Creative Staff
Art: Mizuki Sakakibara
Story: Sunrise
Translation and English Adaptation: Labaamen and John Werry, HC Language Solutions
What They Say
The heroes face down the deranged NEXT killer, Lunatic. Lunatic’s vigilantism has the city on edge, and the heroes find themselves having to convince everyone that NEXT are working for the good of Stern Bild City. Lunatic is in the wrong, but there is much more to the madman than anyone knows…
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
While attacking the heroes and attempting to kill the captured criminals, the self-identified Lunatic calls their very concept of justice into question. Even so Tiger holds strong and leaves an impression on the madman, who flees the scene before he can be apprehended. Unfortunately for Barnaby none of the captured men seem to have a link to Ouroboros, but at the very least tragedy was averted and our heroes made it out unscathed.
After a quick meeting with the mysterious Judge Petrov, we rejoin our heroes attempting to capture Lunatic. Though he only seems to be killing murderers, he’s obviously a dangerous criminal, and his actions start to turn the city against the NEXT. In order to combat this opinion, the heroes are enlisted in a new initiative to turn the public opinion around. This leads to Origami Cyclone getting sent to the hero school alongside Tiger and Barnaby. While there he confronts his past, as well as his status as a hero and the true meaning of justice. When the murderer Marlon Knight escapes, will Origami Cyclone be able to step up to the plate and make his first capture?
The rest of the volume is spent on our heroes being tasked to babysit the mayor’s son, a baby NEXT with shocking powers. Blue Rose and Dragon Kid take control of the situation, which ends up tying in nicely with their struggles with their respective parents. Will the girls be able to keep things together under these strange and intense circumstances?
In Summary
With a decent mix of action and more laid-back plots, this volume makes for a pretty decent read. At the start we get the wrap up for the previous story, which includes a rather cool moment for Tiger. The bulk of the volume, though, surprisingly ends up going to Origami Cyclone. It’s rather nice to see him step out of his role as a background gag character, and hopefully he can stay in the action from now on. Add on the start of the new story focused around Dragon Kid and Blue Rose at the end, and you get a solid book that should keep fans happy. At the very least, it’s nice to see some attention getting directed towards some of the side characters, as the titular duo has certainly stolen the show more often than not in previous volumes.
Content Grade: B+
Art Grade: B+
Package Rating: B+
Text/Translation Rating: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released by: Viz Media
Release Date: February 11th, 2014
MSRP: $9.99
