The Hunters Guild: Red Hood

“Werewolves are the same as humans. They must eat, or they will starve and die. There’s nothing 'good' or 'evil' about it.”

• Grimm, Chapter 1

Red Hood is an interesting case of a manga that had a strong core but quickly lost sight of what it was trying to say. This led to an unfocused and chaotic series that ended up privileging style over story and suffering for it. If it had a more developed concept it could have gone far but it, unfortunately, fell at the first hurdle.

The plot of Red Hood is easily its weakest and its most under-utilised element. Its initial premise of a young boy training to be a hunter is very reminiscent of other Shōnen titles and so it can feel like a very over-used plot starter and struggles to make Red Hood stand out amongst other publishing titles. It would have been more successful if it included a clearer focus point for the readers to work towards.

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For example, the Mayor could have been utilised more in the first chapter; creating a mystery that the reader could latch onto and try to uncover as the narrative progressed. Instead, there is a large break between his appearances which makes his reappearance feel more like an attempt to drive up readership.

The lack of clarity also leads to Red Hood quickly becoming riddled with contradictions. No moment is more obvious than in Grimm’s early speech about werewolves being neither good nor bad, instead simply fighting to survive. By creating the implication that werewolves aren’t evil, Red Hood could have explored this aspect more; presenting the werewolves as morally ambiguous or verging on sympathetic characters. Instead, this statement is immediately contradicted as the only werewolves we see are portrayed as being stereotypically evil. This inability to commit to ideas is repeated throughout Red Hood and the contradictions only become more apparent.

Perhaps Red Hood needed a stronger editorial presence to help guide it down a more certain path as it could have covered some really interesting ground. Even within the short length, we see a dense plot that has a lot happening in it. Obviously, due to the series being cancelled, the main plot points are condensed and are very fast-paced as Kawaguchi attempted to demonstrate his vision all at once. If the series had been longer, it could have developed a very interesting tale to watch unfold; especially if the character development was slower and given the time to grow naturally. This would have been bolstered by how well Red Hood plays into its fairytale setting. It strikes up a rather interesting relationship with pre-existing fables which could have been explored more. Unfortunately, these moments become buried under the sheer volume of different ideas that are being pushed onto the reader; noticeable in the rather abrupt narrative changes which take place.

It is the characters who suffer most from the inconsistent tone and pacing. The two main characters are almost polar opposites of each other in terms of how they are presented but they both suffer from serious problems. Grimm, the experienced hunter, has a hex placed on her so she can only access her true strength for a couple of hours at a time. Velou is a young boy who wants to become a hunter and goes through an exam to become one, he also suddenly develops an incredible power. This could feel similar to the early plot of My Hero Academia, which Kawaguchi worked on as an assistant. While it isn’t rare for previous work to influence newer stories, it can often feel like Red Hood lacks its own distinct voice. Only during the final few chapters do we see these two develop in a way that could have been really interesting. Unfortunately, as it was all crammed into the final few chapters, the character development feels more like a personality transplant.

The rest of the cast is also awkwardly handled, with most of them being introduced at the same time. This makes it difficult to remember who each character is and what their skills and abilities are. There is also a reliance on backstories to build certain characters in the latter half of the manga which means readers aren’t given time to form their own opinions before being told whether we should feel sorry for a character or not. Characters who aren’t given any semblance of a backstory tend to be quite forgettable.

The art style, while reminiscent again of My Hero Academia, is striking and perfectly fits the rustic fairytale setting of Red Hood. This is especially true for the settings and character designs; in particular, the werewolves are both grotesque and interesting, offering a unique interpretation of the creatures. The other non-human designs also reflect a strong aesthetic vision that struggles to balance out the noticeable problems with Red Hood’s plot. The fights are fairly engaging and easy to read although there is little experimentation with panelling; especially when recalling previous scenes where a whole page is copied into the background with the text removed. This makes it difficult to pick out any moments of significance and comes across as a little bit lazy. There is also a reliance on the art to carry the exposition-heavy moments; usually leaning into a more comedic approach. It often creates a jarring tone that could have been handled better by committing to the more serious nature of Red Hood’s story. Much like the rest of this manga, it boils down to style over function and that can quickly alienate the reader.

Overall, Red Hood is a series that suffers from a lack of consistency and has no clear direction beyond a very overused plot structure. During its later chapters, it tried to make a statement about storytelling but ended up falling into too many pitfalls itself. I wish Kawaguchi all the best for the future as he has a really interesting artistic vision, all that’s needed is a plot that can match it.