Title: Dolls

Author & Artist: Naked Ape (group)

Chapters: 1-15 (scanlation)

Summary:

In a seemingly apocalyptic future, the crime rate in third Toutoh empire has gone out of control. A law was established to help expedite trials and relieve the pressure on the overcrowded prisons. The law states trials could be held without the presence of the accused criminals and sentence them to death, even if they haven’t been captured. To capture or kill such criminals, the Special Execution Police Force was created by the military to uphold that special law. These are their stories (Law & Order joke).

Why you should read it

Did you not read the summary (ignore last sentence)? That alone got my attention.

The story plays much like a cop show, though more like Criminal Intent. The beginning of each chapter usually is in the perspective of the killer, and then turns to the perspective of the special police force. Of course in the end, unlike those cop shows, the killer is killed instead. It’s that bitter type of Justice people prefer over lawyers.

Downside

There is always a flaw in Justice. In the case of Dolls, it’s the comedy. Yes, there is comedy in this manga. The only problem is it isn’t funny and feels out of place. In the story, the Special Execution Police Force (also known as Tokkei) are nicknamed Dolls by society for their lack of emotion when executing a criminal. Comedy is used to show they are human, but from a reader’s point of view it doesn’t work. It’s more like silly antics than comedic.

However, one downside shouldn’t stop you from reading an interesting story. Read at least the first chapter of Dolls. A great read.