All of the players have arrived on Gestalt at last as they ready for the final confrontation.
Creative Staff
Writer/Artist: Yun Kouga
Translation: Christine Schilling
Adaptation: Christine Schilling
What They Say
After taking the long, long, long way around, Ouri and Olivier are finally ready to board ship and set sail on the way to their destiny. The rest of their journey hasn’t been easy, though, and the last leg won’t be any different. Sea dragons, deadly spectres, and another glimpse inside the secret history of G are all waiting in the penultimate volume of Gestalt.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Ouri, Olivier, Shazan and Suzu are finally at the doorstep to Gestalt. So are the ambiguous trio of Roxanne, Victor(ia), and even Sakata, who appears to have no where else to go. Four of Ouri’s siblings are returning home aboard a nice modern sailboat, while the other two have given up the game for good, having found significant others.
Either I’ve finally become used to it or the panel layout is much clearer in this volume than in the rest of the series. Even with the quick pace, there is far less confusion in the flow of the art. The progression of the artwork over the long period this series ran is most apparent here. Kouga’s male characters look far more masculine than they did in the first volumes.
As the story rushes toward its conclusion, you’d think there would be little time for fluff. For most of this second-to-last volume there isn’t – minus a battle with a siren and an outsider’s summary of the final key players in this convoluted contest and those chapters are either a waste of time or a last light-hearted adventure before the endgame. There is definitely a sprint to the finish feeling permeating the story now. Olivier is granted a vision of past events that readers have already glimpsed, and he finds his resolve to seek out the truth. Suzu takes some time to reflect and finds the courage to face a land she was taught to fear.
What a land Gestalt is – lush and tropical and full of normal people going about their lives. This comes as a big surprise for everyone except resident Ouri. While Ouri’s siblings focused on their contest for the “beast of Gestalt,” there’s been a deeper conflict brewing under it all. The group makes its way to the capital to find Ouri’s home, the palace, under siege by a familiar face. Ouri’s siblings, having arrived home earlier, find themselves at a loss to face down the foe attacking them. Ominously, even their father seems to have been powerless to stop the attack. The real contest doesn’t appear to have been about what Olivier or Ouri want, but unfinished business in an ancient war of the gods.
In Summary
Reading “Gestalt” can be a bit frustrating. As in previous volumes, it sometimes feels like a random collage of fantasy elements thrown together like words picked from a hat. Over time, however, the series has found its balance. The tone has hardened and become less of a video game inspired romp. That hasn’t stopped the weird bouts of screwball comedy that even now pop up occasionally. The art has grown leaps and bound over the course of this series, which originally ran over nine years. The seemingly random plot elements are finally being tied together, but with so many variables left, it would take Shazan’s fortune telling skills to see how all of this will resolve in the next and final volume.
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: B
Packaging Grade: B+
Text/Translation Grade: A-
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: June 15th, 2010
MSRP: $9.99
