I Invested in an International Conglomerate & Went from an MMA Champion to Becoming the First-Ever American Yakuza #3 is a comic written by Charlie McElvy, Anthony Stokes, and Chris Moses with pencils and inks by Damiano Restivo and colors by John. Xavier, Masashi, and Kyomi infiltrate Kenji’s compound. This is an organized crime comic set in Japan that has violent family drama, revenge, and mystery. The main man for this tale is Xavier Watanabe, he is an MMA fighter who is working to find the killer of Tenshin so he can enact his revenge. Masashi is the cousin of Tenshin and he is helping find the murderer along with making moves to become the new head of the family, which is Yakuza. Kyomi is a skilled fighter who acts as a bodyguard and advisor to Masashi. This story begins this odd trio watching a Charlie Chaplin movie together. Afterwards they take to the skies and prepare for their infiltration into Kenji’s home. The action here is physical with some blood and gruesomeness. The pacing is somewhat fast as there isn’t much talking overall. The tone here is that of a revenge story with some stealth elements, think Kill Bill. There are a few intense moments due to suspense and violence. The dialogue is conversational with a modern talking style though this is light on words overall. There are no word-heavy pages here. This is an interesting issue that moves us closer to a possible conclusion by introducing new characters, providing backstories, and ramping up the drama.

            The art here is drawn in a detailed modern style with a heavy focus on the lighting and shading. The color palette mainly consists of deep blues, pinkish red, and bright to burnt range which helps give this comic a unique look. There are a great deal of trees in and around Kenji’s property. The compound this story takes place at has many different floors, rooms, and buildings connected via hallways, bridges, and outdoor paths. The backgrounds are split between showing the actual surroundings and being a gradient color with action lines when appropriate. The expression level here is a bit below-average as most of these characters sport stern, hard looks. The emotional range here has some happiness, shock, fear, and confusion. The faces have a high amount of detail and show the different expressions very clearly. The violence here is delivered by guns, swords, and fists. There are some hard hits and rough attacks as well as more gruesome moments leading to light gore. The action scenes come in bursts, involve a lot of chasing, and flow smoothly with a good amount of panels.

“Is this worth reading?”

Yes, if this is up your alley.

“Would I like this?”

If you like Yakuza-focused revenge stories starring a Black man and Japanese people with family drama, strong violence, and mystery elements then this is for you.

“What would this comic’s film rating be?”

R. Violence, blood, gruesomeness.

“Could I get a quote from the comic?”

“No matter what. Anything for the family.”

 

Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/xionstudios/american-yakuza-nsfw-murder-mystery-in-japan-acts-1-3/description

***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***

Probably Contains Spoilers

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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 20

Violent Pages: 8, for 40% of the comic

Sexy Pages: 0, for 0% of the comic

 

**The levels below aren’t necessarily maintained throughout the whole comic, but they were definitely reached**

 

Violence Level – 3

“Wasn’t no tussling at all.”

“Sometimes you gotta hit somebody.”

“I’m getting charged with how many counts of assault?”

“This was a tournament arc.”

“All my life I had to fight.”

 

Gore Level – 3

“The only thing leaking out your face is tears.”

“Looks like somebody spilled some ketchup.”

“Might need to soak that up with a bath towel.”

“That isn’t supposed to be outside the body.”

“This is a slaughterhouse.”

 

Death Level – 2

“And everybody lived happily ever after.”

“We might have gone to a couple funerals.”

“It just LOOKS like a serial killer was here.”

“Yeah this was a tragedy.”

“Think Gettysburg.”

 

Porn Level – 1

“Everybody kept their clothes on.”

“I guess it was too hot for a bra.”

“Sometimes you got to let everything air out.”

“This is like late night Cinemax in the early 2000’s.”

“Oh. This is porn.”