Until Death Do Us Part - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

is a manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

that started its serialization on Young Gangan Magazine's December 2005 issue. Its story is written by Hiroshi Takashige

Hiroshi Takashige

is a Japanese manga artist best known in various manga communities in Japan and overseas for his work in Spriggan and later in Until Death Do Us Part.-Biography:...

and the manga is drawn by DOUBLE-S. Currently, 15 volumes have been published. The story centers on a young girl who has the ability to tell what the future is. Due to this, she is being heavily protected by an underground elite vigilante paramilitary commando group while she assists them in defeating individuals and groups who seek to use her powers for criminal/terrorist activities after she was initially kidnapped and held hostage by henchmen working for a company to harness her precognition abilities.

Plot

Haruka Tōyama, a young girl, was kidnapped by agents of a company named EX-SOLID due to her precognition abilities

Precognition

In parapsychology, precognition , also called future sight, and second sight, is a type of extrasensory perception that would involve the acquisition or effect of future information that cannot be deduced from presently available and normally acquired sense-based information or laws of physics...

. She later finds solitude with a man named Hijikita Mamoru, a blind swordsman, ex-kendoka and convict who is proficient in the use of a katana.

Before she was rescued, Haruka told Hijikita to protect her "Until Death Do Us Part." Later on, a secret and elite vigilante paramilitary group called the Element Network gets involved in protecting Haruka and placing her under EN custody from unknown forces who seek her ability. In turn, Haruka assist EN forces in defeating mercenaries and assassins who are out to get her and the network.

Characters

Blade

He is the protagonist of the story. Although he is completely blind, he is a master of Kenjutsu

Kenjutsu

, meaning "the method, or technique, of the sword." This is opposed to kendo, which means the way of the sword. Kenjutsu is the umbrella term for all traditional schools of Japanese swordsmanship, in particular those that predate the Meiji Restoration...

. To compensate for Mamoru's lost vision, Igawa has developed a device with an outer appearance of a pair of sunglasses, that projects directly onto Mamoru's retina a rendered first-person view of Mamoru's surroundings in the fashion of a wire-frame model. His main weapon is a katana hidden inside his walking stick that has a special molecular film on the blade which allows him to essentially cut through anything, including bullets. Having learned many real-combat sword-fighting techniques, and with the newly-gained "sight," he is able to engage in direct combat with his opponents. He has on more then on occasion been able to dodge long range sniper fire do to sensing the "killing intent" of the shooter. He also shows the ability to throw knives with an exceptional amount of precision. He is connected to Genda from his past and was an assistant instructor according to Genda. Aloof, daring, and unsociable, he cares little for the bad guys, but that does not mean he does not have feelings. At one time, he was the protege of the old martial arts. However, he killed his master Makabe using a wooden sword. In 107, it revealed he lost his sight by an explosive round while volunteering in Chechnya. In a wanted poster his height was measured to be around 6 feet (1.8 m). Prior to his EN deployment in Japan, he was given military training at a PMC facility from Arizona in the US before deployed to Chechnya. As of chapter 40, the one million reward on him changed to 100 million. His name, Mamoru means 'to protect'. Much to surprises of his acquaintances, he has a sweet tooth.

She is the female leading character of the story. She possesses the ability to foresee the future, or more accurately, many possible future outcomes (eg Haruka can "see" that she and Mamoru will be married one day.) Igawa created a fake identity so she can go to school. Her fake identity is Haruna Tachibana, Sierra's daughter. During the time Mamoru went MIA, she got some combat training with Inaba (including confronting a bear with help of Mamoru) and has since played a more active role in combat, and has shown the ability to disarm opponents. Haruka means 'far off, or distant' Haruka as foreseen that Mamoru is her "future" husband.

Along with Mamoru's bounty, hers is increased to 500 millions-only capture after Mamoru's death.

Mamoru's teammate who mainly deals with the technical aspects of Blade's operations. He had a little sister that was going to graduate from elementary school, but was killed. He drives in a Right hand drive Chevrolet Astro

Chevrolet Astro

The Chevrolet Astro was a rear-wheel drive mid-sized van introduced by Chevrolet in 1985 to rival domestic competitors the Dodge Caravan/Plymouth Voyager twins and the Japanese Toyota Van. Also sharing the Astro's platform was its sibling, the GMC Safari...

modified with electronics and communications equipment, including a police scanner to monitor all Japanese law enforcement frequencies with the van being made bulletproof and a color changing machine that allows the Astro to switch colors to avoid being detected by police or by criminals. He uses the Linux

Linux

Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...

OS for his computers.

Newly assigned Blade member after Mamoru (and Haruka) went MIA and the same age as Igawa. He rides a special motorcycle that runs silently and has special "Trial Mode" to jump it in mid-air or to go up between buildings. He has a grudge against Mamoru and always thinks he is his equal. In Chapters 75-76, he got into a fight with Mamoru , but got interrupted by Tatsumi Daiba. After the fight, he made a promise to become better than Mamoru. He was backup for Mamoru during his fight with Wiseman. He also bumped into Juilet and was insulted by her. He is the only one (aside from Haruka and Mamuro) that has ever seen and communicated with Daiba in person. As of now, he is assigned to Juilet as a subordinate by Igawa.

His ability with the special bike is formidable but on foot, his worth is criticized often (by Juliet and Mamoru).

The Wall

His real name is . Leader of the Element Network's international anti-crime unit "The Wall". He has a noticeable scar on the left side of his face. Originally a member of the U.S. Army Special Forces, the Green Berets

Green Berets

A green beret was the headgear of the British Commandos of World War II. Certain military organisations still wear green berets because they have regimental or unit histories that form a connection with the British Commandos of World War II....

, he was later transferred to the British Army's SAS

Special Action Force

The Special Action Force is the National Mobile Unit of the Philippine National Police. It is formed along the lines of the British Army Special Air Service, but with different recruitment and selection procedures...

on an exchange program. Since then, he had served in the elite forces in France, Germany, Italy and a few other countries. He had been awarded a total of 7 medals for a single, flawless mission he lead. In fact, until 3 years ago, he had been active in CIFA

Counterintelligence Field Activity

Counterintelligence Field Activity was a United States Department of Defense agency whose size and budget were classified. The CIFA was created by a directive from the Secretary of Defense on February 19, 2002...

, and was in command of its successful hostage rescue operation. He went underground to the Wall after leaving CIFA.

Surprisingly, despite his position and achievements, he's shown to be quite a caring person.

Lieutenant of "The Wall" and second in command. Ordered Kilo to scout Mamoru's brawl.

One of the Wall's commandos. Was wounded during an encounter with Edge alongside India.

An ex-Marine who joins the Wall after losing his child to a terrorist. Speaks fluent Japanese.

She specializes in infiltration (including disguising), sent to look over Haruka in Sierra's absence. She seemed to harbor a mutual personal grudge against Sierra, and the source of that was later revealed to be from her own tragic past and Sierra's. After Mamoru's fight with Wiseman, she bumped into Dai and considered him a boy because his reaction of detection was weak. As of now, she is assigned to Dai as his superior by Igawa. Normally, She is outgoing and likes to tease people, not excluding Mamoru.

He specializes in convert ops, using knives and from an almost comical scene, he is also Sierra's ex-husband. He almost got taken down by Genda, but Mamoru prevented it. He also "babysat" Haruka and ended up getting involved in an assassination crime that she got into. He is still in the hospital for his injuries.

A big man with a mighty grip of 170 kg.

Her real name is . She had a daughter with her ex-husband, Kilo, but Cindy was killed by a terrorist, which prompted her into joining The Wall. She is very protective of Haruka, often treating Haruka as if Haruka were her own daughter. Once she recovered, she decided to take a leave of absence from "The Wall" to train herself to become better so that she won't be a burden to others. In Chapter 81, she went to visit Mamoru's teacher, Inaba, in person to get some training.

Police

A detective assigned to solve the attacks caused by Mamoru when he was protecting Haruka. He's the only police officer who knows of The Wall's existence. It is later revealed that he is also a very skilled swordman, comparable to Mamoru, even though he only uses a Bokkutou (wooden sword that can't cut but is considerably lighter than katanas) and police baton. Genda and Mamoru somehow have a long history with each other since he calls Mamoru "assistant instructor" when he had been practicing Kendo

Kendo

, meaning "Way of The Sword", is a modern Japanese martial art of sword-fighting based on traditional Japanese swordsmanship, or kenjutsu.Kendo is a physically and mentally challenging activity that combines strong martial arts values with sport-like physical elements.-Practitioners:Practitioners...

in his younger days. It is later revealed that he also knew the Aegis during the same Kendo

Kendo

practices. Working with Aegis, Genda help infiltrate Anna into the school Jesus works at.

Others

Mamoru's kendo teacher who is well aware of Makabe's death. Mamoru and Haruka spent time with him when they went MIA and during that time he practiced with Mamoru and trained Haruka. Genda and Masuda visit him to hear about Mamoru's swordsman's life prior to the murder of his master. After they left, Sierra suddenly turned up in front of him.

The manager of Element Network who keeps a close eye on Mamoru and Haruka. He currently has a disabled leg and uses a walking cane. Daiba gained reputation as the prodigy who created the search engine MENTOR in his teens. MENTOR brought him much wealth and he went on to become a world leading VIP. During his childhood, his father murdered his mother in front of his eyes. There are rumors that he is connected to the underworld and has developed a quantum computer called the Super Parallel Algorithm Resonance Compute or SPARC. He is also revealed to be a highly skilled martial artist, recognized by even Mamoru. He also suffer from insomnia because of overworking behaviors and mental stress.

(also called "The Praetorian")

The underground strongest bodyguard who can deflect any bullet. His wife was murdered, and his child was lost while they attempted to defuse a bomb strapped to her. His right arm is replaced with an artificial arm of steel. He has some respect for Mamoru, but dislikes his personality for only caring to strengthen his skills. He admitted that Mamoru is the strongest opponent he ever faced. His real name is Tate Karito and is an ex-Special Assault Team

Special Assault Team

The is a paramilitary counter terrorism unit under the Japanese National Police Agency. The SAT is mandated, along with the Anti-Firearms Squad and the Counter-NBC Terrorism Squad, for counterterrorism missions and incidents involving firearms or criminals which require an armed response beyond...

operative.

Crossover from AEGIS IN THE DARK (闇のイージス) which run in the same magazine.

Member of the Yakuza in Kakuhōkai. Like Mamoru, he is also an excellent swordsman and pretty equal foot to him also. He dislikes Komura's methods and is willing to help Mamoru as long he doesn't get into trouble from the Yakuza. He later made a promise to protect Haruka with his life.

A smoking man with a fedora who is ordered by Daiba to support Haruka from behind the scenes. His weapon of choices seems to be projectiles like throwing knives and grenades. He refers Mamoru as "Blade".

The broker of "Aegis", underground strongest bodyguard, who would provide service only to the clients who can answer her riddles. Genda helped her infiltrate into the school that Jesus works at. Her real age is not known but her appearance is that of same age range as Haruka. Seems to be connected to Daiba.

Crossover from AEGIS IN THE DARK (闇のイージス) which run in the same magazine.

Renowned underground hit-man who is seeking his kidnapped pupil which got trafficked over the world. He appears again in Chapter 100 confronting Wiseman. Jesus works at a private boarding school.

Crossover from JESUS (ジーザス) by the same manga artists as AEGIS IN THE DARK.

Orion
An black market organ seller in Chechnya from 3 years ago before Mamoru lost his sight. He harvest organs from children from poor villages and countries. He thinks the Element Network is a fairy tale.

Luna
Second in command of "The Canes Venatici" in Chechnya from 3 years ago. She seems to know something about the "Elements Network" that Mamoru mentioned to Orion. She and "The Canes Venatici" are leftover children that couldn't be sold for organs. She helps Mamoru and the Chechen kids escape Orion. It was later revealed that one of the Chechen kids is her sister. She is later killed by Orion using an unknown explosive substance (same explosion that caused Mamoru to lose his sight).

The Republic of Garuboa

Garuboan ambassador to Japan. Had plans to kidnap Haruka due to her psychic abilities as well as the EX-SOLID biochip. Was disabled by Mamoru when he sliced his right arm after Alpha led The Wall commandos to storm a freighter he used to supposedly meet with Mamoru. Later on, Mamoru cut off his left arm without his special sunglasses. After the incident, Komura took over Edge's position. He currently hospitalized. Gene gave him the prosthetic arm that was stolen.

An assassin hired by Edge, with an appearance resembling Edge (top part of his face). He has a strong interest in Mamoru. He uses portable, computerized mini helicopters armed with mini turrets to fight Mamoru. However, Igawa saw through it and was able to find him. It was later revealed that he is Edge's half brother. He suicides by asking to be killed by acquaintances in the end, escaping his nightmares of being killed by Mamoru or other assassins.

Mister Wiseman

To the general public, he is , a former college professor and expert on crime, but he is actually a renowned and respected criminal in disguise and best known as Mr. Wiseman, the man who taught Edge. His financial power is best described as frightening as he looks down on even the 100 millions dollar bounty as "mundane".

The Kakuhōkai yakuza

Yakuza

, also known as , are members of traditional organized crime syndicates in Japan. The Japanese police, and media by request of the police, call them bōryokudan , literally "violence group", while the yakuza call themselves "ninkyō dantai" , "chivalrous organizations". The yakuza are notoriously...

clan's waka gashira, an overseer and the second in command. He was present during Mamoru's raid of the Kakuhōkai's Tokyo branch and vowed to take revenge on the swordsman down ever since. Currently he is allied with Edge Turus and Mister Wiseman and is currently replaced Edge's position. He sometimes go by the name "Professor".

Gene
He is Edge's younger brother and works for Plunder. He was the one responsible for stealing Aegis's arm. He wear a headset connected to a PDA.

Organizations

A covert vigilante group formed by crime victims and their families who exchange of information, and mobilize to intervene directly to "hunt criminals". Basically, information exchange, evaluation and monitoring of actual mobilization, and all other organizational activities can be done anonymously via the Internet, although willing parties may work directly with other members in curbing crime. Since the purpose of the organization is to prevent crime, killings of criminals are prohibited. However, it seems that the organization has plans of hiring criminals to deal with other criminals. Currently, the organization is only scarcely discussed about in some online communities.

A team consisting of Mamoru and Igawa that deals with large-scale city crimes. However, since Mamoru's usually the only one fighting at the scene, the term Blade is more often used as Mamoru's codename.

An international anti-crime unit led by Alpha. Its members are codenamed according to the Phonetic Alphabet

NATO phonetic alphabet

The NATO phonetic alphabet, more accurately known as the NATO spelling alphabet and also called the ICAO phonetic or spelling alphabet, the ITU phonetic alphabet, and the international radiotelephony spelling alphabet, is the most widely used spelling alphabet...

. Owning to EN policy as to avoid killing criminals unless in dire situations, Wall commandos use non-lethal weapons and techniques to apprehend criminals instead of killing them.

Codename of an unknown terrorist/s responsible for stealing intellectual properties from various corporations. He was the one that steal the new artificial arm that was made for Aegis.

TPC

An organ harvesting organization that was active in Chechnya led by Orion. Under it is a mercenary force called Canes Venatici.

Canes Venatici

An elite mercenary force operating under Orion and Luna's command, they are known to be proficient with knives although they are also good with using small arms with guerrilla tactics. Mamoru first encounters them in Chechnya when his squad was nearly wiped out. The group also uses enhanced soldiers via body modifications. Its name is Latin, meaning "Hunting Dogs".

Publication

Until Death Do Us Part has been published in Japan with 15 volumes by Square Enix

Square Enix

is a Japanese video game and publishing company best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include the Final Fantasy series, the Dragon Quest series, and the action-RPG Kingdom Hearts series...

after it was initially serialized on Young Gangan's December 2005 issue. Volume 16 is not yet scheduled for a release in Japan. In France and in French-speaking countries and territories, it is being published by Editions Ki-oon in 12 volumes under the title Jusqu'à ce que la mort nous sépare with its 1st volume published on March 27, 2008. In South Korea, it is published under Haksan. It is published in Taiwan under Tong Li. It is published in Hong Kong by Jade Dynasty. It is published in Indonesia by Elex Media. Until Death Do Us Part has been recently licensed for English language release by Yen Press

Yen Press

Yen Press is the manga and graphic novel imprint of Hachette Book Group. In addition to their regular book releases, Yen Press produces a monthly anthology called Yen Plus. The company's varied list demonstrates an interest in publishing a wide variety of Japanese manga, Korean manhwa, and other...

External links

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