A rather drastic change of scenery
Creative Staff
Story: Kazuma Kamachi
Art: Kiyotaka Haimura
Translation: Andrew Prowse
What They Say
Now that the Daihasei Festival has ended, life returns to normal for the boy who knows nothing but misfortune, Touma Kamjiou. But in a stroke of unbelievably good luck, Kamijou manages to snag two tickets for a getaway overseas trip!
He and the sister, Index, make their way to pearl of the Adriatic, Venezia, where maybe the two will even have romantic rendezvous and many heart throbbing events. But is everything really going Kamijou’s way, or is there something more to this too-good-to-be-true adventure?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
After a big double sized arc, it seems to be time for a big change of pace. And that certainly comes to pass here, as Touma actually bafflingly manages to win a trip for two to Italy! Unsurprisingly, though, things almost immediately go off the rails, as Touma’s tour group and guide are nowhere to be found when he and Index get there. Also, funny enough, the actual look at Italy in this book is limited to the smaller island town of Chioggia, rather than Venice proper. It feels like a really odd choice, but I actually do commend the book for reaching a little deeper rather than going for the surface level touristy stuff that’s easiest pickings. Anyway, after some basic gags about Touma being a fish out of water in this foreign country, he and Index end up meeting up with Orsola. Before things truly heat up, they have a little bit of slow paced catching up, which naturally leads to the big fanservice scene for this volume, of Touma walking in on the girls in the shower. Honestly, it’s extra dumb because he realizes that he’s heading into this sort of situation, and it comes down to him “having” to pick between two doors… and he doesn’t think of just going “hey, is anybody in there?” like a normal person. So that’s a level of dumb that exceeds the usual clumsy/unlucky bits that generally trigger these sorts of scenes.
The action does naturally kick off before terribly long, though, and it comes with a quick failed assassination attempt on Orsola out of nowhere. This itself is a pretty so-so fight, but when the would-be assassins go to escape, they do it in a massive ship made of ice rising up out of the canal and causing chaos. Needless to say, it’s a pretty cool set piece and certainly makes for a memorable scene. Oh, and Orsola and Touma accidentally end up stowing away on the ship, which takes them to the massive Queen’s Fleet, made up of similar vessels. And as it turns out, the fleet is acting as something of a prison/labor camp for Agnes and her unit. This in turn leads to Agnes getting them to rescue her underlings, Angeline and Lucia, who had previously managed to escape, and were now at risk of having their minds destroyed as punishment after being recaptured. Of course they rescue them, and then with the additional aid of Amakusa and their fleet of little wooden boats spawned from talismans, get away. Anyway, in a way Angeline and Lucia are the big “new additions” to the cast this time, as they were bit roles before, now expanded into proper characters. But honestly… they still feel largely like bit players, and don’t really ever do much anyway, so the focus on them isn’t all that exciting. Oh, and it turns out that Agnes herself is in more danger, as she’s set to be broken completely in order to pull off a big, dangerous spell. So of course, everyone has to turn back around to charge the fleet and bring things to a happy close.
The actual big action scene here is a sort of naval battle, and that makes for a real nice change of pace and is quite well handled. And from there, the action keeps on all the way through to the end. We even get a rather nice moment shared between Orsola and Agnes, which is probably the most interesting thing that could be done in bringing back these characters, and I’d say it’s done nicely… at least until Touma obviously steps in to save both of them rather than letting either have a true big scene to themselves. Heck, even the villain does a good job of being a nice preachy, hateable jerk whose gimmick is exploited just long enough that it doesn’t get old, which is a big step up from the halfhearted, underdone “depth” we got last time. It’s nothing too special, but it certainly does work.
Anyway, when the situation reaches its critical point and things look hopeless, will Touma manage to pull out yet another win? Or is the problem just too big this time around?
In Summary
Outside of the neat little vacation theme, which honestly doesn’t get too huge of a focus, this volume aims to keep things simple. There’s a fairly straightforward problem to be dealt with, helmed by a straightforward villain, and that’s your lot this time around for the most part. Fortunately, though, the execution is on point to make that work. The main set piece is pretty damn great and makes for some splendid imagery, and the action is kept up throughout, even mixing some neat little tricks in as far as the types of battles on display. And there’s even some fairly nice use of bringing back old characters, even if it’s not all done perfectly. It’s still a far step from the best the series has offered, but it’s also insanely better than what the last two volumes gave us, making this quite a welcome breath of fresh air. Just sit back and enjoy the ride, and you’ll get a satisfying if none too deep little adventure that should satisfy well enough.
Content Grade: B+
Art Grade: N/A
Packaging Grade: B+
Text/Translation Grade: B-
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: May 23rd, 2017
MSRP: $14.00
