Karakuri Dôji Ultimo

Karakuri Dôji Ultimo (機巧童子 ULTIMO, Karakuri Dôji Urutimo, lit. "Mechanical Robot: Ultimo"), commonly referred to as Ultimo, is a manga series created by Hiroyuki Takei and Stan Lee. The series confronts both the concepts of ultimate good and ultimate evil, through the resulting relationships between and surrounding the central characters, Ultimo and Vice.

The manga was released in Shonen Jump SQ, a monthly magazine that is released every 4th of the month and the pilot, Chapter 0, was introduced in February. The manga was officially introduced to American readers through Shonen Jump USA in their July 2009 issue, but ended in their February 2011 issue, and is now being published directly into volumes, each containing four chapters of the series.

Staff

 * Original Concept: Stan Lee
 * Story and Art: Hiroyuki Takei
 * Inker: DAIGO (Chapters 1-24), HIRO (Chapters 25 onwards)
 * Painter: BOB

Plot
In the year 2989, a well respected scientist named Roger Dunstan unleashes his "last curse on the world" - in the form of two Karakuri Dôji - Ultimo and Vice. Their purpose is to battle to find out once and for which force is greater - Good, or Evil. He later made more Karakuri Dôji to fight alongside Ultimo and Vice, equaling to the number 100. In 12th Century Kyoto, as Dunstan is supposedly carrying two boxes containing Ultimo and Vice, he encounters a bandit group, leadered by a young man named Yamato. They open the boxes, awakening the two Dôji, and thus starting the everlasting battle of Good and Evil.

Centuries later, Yamato Agari, an ordinary high school student who is the reincarnation of the bandit leader, once again encounters Ultimo and becomes his master. He soon founds out, though, that the battle is still ongoing, and that this time it will envolve his family, friends, and enemies. Along the way, he learns more about Roger Dunstan, the Karakuri Dōji, his friends and enemies' past and what is good and evil.