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is the first serialized action manga written and illustrated by Tite Kubo. ''Zombiepowder.'' was published in Japan in 1999 by Shueisha, who printed it in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' magazine for 27 chapters before cancelling it. The series was collected into four paperback volumes, released the following year. ''Zombiepowder.'' is distributed in North America by Viz Media, who licensed it in 2005. Although critical reception in the United States was largely mediocre, the series achieved moderate commercial success in the western market due to the prominence its author had by that point achieved for his second manga series, ''Bleach''. ''Zombiepowder.'' follows a teenaged boy named Elwood Shepherd, who joins with mysterious criminals Gamma Akutabi and C.T. Smith in their search for the Rings of the Dead. These rings are a group of legendary artifacts with the power to resurrect the dead and grant immortality to anyone who collects 12 of them. The series has a Weird West setting which mixes a background of sparsely populated frontier settlements and gunslinger aesthetics with modern conveniences, occult magic, supernatural martial arts, and mad science. The trio travel from town to town in this world, fighting other criminals for possession of the Rings of the Dead. The protagonists obtain three of the rings in the course of the story, but due to the series' cancellation, the eventual success or failure of their quest is unknown. The series was a commercial failure in Japan but has been successful in the United States. Critical consensus is that ''Zombiepowder.'' was a technically proficient manga, but one which lacked the originality necessary to bear intrinsic appeal to most readers, which accounted for its cancellation. Additionally, the series was heavily focused on battles even by the standards of action manga, though whether this was a positive or negative trait is a matter of contention. Due to these factors, combined with its abrupt and unsatisfactory ending, critics hold that ''Zombiepowder.'' is significant primarily as a chapter in the career of its author, and would otherwise be a footnote which found an audience only among fans of violent action. ==Setting and plot== ''Zombiepowder.'' is set in a western-themed environment with inconsistent levels of technology, similar to that found in Yasuhiro Nightow's manga series, ''Trigun''.〔 The most prominent characters in the series are powder hunters, individuals who seek the titular zombie powder. The zombie powder is a life-giving substance that can imbue an individual with limitless life force, grant them immortality, and even raise people from the dead. Zombie powder can only be obtained from the Rings of the Dead. These rings are dangerous magical artifacts that, individually, devour the life force of anyone they touch, rendering them comatose. This stolen life energy is converted into the zombie powder, which can only be extracted if twelve Rings of the Dead are brought together. The story begins with young pickpocket John Elwood Shepherd befriending powder hunter Gamma Akutabi after a botched attempt to rob him. Gamma is a highly wanted criminal who possesses one Ring of the Dead. Another member of the local gang for which Elwood works sees the two together and assumes that Elwood is harboring the criminal in hopes of turning him in for his substantial bounty. The gang attacks Elwood's home, and Gamma comes to the rescue, but not before Elwood's sister, Sheryl, is slain by the gang's leader. Following the gang attack, Elwood decides to accompany Gamma in his powder hunting in hopes of resurrecting Sheryl. After leaving Elwood's hometown, the pair meet up with Gamma's long-time partner C.T. Smith, another wanted powder hunter. Smith has infiltrated the ranks of Ash Daughter, a gang which has found a Ring of the Dead. The three challenge the gang's leader, Ranewater Calder, and Gamma slays Calder using his mastery of the fictional sword art ''karin zanjutsu'', a martial art which grants its users pyrokinesis. Elwood, Gamma, and Smith thereby gain a second Ring of the Dead, concluding the first arc and volume of the series. The remaining three volumes concern themselves with the battle for a third ring, which has been embedded for years in the body of a comatose young man named Emilio Lufas Getto. Gamma and company learn of Emilio's existence from his sister Wolfina, a tabloid photojournalist and vigilante who does not believe in the Rings of the Dead. The group of hunters offer to restore Emilio to consciousness in exchange for the ring he contains. Before they can do so, however, Emilio is kidnapped by Balmunk the Mystic, a powder hunting magician who leads a circus-themed gang. Wolfina teams up with Elwood, Gamma, and Smith to retrieve Emilio, and they succeed in doing so after a number of battles with Balmunk's henchmen. The conflict culminates in a fight between Gamma and a giant golem summoned by Balmunk, which Gamma defeats with the help of a berserk state. Balmunk is beaten but not killed, and departs, swearing revenge upon Gamma. After rescuing Emilio, Gamma arranges to have the Ring of the Dead removed from his body by an old friend, mad scientist Nazna Gemini. The characters are brought to Gemini's lab by Angelle Cooney, a young girl with the power of teleportation. Once there, Gemini agrees to operate to remove the ring from Emilio in exchange for a year of experimentation rights on Wolfina. Due to the series' early cancellation, ''Zombiepowder.'' is ended without a solid conclusion. The final chapter shows Gamma and Smith leaving Elwood and Wolfina behind as they depart the Gemini Laboratory, whose staff have just begun the operation to save Emilio. It is left ambiguous whether Elwood chooses to follow Gamma and Smith, stay with Wolfina and Emilio, or become a powder hunter in his own right. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Zombiepowder.」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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