The Nine Treasures have been united; now it’s time to confront god!
Creative Staff
Story & Art: Yuuki IInuma
Translation/Adaptation: John Werry
What They Say
Utsuho and his comrades have finished their battle against their deadly archenemy Gin Hobaku. After a brief rest, the epic quest for the Kokonotsu treasure gets under way once more. Utsuho and company wish to find the god who bestowed this treasure and are told that, in order to do this, they must go to Mount Fuji. Once there, they learn the full story of the Kokonotsu and the role each of them now has in it!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The epic battle Gin has finally ended. Utsuho is blind and Uzume nearly died, but the others are in decent shape. With some time to rest, everyone should recuperate and be ready to tackle the next stage in the quest for the Kokonotsu.
But before all that, Hikae asks Princess Iwashi out on a date, and she says yes!
With that humorous bit of romance out of the way, Hikae regals everyone with the story of how the Kokonotsu came to be and how the Nine Treasures are used to acquire the Kokonotsu. It turns out, the doorway to god cannot be opened with just the Nine Treasures. Each treasure must be wielded by a different person with the right personality to wield it. Thus, it takes a team to reach the Kokonotsu. But first, they must travel to Mount Fuji to meet with God.
The journey proves to be as perilous as many of the previous chapters. The forest around Mount Fuji is haunted and other people that want the treasure for themselves attack Utsuho’s team whenever they get the chance. But more than that, Hikae explains that God is really just the most powerful human Itsuwaribito that has ever lived!
In Summary
It has been a long haul for Utsuho and his odd band of companions. Lies, battles, lies, tragedy, and more lies have driven this story up till now. But with Utsuho’s team seemed to be the winners, will meeting god to gain the fabled Kokonotsu change Utsuho’s life? Will he give up being an Itsuwaribito and life the straight life? That is doubtful considering how ingrained lying is in Utsuho’s life. Even if he tried to go straight, he would likely keep lying to joke around with those close to him.
The content of this volume is actually a little short as the second half of the volume is spaced dedicated to Itsuwaribito’s precursor. This appears to be the authors first attempt at the Itsuwaribito series. It focuses on Utsuho and the honest tanuki he meets. I always find these inclusions to be interesting as the character design is usually a little rough and the story idea is quite raw. Thus, it is cool to see how once the author’s story was picked up for publication, the help of an editor really betters the story and makes it more robust. Definitely an interesting interaction and one that most readers never think of.
Content Grade: B-
Art Grade: B-
Packaging Grade: B
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: Older Teen
Released By: Viz
Release Date: August 8, 2017
MSRP: $9.99
