A future worth fighting for.
Creative Staff
Story: Ryukishi07
Art: You Omura
Translation/Adaptation: Caleb. D. Cook
What They Say
Everyone is searching for a reason.
1949, Post-war Tokyo-As the Japanese become more of a minority in their own homeland, they continue to place their hope for the future in Primavera’s hands. Alan and Keith have returned from war to find Tokyo very different from the one of their memories. Both may be maintaining high spirits, but they struggle to find their reason to keep fighting for a better future without being held back by bitterness. Will Primavera hold the answer for Alan and Keith, as well as the Japanese people?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Time is creeping forward for the proud folks at Primavera, and that doesn’t mean that their lives are becoming easier. After focusing on the young war orphans in the second story arc we’re introduced to two new leads in season 3, returning to the perspective of veterans and the role they will have on the mean streets of an occupied Japan.
Alan and Keith were a sniper team who served in the frozen wastes of Russia during the war. When the two returned to Japan they took their skills with them, with Keith still sniping and Alan being his spotter. Being assassins for the mob doesn’t faze the two, who have one of those close friendships which seems unbreakable. Now as the reader we wait to see what will break them.
This series has flipped the narrative of what actually happened in history sideways by having Japan divided up much in the same way post-war Germany was, but with the added insult of occupation. That’s given the previous volumes an uneasy nationalistic vibe which is mostly missing from this volume. Alan and Keith have the same angst Leo did, but with the added perspective and confidence that their country basically left them for dead. One of the most interesting parts of this manga is when Alan pauses to consider the relationship between the Chinese and Japanese over their actions in the war. The author doesn’t delve into it, but he brushes up against it, and those atrocities color the relationship between Alan and his girlfriend.
My major complaint about the start of this arc is that it’s painfully obvious with its foreshadowing. Keith constantly questions if the Japan he wants to see will be during his lifetime, and Alan constantly reasserts the friendship is unbreakable. The death flags are everywhere and the story doesn’t want you to forget it. However, no lead character has died yet in this series. In fact, characters which should have perished in act one, including enemies, are all alive and kicking. Maybe these are just false flags meant to instill a sense of dread.
What has improved is the sense that this is a continuing narrative. Characters from the first two arcs reappear, and while Rose and the leaders of Primavera were expected, Oliver and friends were not. The end of the previous arc seemed to imply that the trio was going to go their separate ways for awhile but they all seem to be working for Primavera still only a year later. Season 2 felt very disconnected tonally and storywise from the happenings of Season 1. Now many of the same themes and some of the missing players have returned and it feels that the gears in the machine are turning again, just after a tentative truce and understanding had been established between the three major factions. Rose, Meijiu Lee, and Philip Butler had worked to maintain a careful balance where all three groups were getting what they wanted, but outsiders are about to mess it all up again.
You Omura takes over as the artist for this arc of the series. Omura does a solid job portraying the two cheerful assassins, and a fine job handling the characters we’ve already met once before who are returning. I have no complaints. Yen includes the usual color title page and a page of translation notes, and everything still reads smoothly.
In Summary
Rose Guns Days Season 3 is off to a far stronger start than the previous two arcs. Alan and Keith are immediately likable, although their fates scream tragic and they appear to be the most likely candidates in this series to burn out bright. Conflict appears from old sources and new, some expected and some not. While the beats of the story are familiar it does an admirable job juggling the multiple plot threads and moving the overall story of Primavera forward. It’s also the first volume which starts to paint the situation in a more sympathetic light rather than with a ham-fisted nationalistic bent.
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: B
Packaging Grade: B +
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: September 19th, 2017
MSRP: $10.99
