Creative Staff
Story & Art: Shirow Miwa
Translation/Adaptation: Katherine Schilling
What They Say
The devastating assault launched from the Below creates unrest among the residents of the Underground. When Miss Liza learns the truth behind the kidnapping of the Lost Children, the mutual distrust and anger only grow, with potentially fatal results. Heine’s partnership with Badou is also badly strained, but his biggest problem by far lies in Naoto’s hands: the black sword made to fight against his kind, the one weapon that can kill him. When figures from Heine’s past return to confront him, will Naoto act as his ally…or his enemy?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
I freaking love this cover art! It sticks to the three-tone style this series has been known for, but the image of Naoto and Nil on the front and the blue and black coloring is just beautiful. I love this mangaka’s style of drawing lithe women and rough action scenes. This volume also has a color page depicting Heine and Badou.
While Heine and Magato are still fighting through the streets, Mother is visiting Granny for the first time. Granny is the leader of the Mutants, both watching out for her faction and keeping them in line. It seems Mother is a sick perverted woman (mad scientist) that has been able to defy death for years. All the while creating mutants, Dog Soldiers, and the super-humans like Heine. Now that Mother has made an appearance, she wastes no time insulting Granny and all her kind. Apparently, Mother has a real death wish because she goes so far as to explain that she created her Dog Soldiers from the Lost Children she kidnapped from the Mutants. This is seriously messed up considering the Mutants fought off and killed a lot of the Dog Soldiers, all the while not realizing they were killing their children and siblings that had been kidnapped and experimented on by Mother.
This turns the entire volume into a rollercoaster of revelations, death threats, and full blown rage. Even the Bishop shows up and manages to get himself shot. Pretty much just a blood bath all around. In other words, good stuff!
But as much as we learn about Mother and how Heine escaped from his prison, we are also introduced to new mysteries; mainly Naoto. It seems her memories might be false, just as Magato claimed in the previous book. Is Naoto a human, mutant, or some kind of different experiment? Now that we know who, or mainly what, Mother is, can she even be killed or is Heine spinning his wheels. And how does the Mayor fit into all this? Does the Mayor want to defeat Mother or just take her place as a master puppeteer of lives?
In Summary
This volume really busts out all kinds of information for the reader. Everything from the appearance of Mother in the flesh, to the truth behind the kidnapping of the Lost Children. All of which just gives more characters reason to seethe with anger in the way Heine does on a regular basis. This volume also seems to be a turning point in this series as nearly every faction is out in the open and their motives have mostly been revealed. However, there is still a lot of questions behind Naoto and how Mother knows her. Not to mention, how the different factions are going to line up and who will join forces or break off previous alliances.
Guns, swords, death-defying battles, and enough mystery to keep things interesting pretty much sums up Dogs: Bullets & Carnage. Sign me up for more!
Content Grade: A-
Art Grade: A-
Packaging Grade: A
Text/Translation Grade: B+
Age Rating: 17+
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: November 19th, 2013
MSRP: $12.99
