Dopeman

Psycho-Pass screenwriter Yoshigami and artist Ogino debut with a fast-paced but lackluster crime-thriller manga. In an alternate Japan, the deregulation of narcotics wreaks havoc on society. A new drug called Icarus causes addicts to develop supernatural powers, and the corrupted superhumans become known as “dopemen.” While rogue factions seed chaos and crime, the government establishes a dopeman-led D-Unit to maintain order. This opening volume focuses on an unconventional D-unit duo: rough and tumble Tojima, who claims he’ll “kill every dopeman,” and straitlaced Matrix, whose superpower is that she can “produce any medicine,” including toxins she spews forth in battle. After an obligatory rapid-fire opening fight scene, the script flashes back to Matrix’s origins, as she wakes from a 10-year coma chained to the bed as a human experiment. Once freed, she hooks up with Tojiman, and the narratives cliff-hanger ending hinges on the question of how these two will get along. The art flaunts savvy character designs and dynamic action sequences, and the arc follows a dystopian, battle-shonen formula. Though the plot is driven by the female lead, aspects of her characterization (like how she “births medicine”) feel cringey (“Period Matrix!” she shouts over images of swirling liquid). This retread of a familiar conceit lacks wow factor. (Mar.)