A never-ending loop.
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Keitaro Takahashi
Translation: Joe Yamazaki
English Adaptation: STAN!
What They Say:
Jormungand, Koko’s plan to force peace on the world by taking control of global logistics, is ready to launch. When it does, all human movement by land, sea, and air will come under the control of HCLI’s satellite network and quantum computer system. But when Jonah learns that the first stage of Koko’s operation could cost the lives of nearly seven hundred thousand people, he finds himself at a deadly impasse with Koko and her team. Peace sells, but who’s buying?
Content:
Despite having a gun in her face, Koko decides that it’s a good time to lecture Jonah on the importance of her plan. She sees a massive war coming over water in the future, and Jormungand is apparently the only way to stop it. More surprisingly, though, she spills her guts to Jonah about just how much she hates weapons and the life of an arms dealer. Despite all this, though, Jonah decides to throw down his weapon and run away, leaving Koko behind. After a long swim, he finds himself face to face with Kasper and decides to seek employment. After the rest of the group discuss Koko’s plan, she decides to set up Bookman in Africa, proving in the process that he can no longer touch her.
Two years pass, and it would seem that war is indeed heating up. Koko contacts Kasper, finally setting up a reunion between herself and Jonah in the process. With the launch of a rocket, the preparations for Jormungand’s domination over the sky are finally complete. And yet, Kasper responds with a rather convincing speech, emphasizing that even if Koko shuts down the sky, there will always be weapons. Upon leaving the meeting, Jonah finally decides to depart from Kasper and hurries back to Koko’s side. The rest of the group greets him, and they stand together as Koko finally hits the trigger on Jormungand.
In Summary:
Unfortunately, after so many bangs throughout, the series seems to end on something of a fizzle. There isn’t much of anything in the way of action here, and there isn’t even much in the way of twists or big emotional scenes. To make matters worse, this volume is really more of an extended loop that seems to head back to approximately where the last volume ended anyway. Certainly, there’s something to be said for the approach, as a big gunfight or anything of the sort would probably feel more than a little at odds with the message the book tries to convey. And yet, without such action or emotion to drive it, this volume simply feels empty. Though it’s not a complete lose, it’s still a disappointing end to what was a fantastic series.
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: A+
Package Rating: A-
Text/Translation Rating: B+
Age Rating: 17+
Released by: Viz Media
Release Date: May 14th, 2013
MSRP: $12.99
