Plenty of action!
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Atsushi Suzumi
What They Say
As Venus Vangard squares off against Sonoka’s evil minions, Sumire’s berserker powers spiral out of control… and it’s Lucia who’s caught in the middle!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The Venus Vanguard isn’t fairing to well against Sonoka’s minions. Nahashi pretty much had his butt handed to him, Sumire is on the verge of overdosing on the vaccine, and Lucia is having a difficult time protecting a small boy and fighting her opponent. Sumire does finally overdose and go berserk, but when she tracks down Sumire, they somehow cancel out each other’s powers. This also nearly kills Sumire’s opponent, sending him off to lick his wounds. This event marks the place where Sumire and Lucia’s relationship takes a more strained path.
Lucia is so worried that Sumire thinks she’s a monster that she pulls in on herself. Lucia uses her injuries as an excuse to stay in bed and even move out of the room she shares with Sumire. Matters only become worse when Sumire decides Lucia is scared of her berserker reactions to the vaccine. It’s not surprising to see this understanding foster a growing rift between the girls. At this time, Nahashi decides to return to Lucia’s homeland and track down his former master for guidance. Leaving the girls alone together could make matters worse or better, it all depends on whether they start talking. Rather reminds me of living with roommates.
This volume does a good job reinforcing the girl’s differences by openly switching them. In the beginning, Lucia seemed to be the strong girl while Sumire appeared to be emotionally weak. With the Virus battles bringing the girls to a breaking point, it is apparent that Sumire is stronger than she projects while Lucia is emotionally weak. After a horrible childhood in which people treated her like a demon because of her magical eye, Lucia is too afraid to get close to anyone for fear of the pain of losing them. This will probably take a major bitchfest between the girls to iron out their problems.
In Summary
Four volumes into this series and so far I am quite satisfied with the way the story is shaking out. Every volume has plenty of action with just enough character development or question answering. It is still unclear who Sonoka who is working for, but my suspicions about Sumire’s boyfriend Yoshiki seem to be right on. Up until now I have been unable to figure him out, but his ‘too good to be true’ personality has finally revealed that he isn’t a normal school kid. Who he is and what he wants is still a mystery, but one I’m more than willing to follow.
Content Grade: B+
Art Grade: B+
Packaging Grade: A-
Text/Translation Grade: A-
Age Rating: 16+
Released By: Seven Seas Entertainment
Release Date: June 30th, 2008
MSRP: $10.99
