A bone-chilling turn of events
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Cocoa Fujiwara
Translation: Melissa Tanaka
What They Say
When Ririchiyo returns home for the New Year’s festivities, she is hesitant to admit to her family that her bodyguard is also her boyfriend. Over the past several months, the other supernatural boarders at Ayakashi Hall have become more like a real family to her than any she has ever known. Never have these bonds been more evident than when danger threatens one of her new friends…
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The volume starts out this time with a chapter focused on Nobara. It seems that in addition to her normal work, she also has a side job as a “medium” that investigates strange occurrences. Renshou joins her on her latest job, where she is to investigate the disappearance of a girl at a school in the country. After some “investigating” in which Nobara’s usual habits pop up, the culprit, a sleeve-catching badger, shows itself. With that our heroes discover the girl, who doesn’t want to leave her illusionary world, but even so Nobara defeats her captor and drags her back to reality. When she turns out to be an old woman in the real world, Nobara still finds her “smexy” and the job comes to a happy end.
Thanks to events revealed to us in a flashback, we then join Ririchiyo as she takes Soushi home with her for New Year’s. Just when things look to be heating up, though, they find themselves called to meet with Shimon Satorigahara, a throwback who is always reading minds and also founded Ayakashi Hall. Thankfully the old woman gives them her blessing, though Ririchiyo does hear something that disturbs her in the process. Even so, the pair remain as close to one another as ever.
We hit the true heart of the volume, though, when we find Carta under attack by a strange wolf. This puts her in the hospital, and also leaves an unusual mark on her body. Time passes and the curse mark activates, forcing the girl into her skeletal form and trapping her. With no recourse the gang wardens off the park she was in and stays by her side. Will our heroine be able to pull herself together when the attacker reappears, bringing tragedy in her wake?
In Summary
Thanks to a surprisingly strong ending, this volume makes for a powerful turning point in the series. The way the book closes is an absolute shocker, and it will definitely be interesting to see where it leads. And though the cliffhanger finale may overshadow the rest of the book’s contents, that isn’t to say that the whole is in any way lacking. The opening story with Nobara is especially charming, and pretty much everyone gets great moment before the volume comes to a close. All in all, this book is an absolutely stunning read that does a lot to elevate the series as a whole, so be sure to give it a look!
Content Grade: A
Art Grade: A-
Packaging Grade: A-
Text/Translation Grade: A-
Age Rating: 16+
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: July 22, 2014
MSRP: $11.99
