One step forward, two steps back for our female lead
Creative Staff
Story: Tsugumi Ohba
Art: Takeshi Obata
Translation: Stephen Paul
What They Say
Determined to become a useful member of the team, Saki explores ways she can gain her own set of angel wings. Meanwhile, a new god candidate makes his grand entrance. Is this one friend or foe?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
While Saki did get kind of messed up as a character last time around, we kind of sort of start off with a bit of a turnaround for her character this time. Like, she actively expresses her desire to gain wings and be a proper part of the fight, so at least she’s asserting herself a little. Though… that doesn’t actually happen in this volume, and she’s left behind in a big battle again. AND when she gets a costume it’s this ridiculous catgirl thing. Like, the book makes a sort of joke out of the claim that it’s 100% functional and all when it’s totally not… but at the end of the day she’s still stuck with an awkward fanservicey outfit. I guess she does at least get them a new hangout though, so… that’s something?
Anyway, the more interesting element here is the introduction of another of the god candidates, Hajime Sokotani. His backstory is that he was ugly and a social wreck, leading to him wanting to end it all. And then, when he got his powers, he used them to try to change all that, using extensive cosmetic surgery to reinvent himself. Oh, and he totally falls for Metropoliman’s charisma hard, wanting to act as his lackey. Now, there are two big reasons that I like him and his introduction here. Firstly, he just makes a whole lot of sense for a character that would end up as a god candidate under the rules of the series. You can see how he was driven to the point of wanting to kill himself, and the superficial way he used the powers to try to become “cool” in a way that kind of works on a surface level, but actually doesn’t at all. And the cosmetic surgery even provides a good excuse for him not showing up until now! The other big thing though is… he isn’t dumb. He may be pathetic in terms of social skills and have fallen hard for the villain, but he still plots out his moves and is far from stupid, which is nice as you usually don’t see that with characters like him.
Anyway, things come to a head with the bad guys figuring out Mukaido’s identity and using his family as hostages to lure him into a trap. Will our heroes be able to prevent this from ending in tragedy, or is he already doomed beyond just his illness?
In Summary
So once again, Saki turns out to be the weak link with this volume. There are at least some small signs that she’s trying to be proactive and change, but then the book doesn’t let that come to fruition and even sticks her with some cheap fanservice that feels really out of place and awkward. It just feels like the character gets no respect and is almost kind of an afterthought at this point. On the other hand, we do get a new intriguing addition to the cast, so that’s cool at least. And if nothing else, we end on a pretty intense cliffhanger. Really, if it weren’t for the Saki thing, this would be a very nice entry into the series, but as is, that does kind of drag it down a bit.
Content Grade: B+
Art Grade: A
Packaging Grade: A-
Text/Translation Grade: B+
Age Rating: 18+
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: April 3rd, 2018
MSRP: $9.99
