Creative Staff
Story/Art: Yuki Amemiya and Yukino Ichihara
Translation: Satsuki Yamashita
What They Say
Bishop by day and something sinister by night, Frau has managed to hide his “real job” from Teito… until now. On the Hawkzile race that will take them to Hoburg Fortress, Frau loses control and pulls Teito into darkness. Meanwhile, at Hoburg itself, an insurrection fueled by greed draws an older, more terrifying turncoat to reveal himself.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
As the volume starts, a terrified Teito finds himself face to face with an out of control Frau. Teito is pulled into Frau’s twisted inner world, but he remains strong and is able to pull his friend back from the brink. Later on they’re able to make up with one another, each balancing their self sacrificing natures. After a little background on Verloren and the Seven Ghosts, we cut to some corrupt officials eyeing up the Eye. They’re all wiped out by their own greed, and we learn that Katsuragi is actually someone else in disguise as the dead military man, someone completely loyal to Ayanami.
After a quick look at the princess and Hakuren, we return to our heroes before jumping back to the past. As Teito tried to flee, his defenders nobly sacrificed themselves one by one, leaving the prince more and more alone. As the volume ends we see the cruel lengths to which the princess was exploited, leaving her a broken shell. Just how will this tragedy in the past end, and what more might we learn before returning to the future?
In Summary
This volume feels once more like a bit of a bridge between the major story beats. Though there are certainly a few reveals, it’s hard to say that much really happens here. The bonding moments between Frau and Teito are certainly nice, and help to flesh out their relationship. The look back to Teito’s past isn’t terrible either, though at least for now it doesn’t seem to really be adding too much outside of a few small emotional moments. If anything, the best chapter in the book is oddly the one that focuses on the corrupt officials, if only because it offers something a little different. This certainly isn’t a bad book, but it’s definitely not one of the better entries into the series. For now it does a decent enough job of bridging the gap, but hopefully the next volume will really manage to be something special once again.
Content Grade: B+
Art Grade: B+
Packaging Grade: B+
Text/Translation Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: July 8th, 2014
MSRP: $9.99
