What does a race of Egyptians do when dangerous spirits can no longer be suitably contained? You awake Imhotep, tell him to defeat them, and send him to Japan. Not surprisingly, it doesn’t go swell — he knows nothing of the culture, the life, or the cars people use in Japan. However, it only gets better for him as he runs into a human who can help him out.
Except she’s already been cursed by a “magai” and only flames can come out of her mouth. She can’t speak a word.
IM: Great Priest Imhotep’s strength is its characters. Obviously we understand the real history surrounding Imhotep, but he displays an interesting frame of mind and battle style in this manga that makes him an enjoyable character. He doesn’t act strangely or anything either — well, outside of taking over the female lead’s house. Yeah, he shows he has a ways to go as he adapts to Japan. But while he’s a good character on his own, the side characters are a boon too. Previously mentioned female lead Hinome Hawakata becomes his “first” ally, though their first meeting is eventful: she’s the one who hurls flames! However, once she gets past that, she displays a welcome range of emotions that’s neat to see. Like “crushing” the watchdog Anubis — a very small version of him!
However, one of the bigger issues of this manga is the story. The “X main character must drive X’s away” has been done before, so the hook obviously is Imhotep being in Japan. However, that aspect’s not really focused on enough outside of a few pages in Chapter 1. Make him meet more humans (not just Hinome’s schoolteachers) or let him learn something new. It feels like he’s not totally fazed by where he is, and if so, it’s done jokingly. A good example is the first chapter of him explaining how people freaked out when they saw him bathing in the river, but that’s one of the few times the story talks about this. After that it’s him focusing on him sealing magai, which isn’t that fascinating by itself.
So, that then leads to its second issue: the comedy. Amusing yes, but the real laugh came when I got to the extra portion of the manga, and it outed Imhotep as being too young to drink in Japan. The setups for each joke don’t necessarily work, and in some cases, it kind of overrides the action in the manga. Like what’s the point of having the dog Anubis share his lewd dream while Imhotep is there, fighting a magai? Maybe it’ll work for some, but ultimately it feels the timing is off.
There are some interesting storylines to touch upon in IM. From Imhotep’s past, as he was sealed away for a dark, but maybe questionable reason, to the nature of the magai and their growth, there are interesting pieces at play. The characters are pretty solid themselves. And the art is pretty good (you’ll know if you’ll enjoy it from the first few pages.) But this first volume feels a bit sluggish from most of the elements mashed together. It ends by establishing that maybe Imhotep shouldn’t be in Japan, but there’s nothing really here to make me jump to grab the next volume immediately. It still has some work to do for sure.