is a Japanese

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

series written by Kazuhiko Watanabe and illustrated by

Takehiko Inoue is a Japanese manga artist. He is best known for the basketball series ''Slam Dunk (manga), Slam Dunk'' (1990–1996), and the ''jidaigeki'' manga ''Vagabond (manga), Vagabond'', which are two of List of best-selling manga, the best-selling man ...

, who is more well known for his subsequent manga, ''

Slam Dunk A slam dunk, also simply known as dunk, is a type of basketball shot that is performed when a player jumps in the air, controls the ball above the horizontal plane of the rim, and scores by shoving the ball directly through the basket with one ...

''. ''Chameleon Jail'' is Inoue's first manga series to be compiled in

tankōbon is the Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or cultur ...

form. It was first published in

Shueisha (lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The foll ...

's ''

Weekly Shōnen Jump is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the ''Jump'' line of magazines. The manga series within the magazine consist of many action scenes and a fair amount of comedy. The chapters of the series that run ...

'' in Japan in 1989. The story centers on a "risk hunter" named Chameleon Jail, who thwarts and solves crimes by using a superhuman ability to change his appearance at will.

Plot

"Risk hunters" are professionals who handle jobs considered too tough for normal law enforcement, such as

kidnapping In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the p ...

s, combatting

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

, and preventing

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

s. One man who stands above them all however is the legendary Chameleon Jail, who has the ability to manipulate his "kara" or internal human body energy in order to physically change his appearance into that of any other person. Throughout the series, he pursues several assignments on behalf of various clients given to him by Shall, a woman who runs a detective agency in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. All difficult, the successful completion of these assignments hinges on Jail's ability to change his appearance when the time is right.

Characters

Main characters

Chameleon Jail :The protagonist and title character, Chameleon Jail or Jail as he more commonly goes by, is a Japanese risk hunter residing in New York City. In addition to manipulating his kara to alter his appearance, he can also channel it in order to change a target's sex from male to female. Part of his ability to manipulate his appearance also seems to entail being able to adopt the talents and skills practiced by those whom he imitates in order to further deceive his targets. However Jail can hold his own in most situations without resorting to using his kara manipulation, being a skilled fighter and

marksman A marksman is a person who is skilled in precision shooting using projectile weapons (in modern days most commonly an accurized scoped long gun such as designated marksman rifle or a sniper rifle) to shoot at high-value targets at longer-than-u ...

. Despite the high prices charged for his services, Jail has a sense of honor and a conscience. He also has goofy side and a weakness for food. He works between assignments as a

sushi is a Japanese cuisine, Japanese dish of prepared , usually with some sugar and salt, accompanied by a variety of , such as seafood, often raw, and vegetables. Styles of sushi and its presentation vary widely, but the one key ingredient is " ...

chef. Shall :Shall is the female proprietor of a

private detective A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI and informally called a private eye), a private detective, or inquiry agent is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigators of ...

agency in New York City who gives Jail his assignments and also assists him in completing them as best she can, functioning as his partner in a sense. She continuously promotes Jail as the best risk hunter in the business, and uses him once herself for an assignment.

Other characters

The following characters appear in story arcs more than one chapter long in ''Chameleon Jail''. Colonel Keith Burns :Colonel Keith as he is known as is a former

Delta Force The 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment–Delta (1st SFOD-D), referred to variously as Delta Force, Combat Applications Group (CAG), Army Compartmented Elements (ACE), "The Unit", or within Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), Task Fo ...

officer who is dying from a heart condition. Because of his stoic demeanor at the time of his wife's death and their frequent arguments, his son Jed believes that he did not love his wife and bears a grudge against him as a result. Jed Burns :Jed Burns is Colonel Keith's son who harbors a grudge against his father following his mother's death at a young age. Seeking to get revenge by tarnishing his father's name, he becomes a terrorist and leads a group of

hijackers Hijacking may refer to: Common usage Computing and technology * Bluejacking, the unsolicited transmission of data via Bluetooth * Brandjacking, the unauthorized use of a company's brand * Browser hijacking * Clickjacking (including ''likej ...

who take control of an

airliner An airliner is a type of aircraft for transporting passengers and air cargo. Such aircraft are most often operated by airlines. Although the definition of an airliner can vary from country to country, an airliner is typically defined as an ...

, killing many of the hostages. Camel :Camel is Gil's righthand man, who is responsible for kidnapping Kat Suri. He later attempts to kill Corey and Jail and assists in Jackal's attempt to steal an Incan golden idol by detonating explosives in the museum it is put on display in. Corey :Corey is a

New York Police Department The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...

detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads th ...

who approaches Jail and Shall for help in bringing back his former lover Kat Suri. Corey has an allergy to women, breaking out in a rash when they are physically within a meter of him, and vomiting when they are right next to him. However Kat is the only woman who does not affect him in this way. Corey is chosen to lead the police team charged with stopping Jackal and Kat Suri specifically, from stealing a priceless Incan golden idol from a museum, causing intense inner conflict. Gil :Gil is the current head of Jackal, a criminal organization that aims to steal a priceless

Incan The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, (Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The admin ...

golden idol that will be put on display in a New York museum. He was an orphan who was taken in by Jackal as a young boy and raised as a thief alongside Kat Suri. He tries to prevent her from leaving Jackal by having her kidnapped and ordering Camel to kill Corey. Kat Suri :Kat Suri is a highly skilled

pickpocket Pickpocketing is a form of larceny that involves the stealing of money or other valuables from the person or a victim's pocket without them noticing the theft at the time. It may involve considerable dexterity and a knack for misdirection. A th ...

who successfully uses her feminine wiles against her male targets. An

orphan An orphan (from the el, ορφανός, orphanós) is a child whose parents have died. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents due to death is called an orphan. When referring to animals, only the mother's condition is usuall ...

who was taken in at a young age by the criminal organization Jackal and trained as a thief, she is now considered the organization's best one. Kat initially used Corey to shelter her from three of her victims by lying to him, but grew to love him after he steadfastly defended her against them despite sustaining multiple injuries. She kept her true nature as a pickpocket secret from Corey and left him after he was promoted to detective. Lawson :The chief of the NYPD who is personally involved with tracking down a few of Jail's targets, but is unsuccessful despite his best efforts.

Publication

''Chameleon Jail'' is written by Kazuhiko Watanabe and illustrated by

. It was serialized in ''

'' from July 31 to October 16, 1989. The manga was compiled into two ''

'' volumes which also included three of Inoue's one shot manga stories, ''Purple Kaede'', ''Flower Shōnen'', and ''Like Jordan''. ''Chameleon Jail'' was later rereleased as a single volume on November 19, 2004, which included another of Inoue's one shots, ''Baby Face''.

Volume list

References

External links

* {{Weekly Shōnen Jump - 1980–1989 1989 manga Takehiko Inoue Shōnen manga Shueisha manga