Rikuo rushes to find Encho before dawn, but a problem close to home may distract him.
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Hiroshi Shiibashi
Translation: John Werry
What They Say:
Rikuo and the Nura clan fight off the devious body parts of a dissected Sanmoto Gorozaemon, while Rikuo’s allies fight back against his reputation as the harbinger of the apocalypse. But battle still looms against the members members of the Hundred Stories clan… And it’s possible that Sanmoto himself could be reborn in the form of yet another ghost story!
Content: (please note that the content portion of a review may contain spoilers)
Rikuo and the rest of the Nura clan continue their fight across Tokyo as they struggle to protect the humans from the Hundred Stories Clan while also trying to restore Rikuo’s now tarnished reputation. As Rikuo finally nears Encho, the clan leader, another distraction is thrown his way when he discovers that a Hundred Stories yokai has singled out his human mother for attack, and he has to decide if he’s going to turn back, or trust his allies to take care of things for him.
Shiibashi has had problems in the past of seeming to make things up as the story tumbles on. This time, it’s mainly Rikuo’s mother, Wakana (though the appearance of Seimei’s descendant towards the end came out of the ether). It took so many volumes for her to show up for the first time it was easy to assume that she didn’t even exist. Other than that she’s made an appearance a handful of times, and I cannot recall any moment in which Rikuo mentioned her or interacted with her, so it feels sudden and strange that she’s deemed special enough for an assassination.
Still, despite the suddenness, and the distraction from the main story as Kubinashi fights and flashes back to Rikuo’s father, there are some good moments for Wakana as we see her aggressively happy nature brought the second heir back from a depression, and there’s a moment of non-weakness as she whips out a gun to fend off her attacker. Other characters have their moments as well: Kyotsugu battles online to show Rikuo haters the truth and take away the power of Encho’s story; Kubinashi again shows his love for Rikuo and his father; and Tsurara takes part in the final blow against Sanmoto. Now everyone is at their shining best (Kana mainly hangs around) and most of these moments are quick and shallow, but they help to thin out and change up what would have been a fight-heavy book.
In Summary
With this volume being so battle-heavy, it was sometimes hard to follow exactly what was going on. Plus some of the side stories, particularly the one with Rikuo’s mother, distract from the goal and don’t add much to the plot itself. While occasionally making the story a little more complex has worked in his favor in the past, it feels like Shiibashi tries to make the story too complicated for it’s own good, when a straightforward plot and un-rushed battles would serve the manga better. Still, the manga remains fun despite it’s flaws. Many issues, like Rikuo hiding his demon nature from his human friends, have been addressed and tied up in this story arc, leaving Shiibashi plenty of room to wrap up the remaining plot threads — namely Nue — in the final few volumes.
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: B+
Packaging Grade: B+
Text/Translation Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released by: Viz Media
Release Date: June 3rd, 2014
MSRP: $9.99
