Creative Staff
Story/Art: Kazue Kato
Translation: John Werry
What They Say
With the defeat of the Impure King, the Exwires have returned to their routine lives back at True Cross Academy – but the routine doesn’t last for long! Halfway around the world, a strange encounter in the desert is the harbinger of evil things to come.
An upturn in supernatural incidents at the academy involves Rin and his friends, but their seemingly simple tasks are about to draw them into a far larger conspiracy. Powerful forces have begun to awaken and an old enemy prepares for a new conflict.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Though things have quieted down a little after the fight with the Impure King, Rin soon finds that a non-exorcist classmate named Godain is able to see demons and seeks to help him. Apparently, he has been seeing them ever since rumors about the “Seven School Mysteries” started floating around following summer vacation. However, while Rin is busy trying to make friends, off in Yemen we find Arthur Auguste Angel, the Paladin, taking on a massive demon called the “Impure Princess” that sounds awfully similar to the “Impure King” singlehandedly. Though he defeats the formidable beast with a single blow, he and his companion Lightning are left a little disturbed by the sight of the women who willingly took it inside herself. In light of this new “Demon Eater” threat, RIn’s death sentence is suspended by the Vatican.
During a rather interesting celebration dinner, Mephisto introduces himself properly as Samael, the second most powerful being in Gehenna. He also offers Rin eye drops that will fix Godain’s problem, but only if he does his “homework” and solves the Seven School Mysteries with his fellow Exwires. To make matters worse, the Vatican learns of a manmade Gehenna Gate. The rest of the volume is spent watching our young heroes tackle some of the strange occurrences happening around the school while the Vatican scrambles in the background to figure out just what they’re up against. As the book comes to a close, Lightning declares there can only be one group behind the recent incidents, the Illuminati.
In the bonus chapter, Shima tries to get together with Izumo, but his brother ends up getting in the way.
In Summary
This is definitely a bit of a transitional volume, moving the plot from the fallout of the Impure King arc into whatever is coming next. This unfortunately means there aren’t really any huge fights or anything presented here, but the book still does a good job keeping things fresh and interesting. Through Godain, we’re actually given a bit of “normal” perspective that has been lacking from the series for a while, though not too much is done with him as of yet. We also get the introduction of a seemingly important and eccentric character in the form of Angel. And of course, there’s some rather intriguing villainous machinations starting to emerge throughout the book. Though the core of the book is filled with mostly the somewhat goofy plot of the “School Mysteries,” the story still feels worthwhile from cover to cover. It may not be the most exciting entry into the series, but it’s certainly not a letdown either.
Content Grade: B+
Art Grade: A-
Packaging Grade: B+
Text/Translation Grade: B+
Age Rating: 16+
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: July 2nd, 2013
MSRP: $9.99
amiamon vs rin was best fight