Creative Staff
Story/Art: Cocoa Fujiwara
Translation: Melissa Tanaka
What They Say
Since moving to Maison de Ayakashi, Ririchiyo has resisted lowering her guard around her fellow boarders and classmates. But the feeling of being different, of being abnormal, is something all who possess demon blood share. Ririchiyo finds herself taking the first tentative steps toward friendship with Roromiya and Watanuki – hmph! But the devotion of her Secret Service agent still remains a puzzle. Ririchiyo can no better explain his attentions than she can her own growing attachment to him…
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Though the last volume was spent hanging out around the apartments, this volume just dumps the plot into a school setting, acting as though the series had been there all along. It feels awkward, like there’s a missing chapter that establishes the setting or something. Regardless, while there Ririchiyo ends up befriending Carta in spite of her strangeness, and Watanuki gets dragged in as well. It may take a monster attack to set things off, but afterwards they’re able to get along surprisingly well.
From there, Ririchiyo’s back and forth struggle to form a relationship with Soushi continues until she goes out at night to prepare for the next morning’s appointment with him. Doing so of course puts her into danger, but when Soushi comes after her they’re able to have a heart to heart conversation. Just when it looks like they’ve wrapped things up, though, they find themselves assaulted by a weirdo in a mask named Kagerou Shoukiin, Shoushi’s former master and Ririchiyo’s fiancé. Of course that was just his way of saying hello, and the S&M obsessed pervert soon settles back into life at the apartments, making things more difficult for everyone.
Once Soushi ends up in a fight with Kagerou, the rest of the volume is spent expounding upon Soushi’s past. When it comes to light that Soushi wrote heartfelt letters to Ririchiyo using Kagerou’s name, what effect will it have on their budding relationship?
In Summary
This volume is a bit of a mixed bag, with a fairly weak start and a surprisingly strong finish. The beginning is unfortunately a bit abrupt in dumping readers into the school setting, and the story doesn’t really come together too well. On the other hand, the end of the stories does wonders for Soushi’s character and makes for an extremely interesting read. The other big element here is Kagerou’s introduction. He’s actually pretty interesting here, though his more goofy tendencies seem to put him at risk of eventually devolving into a bland gag character. Though it’s a bit imbalanced, there’s enough good in this volume to make for a solid read. Hopefully the series will really be able to run with the more interesting elements presented here, as there definitely is a bit of something special mixed in with all the generic tropes and gags.
Content Grade: B+
Art Grade: A-
Packaging Grade: A-
Text/Translation Grade: A-
Age Rating: 16+
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: January 21st, 2014
MSRP: $11.99
