Wāqwāq

Wāqwāq
Cover of the first Japanese volume of Wāqwāq, published by Shueisha on January 5, 2005
Genre	Science fantasy, post-apocalyptic
Manga
Written by	Ryu Fujisaki
Published by	Shueisha
English publisher	NA Viz Media
Demographic	Shōnen
Magazine	Weekly Shōnen Jump
Original run	August 30, 2004 – May 9, 2005
Volumes	4

Wāqwāq (Japanese: ワークワーク, Hepburn: Wākuwāku) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Ryu Fujisaki. It was serialized in Shueisha's magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from August 2004 to May 2005. The series individual chapters were collected into four tankōbon (collected volumes) and published from January to July 2005 by Shueisha. It was later licensed in Northern America by Viz Media for an English-language publication, which was released from August 2009 to May 2010. It has been re-published by Shueisha, distributed as digital media by Viz Media, and localized in other countries.

Wāqwāq is set a world where humans have black blood and fear belligerent creatures known as "machines", entrusting their salvation on the Guardians—humans who possess weapons that give them supernatural powers—, and on the red-blooded Kami. The series focuses on Shio, a Guardian who meets Matsuda, who is believed to be Kami, and starts a journey in which he faces other adversaries who wants Kami's power. Its art and story was initially said to be confusing by some critics, but others stated that these aspects get better as the manga progress. It was described as a typical shōnen, but its characters and action have received mostly praise.

Two millennia prior the series' events, the humans create black-blooded androids to accomplish tasks to facilitate their lives. However, these androids rebel against the humankind; to destroy the black-bloodeds, the red-blooded humans create the machines (機械, Kikai). In the aftermath, the red-bloodeds are almost extinct, and the black-bloodeds hide themselves from the machines. Koto (コト), a red-blooded, Yoki (ヨキ), a black-blooded, Kiku (キク), a machine—collectively known as the "The Three Magi" (参賢者, San Kenja)—create the Gojin-zou (護神像, Gojinzō) to gather the wishes of its wielders, the seven Guardians (防人, Sakimori), who by fusing with the Gojin-zou gain supernatural powers to fight against the machines, whose wishes are also stored into the Gojin-zou when they are destroyed. By combining these wishes with the Kami's red blood, a machine known as "Spider's Thread" will guarantee any wish—the magi hope the wish that will be fulfilled is to return the world to how it was before the war.