To live forever and alone or for the present and be happy.
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Julietta Suzuki
Translation/Adaptation: Tomo Kimura
What They Say
Tomoe has made up his mind—he can’t have a happily ever after with Nanami as a yokai, so he’s going to become a human! But things don’t go as planned when he drinks the water of evolution, and now he’s stuck in fox form! The only way he can turn back is with the help of the kami Ôkuninushi in Izumo, so he and Mikage set off on a road trip. Nanami is supposed to stay behind at the shrine, but she wants to be with Tomoe to give him support. But what should have been a simple shortcut to Izumo turns into a frightening ordeal when Nanami runs into one of Akura-oh’s henchmen!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Akura-oh is ready to reclaim his body in the land of the dead and the preparations are being made. Meanwhile, Mizuki encourages Nanami to find Tomoe and Mikage as she is constantly worried about them. Even though she’s told to the stay at the shrine, Nanami takes off to Izumo through the Kamisama paths.
She runs into Akura-oh’s faithful henchman, Yatori. He attacks her and tells her that she will not live very long as she gave most of her soul to aid Akura-oh when she saw him at Okinawa. She tries to fight back, but doesn’t have a chance against Yatori. Jiro, the tengu, shows up and saves her and forces Yatori to retreat.
The tengu confirm what Yatori informed Nanami about her lifespan. Her prognosis is six months. She is given the option to stay with them and remain alive or leave and face a short future, but stay with Tomoe. She decides that a life with Tomoe is more important and leaves for Izumo. It’s there she finally is reunited with Tomoe, still in his fox form, and Mikage. With all the key players assembled, they need to figure out what to do with Akura-oh.
In Summary
The story hitched up a notch in this volume and was a welcomed change from the last volume. Many previous characters make an appearance and it gives fullness to the volume and the story. As I have a tendency to like the bad guys, I was happy to see a lot of Akura-oh. However, my one and consistent complaint continues regarding the weakness of Nanami’s character. She again required to be rescued and remains weak. With Nanami’s lifespan now shortened, I really hope for an ending where something happens to Nanami to give her more power to save those important to her.
Content Grade: B+
Art Grade: A
Packaging Grade: B
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: Teen
Released By: Shojo Beat (Viz)
Release Date: June 7, 2016
MSRP: $9.99
