Shizuku is on a human-killing rampage, with only Yuuto standing in her way!
Creative Staff
Story & Art: Milan Matra
Translation/Adaptation: Christine Dashiell
What They Say
A demon slayer thus far in name only, Yuuto finally decides to take his potential into his own hands to protect his spirit friends from two rampaging demons out for their blood! But after undergoing intensive training with Himari for this purpose, Yuuto is called to battle not the bloodthirsty Tamamo-no-mae and Shuten-Douji, but his Lolita housemate, Shizuku, who has been consumed by her deep-seated grudge against the demon-slayer clan that decimated her family! Will Yuuto have to whip out his new skills against Shizuku, or will he find another way to talk the water snake spirit down from her rage?!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Some nudity in this volume.
With the appearance of the strong ayakashis, Tamamo-no-mae and Shuten-Douji, Yuuto has finally decided he better learn to fight. Not only to defend his own life, but his friends, human and ayakashi. So in some sense, both Himari and Kuesu have succeeded in pushing Yuuto down the path of becoming a true demon slayer. Although, he has a long way to go considering he not only has to learn how to fight, but also has to figure out how to master his clan’s “Light Ferry” power.
Shizuku has disliked humans ever since she was a child, but there is one group of humans she hates with every emotion she can muster, the Jibashiri clan of demon slayers. The Jibashiri killed Shizuku’s entire clan when she was a child, initiating her life-long quest for revenge. Unfortunately, for Shizuku’s revenge, there is only one remaining member of the Jibashiri clan, a female college student under Kuesu’s protection. But Kuesu agrees to turn her back on her charge after making a deal with Shizuku. This is an odd scenario considering Kuesu is a demon slayer. Does Kuesu hope to use Shizuku’s attack as an excuse to kill her and eliminate one of the girls vying for Yuuto’s affection? Or does Kuesu hope Shizuku’s actions alone will cause Yuuto to hate her?
Yuuto eventually learns of Shizuku’s intention of killing the Jibashiri girl and drops everything to intercede. But even if Yuuto makes it in time, will he be able to stop Shizuku? Will Shizuku even care, or will she be ready to lash out and kill every human around?
This volume also reveals some of the characters from the other mysterious demon slayer clans. It seems Kuesu’s clan is low on the pecking order, so it will be interesting to see how things pan out going forward.
In Summary
I was pleasantly surprised to see this volume take a darker twist with Shizuku’s character. Not only is her dark past and hatred for humans revealed, but she goes so far as to toss aside her friendship with Yuuto in hopes of avenging her family. Plus, this stems from Kuesu revealing some of her dark side, giving this story a needed injection of darkness in hopes of balancing out some of the over-the-top ecchi antics. Another dark aspect of this volume is the revelation that Himari will someday use up all her powers and die. This delivers a time frame and some desperation to the story as the sooner Yuuto becomes a powerful demon slayer, the longer Himari will live. If Yuuto takes too long, leaving Himari constantly using her full power to defend him, she will burn out much quicker. I believe this is a good twist to a normally light-hearted story.
Content Grade: C+
Art Grade: B-
Packaging Grade: A-
Text/Translation Grade: B
Age Rating: 17+
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: February 28th, 2012
MSRP: $11.99
