Stealth Symphony chapter 1 review

Stealth Symphony story by Ryohgo Narita, Art by Yoichi Amano Chapter 1 Review

Jig has had a difficult life: shunned by the other villagers due to a potentially dangerous “curse” inside him and living as an orphan. Jig decides to go to the big city in search of a cure for his curse. He soon meets an invisible floating mask. But has danger followed him to the city?

Serialized in the  Weekly Shonen Jump comic anthology in both Japan and overseas, Stealth Symphony starts its first chapter strong but rapidly deteriorates as the chapter goes on. The main character is about as interesting as watching paint dry naturally being a martyr with zero common sense. To be fair, the supporting cast seems to be interesting thus far. However, there’s also this series gimmick to hamper any enjoyment there might have been: dragons.

The invisible masked man admitting he’s a dragon at chapter’s end and Jig discovering he was part of a dragon experiment or something. The plot is also horribly convoluted from the get-go and that never is a good sign. Dragons are not a terribly novel concept at this point having been done to death in popular culture. The protagonist’s back story is also identical in concept to the popular franchise Naruto’s titular character.

There is some decent world building and I suppose there is plenty of room for it to grow. Given its pedigree Stealth Symphony has potential. I enjoyed the concept of an invisible masked man as a bodyguard from the people around Jig. That being said, I repeatedly looked to see how much more I had left to read. In conclusion Stealth Symphony’s first chapter is a dull start to a series that could easily improve but I don’t hold out much hope it will last long enough too.

Rating: 5/10

Stealth Symphony is available digitally in North America in Weekly Shonen Jump.