The secret of the “white stuff” hiding within Honoka is revealed. When will he be able to return to his normal life?
Creative Staff:
Story/Art: Ryu Mizunagi
Translation: Ko Ransom
Production: Risa Cho, Melissa DeJesus
What They Say:
Before meeting Ayaka Kagari, Honoka Takamiya’s concerns were ordinary at best. Now, he is at the core of an epic battle between witches. But what may be more troubling to the young man is suddenly realizing that almost every facet of his life revolves around magic users. From school to his home-life, witches are bringing fire into his life, and those flames are only spreading.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
In the previous volume, we left off with Honoka in deep trouble as Kagari had seemingly been defeated by Medusa and Honoka appeared to be next. In desperation, he took the little poison pill (candy) that Chronoire had given him, releasing the first seal on the “white stuff” hidden within him. So, what was Honoka’s secret?
A giant(ess) was sleeping inside of him. That would be Evermillion, an unearthly witch (she’s not quite human, with claw-like hands, fangs, and elfin-like pointed ears) of unparalleled power. To give Honoka a breather from Medusa’s attack, Evermillion releases an energy blast that levels most of the Kagari mansion and also takes out part of the school (the Chairwoman, Kazane, is not exactly happy as you might expect). This just stops Medusa for a moment, but before disappearing, Evermillion lets Honoka in on the way of reviving the petrified Ayaka. All it takes is a simple kiss (though Honoka is still too much of a wuss to kiss her on the lips, instead opting for a chaste peck on the cheek). Once revived, Kagari charges in at full power as Honoka loses consciousness.
With one major mystery revealed it’s time…for exposition combined with silliness. We learn, in short order, that Honoka’s younger sister Kasumi (who is overly fond of her big brother…much too overly fond) is also a Workshop Witch. We learn that the science teacher Mr. Mikage is a mage as well…and has an interest in Honoka because of the White Princess (Evermillion). He also lets Honoka know that if Kazane found out that the seals on Evermillion had been compromised, Honoka’s peaceful life would basically be over.
The Student Council, too, has an interest in Honoka, but it’s because they want to stop such a loser as him being allowed to be near their Princess (Kagari) any longer. Kagari, however, has other plans and basically uses her superior authority (the title of Princess of the School is literal in her case, it’s an actual position she holds) to carry out a coup d’état against the Student Council President, replacing her with Honoka.
It’s not all exposition, however. We also see Kasumi Takamiya’s “zealousness” towards her brother in overdrive as she fights Kagari for possession of him. Sadly, this is one of the weak points of the work, that it has such an overused and unentertaining trope shoved prominently within it, though I can hardly blame the author as sales of manga often seem to be highly dependent on following currently popular trends (we all just have to hope the imouto nonsense falls out of favor soon). The final chapter sees the next big peak in the action, as Kazane, who had carried out an extensive witch hunt following the destruction of her home, visits the Takamiya residence and discovers that Ayaka has been hiding Medusa and her little minions (the reason for that is obvious, as Medusa and her pupils know the truth of Honoka’s current state). This forces Ayaka to take extreme measures to counter her mother.
Mizunagi has certain strengths and certain weaknesses in his storytelling ability. She definitely has down the ability to work from climax to climax as this volume starts with a bang and ends with the setup for another one. The bits in-between don’t drag or slow down the momentum too much, providing some much needed comic relief between the dramatic action set pieces. On the other hand, there is at times a bit too much genericness in content, with Kasumi’s big brother complex and the jealousy of all the other students towards Honoka because of his relationship with Ayaka invoking and deploying tropes which are now almost meaningless in their appearance, other than to signal that this is a manga written in the past five to ten years or so. Sure, it makes sense that the student body would collectively wonder “WTF?” when seeing someone as unimpressive as Honoka catching the eye of their Princess, but the extremes to which they take it are absurd without providing much entertainment. Ayaka’s coldly brushing them all aside is at least mildly amusing, as it feels contrary to how a “princess” should act.
From the physical release standpoint, Vertical’s product both impresses and leaves one wondering. The full-color covers and opening pages are very nicely done and are something increasingly rare these days when so many other manga I see have just a color front cover…and that’s about it. On the other hand, one thing that has always struck me odd about this series is that it’s being released in a smaller trim size than most manga (my ruler tells me it’s about a centimeter shorter than most other releases). This has the jarring effect of having the tops of the images appear just about flush to the page tops most of the time, also making we wonder if the tops are being cropped to the point of losing artwork.
In Summary:
Now that Honoka’s secret is out—the “white stuff” is a powerful magical being residing within him—we see some of the fallout from that revelation. It’s not all exposition, however, as there is plenty of comic relief, especially in Honoka’s school life and home life, both of which are rather absurd. The story continues to move along at a decent clip, though some of the clunkier and more generic elements employed by Ryu Mizunagi (especially the obsessed little sister trope) put a little drag on events. Not enough to ruin the forward momentum however.
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: B
Package Rating: B-
Text/Translation: B+
Age Rating: 14+
Released By:Vertical Comics
Release Date: February 17th, 2015
MSRP: $12.95
