While Rikuo finishes up one fight, his grandfather gets into the middle of another.
Creative Staff:
Story/Art: Hiroshi Shiibashi
Translation: John Werry
What They Say:
As Nurarihyon is attacked by hordes of angry Kyoto yokai, Rikuo and his hundred demons arrive to attempt to take down Hagoromo-Gitsune, a yokai about to give birth to a dangerous dark-arts yokai from the past! A massive battle ensues that reveals secrets of Rikuo’s family history…and puts him in some serious risk of bodily harm!
Content:(please note that the content portion of a review may contain spoilers)
The battle against Tsuchigumo continues, as the Tono yokai come to Rikuo’s aid. Childishly jealous that Rikuo not only can equip another yokai’s power, but that he has, Yuki-Onna disappoints by running off when Rikuo actually needs her. So, Rikuo turns to Itaku of the Tono clan, morphing his fear into a massive scythe. Like in previous volumes, the panels showing the fear contain some of the best art in the book, with thick, stylistic lines, which, while a little messy, make those panels pop against the traditionally toned art a page over. Though they decimate Tsuchigumo, it’s soon clear that he’s far from dead (honestly, this guy’s getting a bit ridiculous), but he lays off the Nura group for now, choosing instead to rest up and prepare to fight Nue.
Speaking of Nue… meanwhile, Hagoromo-Gitsune prepares to give birth to her son, when who should break in but Nurarihyon, Rikuo’s grandfather. Apparently there to discover who, precisely, murdered his son, Nurarihyon pulls of some pretty excellent moves as he battles first Hagoromo, then several of her underlings as he attempts to slip back out. It all seems awkwardly timed, however, since as soon as he gets out of the castle, Rikuo and company show up to start their own fight. Yura is a deciding factor in their win, which makes up a bit for Yuki-Onna’s goofiness earlier on, but as cool as she is while fighting her dopiness after the fact sucks some of that away.
The most interesting part of the story comes at the very end, when we finally get the backstory of Hagoromo-Gitsune and her son, Nue — or, as he was known during his first life, Abe-no-Seimei, the onmyoji. His tale carries the basic elements of a good man who was turned to evil: he wanted to create a world where yokai and humans — dark and light — lived side-by-side, but when a noble kills his mother in order to achieve his own immortality, he loses control, becoming the demon Nue. How he revives his mother and begins his cycle of rebirth is not revealed now, but as it is this story adds more of a depth to this battle than simply Rikuo versus an evil demon.
In Summary
The fight with Tsuchigumo is concluded (for now), and with that done Nura does a better job of staying on task and preceding with the real plot, stopping Hagoromo-Gitsune from giving birth to Nue. The story still goes off on a couple of tangents, with Nurarihyon and a flashback to Nue’s life as Abe-no-Seimei, but those function to help reveal some of the big secrets of this story arc — where Nue came from, and what happened to the second heir, Rikuo’s father. Some of the minor characters continue to disappoint with boring, or even annoying, stereotypical reactions to things, though with so much action, and so many characters crowding out the scenes, no one person is really getting the attention he or she deserves in this story. Hopefully, as this arc progresses, the number of characters involved narrows down, and we really get a chance to see some of them shine.
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: B+
Packaging Grade: B+
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: 13+
Released by: Viz Media
Release Date: April 2nd, 2013
MSRP: $9.99
