Tl;dr: come for the incredible action, stay for the unconventional epic war saga Violence Jack is mostly known as either the super edgy OVA series or the curious historical footnote that preceded Fist of the North Star. A few Devilman fans may give it a passing judgmental skim as they shake their heads, feeling shame at such a crude lowbrow relic's association with the highly-influential-award-winning-niche tragedy of Akira Fudo and Ryo Asuka. They are all wrong. Before I make any big claims about its quality or sing its praises, I’ll tell you the type of manga it is and the target audience, so that nobody reads itwith a skewed expectation and comes away sorely disappointed and critical because of it: Violence Jack is an action manga. You should read it only if you like cool action. This descriptor means exactly what it says, it does not mean that it’s in some inconceivable archaic meathead ditch below the sophisticated “well-written” action in One Piece and Bleach. If the idea of a gigantic barbarian destroying evildoers in a wasteland excites you at all, or is at least passable, read on, provided you’re not extremely sensitive to very gratuitous sexual violence (the perpetrators of which are punished by the heroes with death about 100% of the time). I recommend it to: all fans of Devilman and Go Nagai, people who like dark heroes, people who like martial arts movies, people who like lone wanderer heroes, people who like sword and sorcery, people who like grand war stories with several factions, and people who want awesome stylized art. Moving on.

Violence Jack is largely comprised of seemingly self contained arcs with an indeterminate amount of time between them, featuring the perspective of different characters in the post-earthquake wasteland of Japan's Kanto region. Early on, the stories are tied together primarily by the mysterious titular character, who’s role ranges from active comrade of regular men, to a demigod-like overseer of fate, and the psychotic armed tyrant of unimaginable strength known only as the Slum King, who commands a ruthless cavalier army straight out of feudal times called the Dragon. As the series progresses, we start to see the stories of previously introduced characters intersect in unexpected ways, sometimes culminating in events that leave lasting effects on the power dynamics of the destroyed Kanto.

One of the biggest appeals of this series is the setting. Unlike many post apocalyptic stories, there is no global catastrophe. The world outside of Kanto functions just as normal, but due to the continued presence of earthquakes, the Japanese government gave up attempting to rebuild it, leaving a lawless power vacuum for the strong and opportunistic to rule, a paradise for rogues and convicts, and an inescapable hell to the poor and weak, all overseen by the fiery eyes of Violence Jack. Seeing those in power get access to more and more sophisticated technology and weaponry through trade with the outside world as the series progresses is extremely cool. There are many examples of an odd supernatural underbelly to the story, many of which are references to past works of Go Nagai, but are integrated so deliberately and cleverly to enrich the world that it doesn’t feel cheap in the slightest, but rather makes this work out to be grand magnum opus of the mangaka.

Fortunately, despite the length and this gradual overarching story, Violence Jack isn’t exactly a slow burn. The 2nd arc, which directly follows up the pre-earthquake prologue, features a boy named Ryu Takuma and the fellow children who follow him struggling for survival and making a tenuous alliance with the terrifying Jack who saved them from a group of bandits. This introduction to the wasteland is one of the greatest and most unique arcs in the series, and if you’ll know if this manga is for you after having read it. On a similar note, the El Dorado arc which I believe is #5, also occurs rather early on and is one of the greatest.

Violence Jack’s art is not the most detailed, and early on it looks especially rough, with huge improvements over its 17 year publishing, but Go Nagai is simply an unmatched master of conveying mood through sharp silhouettes, incredible composition, and bizarre unconventional and symbolic imagery, that if you have any taste in comic art, you won’t mind.

In conclusion, this is the unconventional magnum opus of one of Japan’s most influential comic artists, there is nothing like it that exists, it’s an unmatched masterpiece, and I strongly suggest you give it an honest chance.