Switch is a shōnen action police drama focusing mostly on two rookie investigators at the Narcotic Control Department in Japan. Kai Eto is a rookie investigator, who can “switch” personalities whenever pain or emotion overwhelm him. His normal personality is kind and gentle, whereas his alter ego has no compulsions and seems to revel in violence. His partner, Hal Kurabayashi, also a rookie, is a genius investigator who uses his ability, and charm, to help solve cases. They, and their colleagues, investigate drug crimes in Japan fighting against both small-time criminals and vast drug cartels run by various yakuza.

Volume 11 starts out with a drug dealer turned informant whose leads seem a bit fishy. This is followed by a lighter romantic chapter and ends with the beginning of a new case where all the dealers are dying and the police still have no leads to their source.

Highlights:
Of all the stories in this volume, the first is the best. The first one deals with an idea a bit outside of normal clichés, though not too much. The basic idea is obviously based on the context of an informant playing the cops. He is somewhat successful because he gets them drug busts, but they are all small-fry like some local kid who wanted to host a party and needs some drugs for it.

After that, there is a brief break in the drama for a comedic chapter with Mika Tachibana. This is more of a slice-of-life comedy chapter revolving around Mika as she tries to meet up with her crush. Its placement contrasts with the rest of the manga and is likely put in as a breather before starting up another major arc.

The last one deals with a new drug type that is super small and super potent. The police have tagged the dealers of the drugs for some time, but wanted to work their way up the chain and find the source. Unfortunately, one after another, the dealers die from what appears to be them taking the drug themselves. The story ends in a cliffhanger as Kai disappears on Hai without a word on Akimune “Aki” Narita when he left him to get Hai a drink after he wasn't feeling well.

Overview:
Switch is neither hit nor miss. On the one hand, the pace is quite well done and the stories are generally decent. On the other hand, the action scenes seem more focused on close-ups than showing action most of the time. While that's good to draw out tension, the manga overuses this. Then there is the informer in the first manga who seemed totally unbelievable after his initial interrogation. It seemed downright sappy and ruined an otherwise decent idea for a plot.

While I enjoyed the chapter with Maki, thinking it was a fun chapter about a cute girl who has a crush on one of her coworkers and gets teased over it, I felt it was entirely out of place for an entire chapter to be devoted to a fluff story in such a manga. Sure, I could see a wrap off after a big climax, having a few pages devoted to a more light-hearted comedy, but a whole chapter is too much. It seemed to belong more in a lighter police/detective drama like Detective Conan (aka Case Closed) or Sprial.

Finally, and most notably, is the art style. Switch has a high level of contrast for most of its images. This simplistic shading style emphasizes contours and features of images making items that may normally not stand out, such as a normal hairstyle, grab the reader because of the lack of depth. In some cases, this makes the characters stand out, such as Maki and Hai, but with other characters, like Kai, it becomes hard to distinguish him from others. What shading there is is usually done with horizontal lines similar to that in a comic strip like Hagar the Horrible. The end result makes the art style very divisive. While it's possible the art style is some based on a larger picture, i.e., the idea about whether law enforcement is a clear black/white line to what is right and wrong, I doubt it.

If you're looking for the next great mystery manga, Switch isn't it. However, if you're looking for a way to pass the time with a decently plotted story and can get past its faults, Switch is a good manga to while away the time while you wait for a bus, or are on your lunch break.

ComicsOnline gives Switch Volume 11 3.5 out of 5 successful drug busts.