Manga Review: Drifting Dragons

In a world where dragons roam the sky and cause chaos brave warriors known as Drakers take on the dangerous task of hunting these beasts, this is the story of Drifting Dragons. Written by Taku Kuwabara for Kodansha seinen imprint good! Afternoon, Drifting Dragons is a manga that you don’t want to be missing out on.

To begin with, this series is beautiful, taking inspiration from old-school classics like Naussica of the Valley of the Wind and Laputa Castle in the Sky to show us both stunning skyscapes and incredible technical drawings. The combination of these really helps this world come to life but even that is nothing compared to the beautiful and varied designs of its titular monsters.

Hulking beasts crossing the sky striking out against those who would deign to cross their path, therein lies the main conflict of the series. The crew of the skyship Quin Zaza are Drakers, hunters whose prey are dragons themselves. In this world, dragons provide a bevy of resources for people to use from their blood to their meat Drakers are in the business of making sure it all goes to good use. In practice what this means is the story is split between two major pieces, hunting and battling the dragons and dealing with the aftermath of each battle. This creates a world filled with real people trying to make their way. They treat battles with dragons and what remains after the same way we would treat game animals, the benefits of this are some of the tastiest-looking recipes that have ever been put to manga.

This manga is a treat to read, anyone who loves a beautifully realized world and isn’t reading this is missing out!