Title: 3x3 Eyes

Creator: Yuzo Takada

Overview: A schoolboy is granted the curse of immortality by Pai, the last survivor of a mythical demon race.  The boy, Yakumo, must learn to deal with his curse and also his duty to protect Pai and her demonic alter ego, the Sanjiyan.  In order to help Pai achieve her goal of becoming human Yakumo must face demons, death and fear, leave behind all that he knows and embark on a quest that will take him across Asia and across dimensions.

Comments:
Ric: 'One of my personal favourites, fun, action packed and in places quite creepy.  What sets this apart is some great action and characters - well worth a look'

Tom: 'Mythological sci-fi with great action, artwork, humour and some more action.  Not as complex as you may expect and one of the best action titles around.'

Pointless Trivia:

• Yuzo Takada continued the 3x3 Eyes manga alongside his other projects from 1987 to 2003.

• There are a staggering 40 collected volumes of the manga available in Japan.

• '3x3' is pronounced 'sazan' in Japanese, and is used in the title as a phonetic pun on the name of Yuzo Takada's favourite band - the Southern All Stars.

• The 3x3 Eyes animé has been shown in the UK on Channel 4.

• The Japanese were treated to 3x3 Eyes games on the Mega CD, Super NES, Saturn and Playstation consoles.

• The early manga has been re-released in Japan in a series of immense 700 page books.

• The original English language release of the first volume of the manga featured a foreword by former White Zombie frontman Rob Zombie.

• The later manga heavily references Hindu mythology, for example principal villain Kaiyan-Wang is often referred to as Shiva - the Hindu god of destruction.  Several of the spells are written in Sanskrit too.

• It has been commented that 3x3 Eyes owes a large debt to Osamu Tezuka's classic series The Three Eyed Prince.

If you like this try:

Blue Seed  (Animé/Manga - Yuzo Takada, 1996)
Inu-Yasha A Feudal Fairytale (Animé/Manga - Rumiko Takahashi, 1998)