Goetia Attacks
Creative Staff
Story: Milan Matra
Art: Milan Matra
Translation: Christine Dashiell
What they say
Ever since his sister disappeared ten years ago, Haruomi’s held a grudge against the mysterious organization Goetia. But when the demonic “Branches” Lerage and Berith go after both Haruomi’s dad and Zilch, things get even more personal! Will Haruomi and Zilch be able to fend off the encroaching devils… and get into some sinful situations while they’re at it?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The last volume of Demonizer Zilch ended on a cliffhanger. This volume picks up where it left off.
Goetia has sent three Branches to attack Haruomi and Zilch: Leraje, Berith, and Decerabia. The manga never explains how their Branch powers work, but it seems like Leraje uses a bow that only requires her to scratch someone with an arrow in order to win. Supposedly even minor wounds become major when scratched with her arrow, and the one knicked will eventually bleed to death. Meanwhile, Berith creates some kind of territory that supposedly makes her all but invisible. The last one, Decerabia, creates magic circles to teleport, or something. I’m not sure.
That’s one of the problems with this series, actually. None of the powers are really explained, so I’m not sure how they work, what their weaknesses are, or anything. This isn’t always a problem. Magic doesn’t always need an explanation, and most fantasy novels don’t bother. What makes it a problem this time is that the magic utilized by the Branches has this poor tendency to fluctuate in terms of power and usability. Sometimes it seems to be abnormally strong, and other times the magic is defeated easily by the same person it had been used to such great effect against before.
While Zilch and Haruomi are attacked by Leraje and Decerabia, Haruomi’s father is kidnapped by Berith and brought to Goetia. Fortunately, they don’t want him dead. They want to use Haruomi’s father for some kind of project that’s being conducted. Of course, Haruomi isn’t going to let that stand and decides to rescue his father. Zilch isn’t far behind. They’ve also acquired the aid of Tounogi and his Demon, and even Murohime has decided to help.
I’ve mentioned it before, but it bears repeating: This series is a harem manga. This is important to understand because it does have a lot of fanservice. While this volume doesn’t have as much fanservice as the first two volumes, there are a number of places where one of the female characters will undress, or be in a state of undress. A lot of people get put off by this, so it’s something to keep in mind while reading.
After Haruomi decides to go after his father, Zilch has a dream. In it, she is confronted by who I can only guess is Haruomi’s sister. It seems she does not approve of Zilch stabbing her brother with a Thorn. I find dream sequences to be somewhat cliched. However, I do understand what Milan-sensei was trying to accomplish. I’m still not sure if this dream is an actual dream that merely represents Zilch’s own insecurities, or if perhaps the dream was Haruomi’s sister reaching out to Zilch, but either way, Zilch wakes up in a cold sweat and has a heartfelt conversation with Haruomi, which ends in a kiss.
Zilch is not the only one who gets some one-on-one time with Haruomi. Murohime does as well. Not only is this scene a lot more fanservice-y, but we also learn that Murohime, like Haruomi and Zilch, was an experiment of Goetia who had managed to escape. She apparently caused the destruction of the research facility she was at, got found by the Church, and was taken in and trained to fight for them. This also explains why she has a weird power that no human could have without being a demonizer. She caused the explosion about three years ago, and the one Haruomi caused was ten years ago. I’m actually starting to believe that Murohime might even be Haruomi’s long-lost sister.
In Summary
Like the previous volume, this one ends on a cliffhanger, which kind of makes it less fun for me because now I have to wait for volume 4. That said, this volume features a lot of interesting developments. I do feel like the pacing has picks up a lot, but whether that’s a good or bad thing will largely depend on the mangaka’s ability to make use of this faster pace.
Content Grade: B+
Art Grade: B
Packaging Grade: A
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: M
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: August 22, 2017
MSRP: $12.99
