragedies here as well, because Urasawa also does a great job of trying to show the real world, how unfair and unjust things have a terrible impact. He likes to follow the consequences of war and conflict, so there’s a through line here of sadness and trauma, but Keaton generally is able to bring things to a satisfying conclusion. I just really do love these books and they’re exciting, great action-adventure-mystery-thriller vibes.
Highly recommended if you like that genre. Warnings for lots of murders, blood, guns/knives/fighting, some minor nudity/sex portrayed.