Introduction

The good versus evil archetype is the backbone of storytelling — it’s one of the most reliable ways to get an audience to root for the protagonists. And what better way to stack the deck in the heroes’ favor than to pit them against the most universally feared kind of villain: demons? Written and drawn by Shoichi Usui, Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi is a fast-paced action-comedy manga following a group of exorcists navigating their daily encounters with the demonic.

Art Style

My very first thought when I looked at this series was — “This art style kind of looks like One Piece…” And sure enough, when I opened the volume, I discovered that author Shoichi Usui spent roughly five years as an assistant to Oda. Pretty cool. That influence is unmistakable throughout the volume — exaggerated limbs, large and expressive eyes on all the human characters, and the rough, confident outlines characteristic of a G-pen. It’s clearly the work of someone who absorbed a lot from one of the best in the business.

The character designs are genuinely cool, with many sporting piercings and chains that give the whole thing an edgy, early-2000s energy — almost Soul Eater-adjacent — which I thoroughly enjoyed. Even the demon designs feel unique and visually memorable. It’s a stylised manga through and through, and that kind of bold visual identity is something the medium could always use more of.

Story and Characters

After witnessing the deaths of people close to him at the hands of demons and being rescued by an exorcist, Kiyoshi Harai vows to become one himself — determined to protect others from the same fate. After years of rigorous training, he eventually rises to become the strongest exorcist in the world. There’s just one problem: he’s still absolutely terrified of demons. Yet through each encounter, he finds new ways to push past that fear and keep moving forward.

It’s an interesting premise — and when it’s applied well, it works. Sometimes. There are plenty of moments where the fear gimmick is used purely for a gag, which undercuts the tension in situations that might have benefited from carrying a bit more weight. To be fair, this is an action-comedy series, and the comedy itself is often genuinely well done. My main issue was that the writing tells rather than shows a little too frequently. I was genuinely curious to see how Kiyoshi’s fear might shape his character in deeper ways — but the series tends to skim over those opportunities or rush past them without much buildup. This is only Volume 1, though, so there’s plenty of room to grow.

Pacing

I touched on it briefly above, but the pacing in this volume is very fast — sometimes uncomfortably so. There were multiple times I had to flip back a couple of pages because I’d lost the thread, or because certain story beats moved so quickly that their intended payoff didn’t land. This speed works well in some contexts — pure action sequences with minimal dialogue, for instance — but it becomes a real problem when it comes to the characters and dialogue.

There simply isn’t enough room for them to breathe. It often felt less like a story being told and more like a checklist of plot points being ticked off as efficiently as possible. The consequence is that by the time I was approaching the end of the volume, I realized I hadn’t been given enough time with any of these characters to genuinely care about them. And that’s a tough position for a series to put its reader in this early.

Panel Layout and Flow

The panelling is fairly standard for an action shounen — nothing that particularly stood out, but nothing that actively fails either. A few nitpicks here and there, but nothing worth dwelling on too harshly. The bigger issue — and this ties back to pacing — is that the panels frequently don’t connect cleanly. A character gets knocked back into a building, and in the very next panel they’re already back on their feet, ready to fight again, with no transitional moment in between — no struggle to stand, no dust settling, nothing. Whether that’s an intentional stylistic choice on Usui’s part or not, it breaks immersion more often than it should.

At its core, this comes down to a single word: weight. Too many panels don’t allow moments to land or carry momentum — they move too quickly, or they brush past beats that deserved more space. The result is a reading experience that feels shallower than it could be.

Themes and Tone

Being a typical action shounen, the thematic territory here isn’t particularly ambitious — but the fear theme is a genuinely interesting angle for a story about facing demons. As you move through the volume, hints begin to emerge that the demons aren’t simply evil — some of them carry a degree of warmth toward humans, which could have opened up a fascinating moral grey area. Unfortunately, that thread is never meaningfully explored, and what little attention it gets near the end of the volume is quickly pushed aside in favor of more action.

The tone is exactly what you’d expect from the genre — action-forward with consistent comedy, never venturing into truly dark territory. The action and comedy both work well on their own terms, and if what you’re looking for is a fun, energetic read with some cool fights and a few good laughs, this delivers that without much fuss.

Conclusion

I find it genuinely difficult to criticize media, because I want to love everything I consume. But realistically, that’s not always the case — and honesty is part of the job. For what it is — a pure action-comedy — Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi hits those beats well enough. It’s the kind of thing you pick up after a stressful day when you just want to switch off and enjoy something uncomplicated. Personally, turn-your-brain-off stories aren’t always my preferred mode — and this particular one didn’t quite do it for me. But that’s just one perspective.

As always, check it out for yourself before forming your own opinion. You might enjoy it — and genuinely, I’d be happy if you do.