Time Killers is a rare bird in the Shonen Jump aviary. It’s a collection of short stories by Kazue Kato, the mangaka of Blue Exorcist. We don’t get a lot of short story collections by anybody released in the States, so this is pretty neat. The first thing you’ll notice about the book is it’s primo. It has a sweet fold in mini-poster, the paper quality is nice, and it has some color pages inside. It's also heavy! For its size, anyway. I guess that's due to the thicker paper. 

The next thing you’ll notice is the art varies quite a bit from story to story. Seems Kazue Kato was trying out some different art styles during her journey to landing a hit series. And lastly, you’ll notice shades of Blue Exorcist throughout the book. Bits of characters here and there that would eventually become parts of the main cast of BX.

The stories in collection are all over the map. Some, like “The Rabbit and Me,” are quite dark dealing with a grim subject matter. Others have a more comedic tone. Some aren’t even full stories and more like a daydream or an attempt to capture a feeling. Some are super short! “A Guide to Princess Clothes” is literally one page!

The last two stories of the collection are fleshed out and feel like serious one-shots. “Astronerd,” which recently ran in an issue of Weekly Shonen Jump, is a genre mash up that reads like a coming-of-age sci-fi romantic-comedy. And the final story, “The Miyama Uguisu Mansion Incident,” seems to be where most of Blue Exorcist came from.  

One of the coolest things about the book is the “Something Sort of Like an Author’s Note” section in back. That's where Kato Sensei, drawn as a rabbit, briefly talks about the origins of each story. It’s cute and gives you a rare look into the journey of a mangaka on the way to success. It also explains the title, “Time Killers.” I don’t want to give it away, but I will say there is no short story in the collection with that name. 

You can check out Kazue Kato's evolution for yourself! Time Killers is available here! 

by Urian Brown