This is My Pride



The series' protagonists (From left to right): Hayato Gokudera, Tsuna Sawada, Reborn, Kyoya Hibari, Takeshi Yamamoto, Mukuro Rokudo, Ryohei Sasagawa, Lal Mirch.
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 Katekyō Hitman Reborn! is yet another Japanese manga series, written and illustrated by the very talented Akira Amano. What's interesting about the author is that it's a woman. While not unheard of, it is not very often that a woman writes such a successful Shonen (boy's) manga. Another notable example would be Rumiko Takahashi, author of the world famous Inuyasha series.

Anyway, Reborn! (as it is more commonly known) is a series about a mafia hitman named Reborn, who has been cursed and turned into an Arcobaleno (Rainbow in Italian) and now has the appearance of a baby and also immortality. Reborn is an important member of the Vongola family in Italy, and has come to Japan to seek out and to train the next mafia boss. This person is Tsunayoshi "Tsuna" Sawada. He is a hopeless boy who is afraid of most everything. When Reborn shows up at his doorstep, he naturally is incredibly shocked, and denies the ridiculous notion. Reborn doesn't take no for an answer, and gradually trains him and gathers his "Family" together, so he can become the 10th Vongola boss.

This series is very appealing to me because it involves Italian, a language and culture that has always fascinated me, even more so than Japan. It is beautifully written and the art is unique and shows signs of extreme effort. A very inspirational title indeed.

Amano, Akira. Katekyō Hitman Reborn! Vol. 1. Tokyo: Shueisha, 2004. Print.