Nito no Joreishi is a hidden gem. Every so often you stumble upon a manga that feels like a genuine discovery, a hidden treasure that you desperately want to show to the world before it disappears. The last time I felt this way was when I found MAD and now it’s happened again with The Nito Exorcists. On paper, the concept isn't anything grand or new. It’s about exorcists living in a world with spirits, protecting people from them. The main character, Itsuji, is on a revenge quest for a specific monster that killed someone dear to him. From that description it sounds like somethingvery generic, something we’ve all read before. Well, maybe. But that’s where the generic part ends. The first thing that will grab you is the art, and it is one of the best, most unique art styles I have ever seen. I immediately fell in love with it. I tried to pinpoint similarities to other artists, as I often do, but I just can't. It feels like a mix of so many fantastic mangakas that it becomes its own unique thing. If I had to try I’d say it’s like Gege’s character work mixed with Inoue’s detail and realism, but even that feels disrespectful to mangaka’s completely unique and stunning art.

This is a manga worth getting into for the art alone. Every chapter has not one, but several absolutely stunning panels. Sometimes it’s just beautiful, sometimes it’s so unique and interesting, sometimes it’s pure aura. But what this artist does best is their absolute special use of negative space. The way they use the blank parts of the page is incredible. It can make the fights a little hard to follow at first, but it’s easy to adapt and the uniqueness is the biggest plus of the whole manga. This style also elevates the monsters themselves, especially the top-tier humanoid ones. When one of them pulls up the art creates this level of frightening "shit's about to get real" energy.

But it’s not just a pretty face. The quality absolutely holds up across the board. The story progresses at a great, fast pace that I love, and the characters are hella unique and not generic at all. All of them; the main duo, the villains, the other exorcists, have their own personalities that actually feel distinct. The action is fire, and it’s fire through and through. The plot, which has our heroes hunting down an organization of humanoid spirits to get to the ultimate villain and take revenge, is well-executed so far. The tone is also great; it knows when to be comedic, but it’s a rather serious story that takes itself seriously, and that’s a good thing. It really touches on some interesting themes, like what it means to die, what death really is, what it means to continue living after someone is gone, and whether revenge can bring closure. It’s a fantastic look at how different people mourn and process grief.

I caught up quickly, in just few hours, and it’s still just amazing. The art direction is the biggest standout and is absolutely flawless. I got so hooked that I even checked to see if it was in danger of being axed, because it's very niche and unpopular in the west. It seems to be underperforming in Japan, and that’s a crime. I genuinely hope more people discover it soon because it absolutely doesn't deserve to get canceled. This is one of the most promising ongoing manga right now, holy damn.