[Captain Ash]

The story begins with a very atmospheric introduction.
An ancient shrine. Night. Somewhere in Japan.
This same very shrine is assaulted by a mysteriously half-naked woman. The female guardians, who seem to have expected the intruder, are no match for her, as they immediately shrink into their clothes.
Having so many women not only be shrunken but also in a sexy and creative way in the first few pages of an introduction is record-breaking!
A very successful introduction of the villain and of the story. Those magical girls / shrine maiden reminds of animes like “Devil Hunter Yohko”.

To the female Oni’s dismay (an Oni is in Japanese mythology an evil spirit or demon), the weapon she seeks is already passed to another person.
However, this scene leaves the reader with some open questions.
Why couldn’t the shrine maidens protect this valuable artifact as they seem to be successful in the past?
Why does it have to be Momo?
Is she related to anyone of these shrine maidens?
All those questions vanish, however, if you look at the beautiful artwork of Hmage, the same artist who drew for “The Invisible Girl”. As known from the artist, the backgrounds and little details are awe-inspiring.
The characters like Momo and Karen are well drawn and each one has a unique personality and even Karen feels more like a side-kick but a significance to the story and the main character.

Although this comic has a lot of beautiful shrinking and action scenes, it also has some flaws like the ending.
Sure a complex story cannot be pressed into 15 pages, but there is a difference to end a story to a satisfying point and to create a cliffhanger, as the purpose of a cliffhanger is to create excitement and anticipation for the next issue instead of frustration.
Building a cliffhanger, where the heroes are still in the middle of a fight against a mere minion, is a mistake.

If this fight were against Megiji herself, it would would be justified.
Here the reader is missing the last two pages, how our heroine would defeat Megiji’s minion.
There is nothing wrong to finish one chapter and continue with the story in the next issue.

Summary:
Despite some minor details and the cliffhanger in the ending, I’ve enjoyed reading this comic.
I adored Karen’s shrunken part, which is my favorite part in this story.
I hope that the next issue will reveal some of the unanswered questions of this first issue.