Dragon and Chameleon, vol. 1 | Review

Dragon and Chameleon, vol. 1
Story and art by Ryo Ishiyama
Square Enix Manga, released 11/19/24
Age rating: Older Teen

Ready to dive into the action-packed world of being a mangaka?

With a body-swapping twist?!

While I really don’t know how action-packed being a mangaka is, I do know it’s a stressful career. As with any writer, you are trying to write the next best thing, and when it becomes popular, maintaining that momentum gets exhausting. Even worse, someone tries to market off of that success through devious means.

This is the situation Garyo Hanagami, a best-selling manga artist, finds himself in when he inexplicably switches bodies with Shinobu Miyama, a jealous rookie who copies the work of others. Miyama is more than happy to take Hanagami’s success as his own and take whatever advantage he can. Meanwhile Hanagami, in Miyama’s body, is forced to rebuild his career from the ground up. 

Body swapping aside, Dragon and Chameleon is a relatable tale of fighting for what is rightfully yours and showing that authenticity matters. The art of Dragon and Chameleon is crisp and edgy, which illustrates the intensity of the main characters’ rivalry. The action feel helps to further convey the emotion of Hanagami’s determination to get back what belongs to him. He becomes the Dragon ready to strike, while the Chameleon (Miyami) takes advantage of the accolades he stole. He’s a great pretender, but not perfect, which is why he’s more than willing to use shortcuts, even before the body swap. Hanagami, with his new team, begins the quest of self-discovery as he reclaims what’s rightfully his. 

With so much emotion and action, it’s no wonder Dragon and Chameleon was nominated at this year’s American Manga Awards. I enjoyed that so much, and even though it didn’t take the prize this year, with what I’ve seen so far, Dragon and Chameleon would be a great candidate for next year’s Best Continuing Manga Series. I must advise that within the manga, there is a scene of a nude woman as well as a scene of a young woman being harassed by two men, in which Hanagami (in Miyami’s body) intervenes on the woman’s behalf. 

Anyone who has been taken advantage of by a pretender will relate to this story, and with the cliffhanger that volume one left us, I can’t wait to see what volume two has in store. 

The battle between the Dragon and the Chameleon has begun, and I can’t wait for the outcome.

Filed under: Graphic Novels, Manga, Reviews, Young Adult