The action is heating up in this latest volume!
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Yellow Tanabe
Translation: Yuko Sawada
What They Say:
The Ogi Family’s own mystical site is under attack, and even their ruthless heir Shichiro seems powerless to defend it. What are the attackers really after? Then, having gathered reinforcements, the villains shift their focus to an even more ambitious target! Yoshimori and Tokine have dedicated their young lives to protecting the Karasumori Site. Now its profoundest secrets finally come to light…
Content:
With the attack on the Ogi family’s site imminent, Shichiro checks his defenses, with the powerful sorcerer Kaigen having set up a barrier around the mountain. Furthermore, Shichiro decides that he most protect the town as well, clearly influenced by Yoshimori’s words. Unfortunately for Shichiro, Nichinaga himself arrives on the scene and begins mind-controlling the Ogi family’s underlings. As the defenses around the mystical site quickly fall, Shichiro decides that the only option left is to cut off the peak of the mountain. Before he can do so, however, Yoshimori arrives on the scene.
Using his newly developed Shinkai (and the aid of Chushinmaru), Yoshimori prepares to destroy all the snakes on the mountain, thus freeing everyone from the mind-control. Unfortunately, the enemy decides to retreat at this very moment, revealing in the process that Nichinaga’s true purpose was to steal himself an army. In light of this, Shichiro’s father decides to expel the taken men from the clan, prompting Shichiro to declare that he’ll take them back himself.
Wasting no time, Nichinaga then takes his stolen forces and uses them to lead an assault on the Shadow Organization. The remaining members of the Council of Twelve spring into action, proving their power in the process. However, Nichinaga proves his own formidable power once more by mind-controlling everyone at the organization, with the exception of Masamori.
As the volume comes to a close, Yoshimori realizes that Chushinmaru is Tokimori’s son, and we see a flashback to the time of Chusinmaru’s birth and childhood.
In Summary:
With plenty of action and new developments, there’s a lot to love in this volume. In particular, it’s great to finally see some of the big players in action, showing off their powers for the first time. Meanwhile, we get some much appreciated back story that really helps to flesh out the Karasumori mystery. Additionally, we even get to see how Shichiro’s character has changed and grown, which is great. However, Nichinaga seems just a tad overpowered here, and the way he “fights” in this volume feels a little cheap and anticlimactic. Hopefully the rest of the series will be able to keep up the intense action shown here while managing to bring the villains more into the thick of things.
Content Grade: A-
Art Grade: B
Package Rating: B+
Text/Translation Rating: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released by: Viz Media
Release Date: June 12th, 2012
MSRP: $9.99
