Tsugumi Project Vol. 1 (Kodansha, 2023)

In this acclaimed, post-apocalyptic action manga, a soldier named Leon is taken from his family on a trumped-up charge and dropped into a suicide mission to recover a dangerous weapon from a deadly place, a place ruled by huge, irradiated, mutated monsters-a place once known, 200 years ago, as Japan. One of the scant pieces of information they have is the weapon's codename: Tsugumi. This gory, mysterious story, which has already thrilled readers in Japan and France, is an action-suspense epic in the vein of classics like Blame!, Spriggan, and AKIRA. Enter a land of monsters and buried secrets. A land once known as...Japan. More than two centuries have passed since Japan was devastated by nuclear war. Cut off from the world, the island is now a place of terror and mysteries: wonders of science some believe best forgotten, monuments to a bygone era of human decadence, and irradiated monsters ready to tear apart any humans foolish enough to set foot there. After being wrenched from his family and falsely convicted, a French soldier of fortune named Leon finds himself on a cargo plane to Japan. He and his fellow convicts are given one year to locate a powerful weapon from ages past-a weapon known only by the codename TORATSUGUMI-in exchange for their freedom. But what is the true nature of this weapon, and how is it connected to the taloned, half-human girl who swoops in to save Leon? A lushly drawn, post-apocalyptic action manga for fans of AKIRA, Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku, and The Southern Reach Trilogy.