is a near-future action manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 written by Yumi Tamura

Yumi Tamura

is a Japanese manga artist. Her debut short story, Ore-tachi no Zettai Jikan , was published in 1983 in Bessatsu Shōjo Comic and received the 1983 Shogakukan Grand Prize for new artists. Since then, she has completed more than 50 compiled volumes of short stories and continuing series...

. It was published by Shogakukan

Shogakukan

is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, manga, non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan.Shogakukan founded Shueisha which founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the Hitotsubashi Group, one of the largest publishing groups in Japan...

 in Betsucomi

Betsucomi

, formerly known as Bessatsu Shōjo Comic, is a monthly Japanese shōjo manga magazine published by Shogakukan, originally aimed at young girls, but increasingly marketed to older teens and young women. It is released on the 13th of each month...

from November 2000 to May 2001 and collected in two bound volumes

Tankobon

, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...

 under the Flower Comics

Flower Comics

is an imprint label for bound volumes of shōjo manga and lady's comics published by Shougakukan in Japan. They are usually released around the 26th of each month...

 imprint. It is licensed in North America by Viz Media

VIZ Media

VIZ Media, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, is an anime, manga, and Japanese entertainment company. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ Media LLC, which is jointly owned by Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha, and...

, which serialized it in Animerica Extra

Animerica Extra

Animerica Extra is a monthly shōjo manga magazine that was published in North America by Viz Media from 1998 until 2004. Established as a complement to its monthly review magazine Animerica, Animerica Extra was the first manga anthology to be published by Viz.The titles published in Animerica Extra...

.

Overview

It is the middle of the 21st century and Tokyo is expanding more and more, filling the ground of Tokyo bay with landfill to make room for the bursting population. But suddenly Tokyo suffers its greatest earthquake since the first quarter of the 20th century, and the landfill liquefies, creating untold damage in the newly made urban area. It is there that the members of Self-Defense Force Rescue Squad Four are sent, to locate survivors and assist in any way possible. But what they dig up is a plot of murder and destruction — one that wipes out nearly the entire squad and leaves its two surviving members, the fierce tomboy Rei and her cool, handsome partner Uozumi, in a fight for their lives well after the rubble from the quake has been cleaned up. There is only one place where they can find the work that keeps them alive, and the support so they can start uncovering the mystery that killed their squad: that's in the south-Shinjuku bar called Chicago.

Rescues Inc.

Rescue workers Rei and her handsome partner Uozumi are looking for survivors after Tokyo's worst earthquake of the 21st century. But their efforts uncover man-made violence, and they are suddenly attacked and their entire squad murdered. Some secret plot is lurking in the ruins of Tokyo Bay District D, and to find it, Rei and Uozumi must join a privately funded hostage rescue organization run out of a Tokyo bar called Chicago. Now, Rei saves the lives of others while she searches for her own salvation.

Squad Four

A tomboyish woman who worked for the Rescue Inc. After their partners are murdered, Uozumi is taken to the jail.

Uozumi

Partner of Rei.

Mika

Uozumi's boyfriend

Chicago Bar

Shin

A handsome recruit of Chicago Bar who works with Rei and Uozumi in their first mission. He and Rei seem to have romantic feelings.

JJ

Boss of Jacky's Chicago Bar.

Scout

He's the man who takes Rei and Uozumi to the Chicago Bar.

A big guy who also is the recruit of Chicago.

A bald scientist who seems weird. He invents special things.

Mission Hostage

A boy who was mistaken for Alto, his friend, and was kidnapped under his name by the bandits. He dreams to be a journalist. When he is saved by Rei, he thinks she's a cop and gets a mini-camera to her uniform. But after she returns it to him and tells him not to peep.

Alto Dejoji

Son of a millionaire. He and Billy belong to the same club, and are in the same photo. It is for this reason that Billy was mistaken for him.