Things take an even darker turn than usual
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Etorouji Shiono
Translation: Caleb D. Cook
What They Say
Mad with rage after the death of his son, Marquis Lebellond has turned his forces against Marquis Glenn, forcing the remaining heroes to choose their actions carefully as the terrible War of Heroes unfolds. However, even Lebellond’s allies are not safe from his wrath, as he imprisons those who would help him and commits countless atrocities, single-minded in his desire to triumph over Glenn. His blind actions may cast him not only his chance the empire, but also what lands he already rules…
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
As the volume kicks off, we rejoin Lebellond as a truly broken man. Though clearly at the end of his rope, he rants and raves about how he’ll defeat Glenn, and the great majesty of his legacy. And yet all the while, his forces are on the brink of collapse, and his allies Gullengurv and Nirgenfeled realize what a mistake they made in throwing their lot in with him. It’s then that Glenn arrives and demands their surrender, but Lebellond is obviously too far gone to realize the importance of accepting. And on top of all this, Lebellond learns that his son, Rosgner, has joined Glenn’s ranks.
It’s in the midst of all this that Koinzell arrives to silently carry out his task. And honestly, it works quite well, showing these men as broken, desperate, and truly spineless. The scene in which Koinzell emotionlessly wipes out his former friends, Gullengurv and Nirgenfeled, as they turn on each other just clicks perfectly. It’s a cold, chilling scene that works great to remind of the fact that Koinzell may be the protagonist, but at the end of the day, he’s primarily out for revenge above all else. And as he follows this up by descending upon Lebellond as an angel of death, it works wonderfully as a dark scene that truly encapsulates the themes of the work.
With that climax of a sort out of the way, the attention shifts to setting up the next set of foes. And that comes in the form of a multitude of people Glenn seems to have freely passed power to, making them into frighteningly strong fighters. And to be honest, for the moment it comes across as a bit weak. That’s because for the most part, these characters don’t really have any connection or reason behind their power. They’re just kind of amped up and set to be foes for the heroes to knock down more than anything else. But with that said, there IS potential behind this idea, as there are hint that the idea is that these are people granted unearned power and running amuck with it. So perhaps it will be used well in the future, but for here it just feels a tad half-baked, and like something used to stall for time before having to proceed towards a climax.
In Summary
Though the series has played with plenty of dark themes and idea in the past, the start of this volume feels more truly and properly grim than anything it has done before. It shows absolutely broken and desperate men, and the way that the “hero” of the story isn’t inherently out for justice, but for revenge. And for that, it’s nailed perfectly, really digging into their depravity page by page. That said, though, the rest of the book certainly doesn’t have that same spark. Rather, it feels a bit like filler, introducing villains without much behind them to make them feel interesting or worthwhile. There’s a bit of something there that could be used well in the future, but for now it feels just a tad on the dull side of things. So all in all, this is a volume with a somewhat brilliant start, followed by a rather uninspired end, balancing out to something that falls somewhere in the middle.
Content Grade: B+
Art Grade: A-
Packaging Grade: A-
Text/Translation Grade: B+
Age Rating: Mature
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: December 20th, 2016
MSRP: $19.99
