Are you willing to sacrifice anything … for a fleeting wish?
Creative Staff:
Story & Art: Ato Sakurai
Translation: Caleb Cook
Lettering: Bianca Pistillo
What They Say:
Chiaki and the others are trapped in a labyrinth, and Hades has no intention of letting them leave! Roze steps in to save everyone – hoping to see Chiaki finally smile – but then Kuro suddenly goes out of control! Forget about restoring a part of Chiaki’s soul … Can they survive an assault from one of Cerberus’s heads?!
Content (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
As Chiaki and the rest of the group wander the castle in an attempt to find Persephone, Roze is confronted by the king of the castle himself. Now having to face down her former master, the timid girl knows what she must do, her feelings growing ever more intense as Hades insults her friends. Lashing out in ferocious anger, one of the former heads of Cerberus quickly disarms the sadistic tyrant and makes a hasty exit, only to find his wife give a cryptic warning as she leaves. But she is not concerned with meaning now, all Roze wants to do is reunite with her friends and find a way out of the castle.
However as the poor girl forges her way forward, Hades is not one to wait for an opportunity, instead flailing out in both anger and pain. A ghastly abomination lashes out with whips of hair, crushing anything in its way, spearing masonry in an attempt to rid his castle of any intruders. But even as Persephone tries to serendipitously aid the humans, and they make some headway against the attacks, the defender becomes ever more vicious, wishing to crush them at any cost. The hirsute lances multiply and with his frustration growing, the lord of the castle decides to take more personal action against them, projecting a mammoth hand to crush them once and for all. As they stand petrified in fear, Kuro is stunned by a familiarity with the situation, her locked away memories releasing a fury greater than any she has shown before, shattering the outgrowth with ease. But in return, the air around her now crackles with a sinister energy, the once kind girl they knew is gone, consumed within her own power … but as her sisters fear she may lost, the queen returns with a solution – deletion. Is this the only chance to stop her, or is there another way?
In Summary:
It may have taken eight volumes, but Sakurai-sensei finally gave readers what they wanted – a remedy to the missing part of Chiaki’s soul, in a sense. As they battled through the defences of Hades’ castle and inevitably found Lady Persephone, all of this build up seemed lacking in the finality for what should have been a conclusion, and yet it does not live up to what everyone was expecting. Of course nothing is as simple as a straightforward solution, and while our main protagonist was provided a cure, this is not the end of the story due to one outstanding problem: Chiaki has yet to chose. In a story in which our hero is surrounded by a harem, the finale is decided when he picks someone over everyone else, and that unfortunately has yet to be done. Then we have the other condition which the Queen stated must be fulfilled before Chiaki could be completely restored – filling his new soul vessel with positive feelings. Of course the irony of this situation would be all the previous moments which built up to this revelation appear to be a waste, since Chiaki never felt any emotion during those times and it was all done for the readers’ enjoyment. So now we have to start over again, much to either the pleasure or chagrin of the audience, to create a new environment to hopefully help the boy in his new adventure toward happiness.
Today’s Cerberus once again shows us the inevitability of a straightforward solution is defined by the need for a conclusion … which we cannot have within this title. Although the light at the end of the tunnel may have seemed reachable, Sakurai-sensei had other things in mind, such as not wanting to end the comedic sweetness of the title. While this may have given us some disappointment, at the same time the possibility of seeing these silly adventures continue does make us wonder if it will ever end, or if we want them to end?
Content Grade: C+
Art Grade:A
Packaging Grade: B
Text/Translation Grade: B+
Age Rating: Teen
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: April 24, 2018
MSRP: $13.00
