Never follow a strange man into the woods.
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Aya Shouoto
Translation/Adaptation: JN Productions
What They Say
Himari Momochi inherits Momochi House, an estate which exists on the barrier between the human and spiritual realms. Aoi has been in a slump, and his banishing spells are no longer working. As Himari looks for the cause, she discovers that Aoi’s and Nachi’s pasts are intertwined…
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
After volumes of Himari not making any headway in finding a way to free Aoi from his imprisonment in Momochi house, it looks like she’s on the right track. An old map of the area notes a plot of land sharing his family name, although it happens to lie next to an abandoned park. From there the school ghost squad gets involved once again, but this time the supernatural events end up being mostly a ruse. It leaves Himari no closer to getting answers about Aoi, but it draws the attention of the one person who can explain everything.
The previous volume of Momochi House set up a mystery in the teacher Mr. Nachi. He was way too sketchy to just be another random encounter. It’s not surprising when he shows back up in a big way in this volume. What is surprising his the role he plays in Aoi’s life.
Nachi is not only the key to explaining how Aoi ended up at Momochi house, he’s the culprit who lured him there as a little boy. Nothing is sketchier than a man luring kids into the woods. Sadly, he found a willing victim in poor, neglected and abused Aoi. It wasn’t the process of turning into an ayakashi that robbed Aoi of his memories, they were partially locked away be Nachi and partially by Aoi’s own desires. Nachi’s motives for all of this are simple to understand, but the reveal blindsided me.
It all feels a little too…. convenient? Himari is once again turned into a powerless pawn against Nachi’s desire to make the Nue is own shikigami. Nachi is confronted, kicked out, but not defeated by the residents of the house. He’s defeated by his own hubris. Nachi feels far too powerful to be so summarily swept away. Not only that, the sudden love confession from Aoi to Himari comes out of nowhere. It’s inconsistent with his actions in the previous volumes. I’m happy he suddenly realizes he doesn’t want to give up what makes him human, but the sudden change of heart is odd. All of these events just feel… rushed.
This series has always felt uneven in pacing, perhaps because the author doesn’t quite know how long it would run. After this volume concludes it feels there are only a couple of places left for the story to go. I’m curious to see how it moves forward considering a major antagonist has been confronted and a huge truth revealed.
The artwork remains as beautiful as ever in this series. The opening page is in color, but the extra art gallery at the end of the book is sadly reproduced in grayscale. I bet an artbook for this series would be a real looker.
In Summary
We now know how Aoi came to Momochi house and why, and also the reason why it may have been easy for his family to forget him. For as powerful as Nachi is, his failure and downfall feel anticlimactic, especially for his role in all of this. Once again Himari’s role is mostly that of a damsel in distress, which is unfortunate even if luck continues to be on her side. She’s the master of the house, she needs to start acting like it! With some long awaited answers finally revealed the story has to move forward with a new problem to solve, or should I say Nue problem?
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: B +
Packaging Grade: B +
Text/Translation Grade: B +
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: January 3rd, 2017
MSRP: $9.99
