March towards the finale!
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Yuki Amemiya and Yukino Ichihara
Translation: Satsuki Yamashita
What They Say
Years ago, the Seven Ghost Landkarte succumbed to a dark desire to eradicate all sin by erasing humanity. His plan has run unchecked for years, and now Frau, Teito, and fellow Seven Ghost Ea are the only ones left standing in his way. If Teito hopes to continue on his journey to seal the evil god Verloren, then he’ll have to find a way to forgive even this most irredeemable of souls.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Thanks to some careful maneuvering, it seems that Ea has finally trapped Landkarte, and is prepared to stay with him and cleanse his darkness. Rather than getting through to his old friend, though, this just gets the Ghost backstabbed and murdered. It’s with this that we get a look at how Landkarte died, in addition to exactly how he has twisted. Next up comes a bit more of the past, this time between Landkarte, Teito, and Frau. Even so, Teito is able to reach into Landkarte and find the goodness left in him, buried deep underneath the darkness and sin.
Teito then finally starts to break down, and Verloren begins to break loose. Our hero asks Frau to kill him, but of course he refuses, and a headless Verloren erupts into the world. Next, Teito, in the world of his soul, brings Landkarte to the afterlife, reuniting him with Ea and finally saving him.
Though that’s out of the way, there’s still the issue of Verloren. In order to stop him, Frau placed himself and the scythe into the evil god’s throne. However, this will only save Teito at best, and as a result Frau’s soul will be devoured. With no other option left, Teito tries to connect directly with Frau’s soul, but will he be able to save his friend in time? And even if he can, how will they be able to handle Verloren?
In Summary
Fortunately, this volume has a key focus in the form of Landkarte. His character is handled quite well, and it’s interesting and touching to watch his journey from the start of the book till the end. There are also some rather nice moments for Frau, and it really does feel like we’re approaching the end of the series. On the other hand, the volume is also a bit of a mess, as a huge chunk of it is spent in various layers of flashbacks and inside characters’ souls. This isn’t to say that it’s impossible to follow, but it feels a little rough and perhaps unnecessarily tricky. In the end, it’s a solid volume that’s sure to keep fans interested, though they may need to put in a little extra effort to keep up.
Content Grade: B+
Art Grade: B+
Packaging Grade: B+
Text/Translation Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: May 12th, 2015
MSRP: $9.99
