Innocence lost!
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Cocoa Fujiwara
Translation: Melissa Tanaka
What They Say
To get better acquainted – and, in some cases, reacquainted – with each other, the residents of Ayakashi Hall spend the last weeks of summer break at a seaside vacation spot. Between beach basking and tests of courage, Ririchiyo slowly warms to her new cohorts, but the one resident who never seems to betray his emotions is Miketsukami – and the group is determined to fix that! Will her efforts to unmask Soushi expose the truth of who he is – or rather, who he is not?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
With the start of this volume we’re finally introduced to the reborn Watanuki! This time around he’s a rather girlish young lad, making his assumed tough guy act fit more poorly than ever. As Carta is now a grown up, this makes things even worse for him, and he eventually snaps at her. Eventually he realizes the problem he has and faces it though, and when he thinks she’s in trouble he goes running. Of course it turns out to be something of a set-up, but even so it allows the two to truly reconcile.
Next up, we get a fairly goofy chapter in which the gang tries to get Soushi to show a different expression on his face. However, at the tail end, Kagerou confronts Ririchiyo and lays everything out, including telling her that the Soushi from before is dead. In the aftermath things seem to go back to normal, and it actually seems that the world has reverted back to that of before. However, this turns out to of course be an illusion, brought on by Ririchiyo’s grief and the sleeve-catching badger.
Will Ririchiyo be strong enough to cast aside this illusionary world and return to her new life? And will our heroes be able to deal with the dangers awaiting them there?
In Summary
With this volume, things finally start to move again, and it works out well in the book’s favor. The chapter for Watanuki is a nice way to ease into the volume, and actually has a nice bit of heart to it. There’s also some serious pay-off in the way that things are finally confronted here, which is definitely good to see. Even the goofiness seems especially on point here, and there’s even a twist or two thrown in for good measure. This may not be an especially exceptional volume in and of itself, but it definitely goes a good way towards getting the series back on track.
Content Grade: B+
Art Grade: A-
Packaging Grade: A-
Text/Translation Grade: A-
Age Rating: Older Teen
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: January 20th, 2015
MSRP: $11.99
