The machinations of one man bring district 23 to its knees.
Creative Staff
Story: Ryukishi07
Art: You Omura
Translation/Adaptation: Caleb. D. Cook
What They Say
When they lose their reason to fight, what is left?
Relations between Primavera and the Chinese are quickly crumbling as Richard struggles with grief and guilt over the loss of precious Primavera members.
Emotions run hot, especially with the US garrison major Gabriel stoking the fire. What will become of the American garrison, the Golden Dragons, and Primavera when the time for real change rushes in with the flames…?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
After the previous volume and the bloody massacre within, I was prepared for a violent end to this arc. I just wasn’t prepared for how violent and ruthless it would get.
Gabriel makes his move to lead Primavera on, setting up a grand story of betrayal and laying a strong foundation for distrust within the organization of the Golden Dragons. Appealing to Richard’s anger and goading the group on, it almost appears that the situation was about to defuse… and that’s when Gabriel takes his plot a step further and commits the unthinkable. There are rules in warfare, and he breaks every single one. Phil is helpless to get the word out about the truth, as his own sister is in danger if he goes against Gabriel. The hard-won peace crumbles and is about to erupt in a total gang war.
Alan wakes up too late to get the word out to his people about what he saw and what he learned from the first attack. A trap is set for the Golden Dragons, and Alan realizes it too late. Others are caught in the trap as well as Richard loses his mind with grief and thoughts of revenge and remaking Primavera into a harder-edged organization. Keith flies off the deep end with his last hopes for the future dashed away. While Wayne is away in hiding with Rose, whose status we have no idea about, others in Primavera make unsettling moves. The most unsettling to me is dragging Oliver from the second arc back into the picture as a sacrifice. Those kids didn’t deserve to take the fall for this. Nobody deserved the fate placed on them in this volume.
The clash is a disaster which we readers watch play out in gruesome detail. Coming out the other side no organization is the same. Alan loses his love and his best friend, although he remains perhaps my favorite character in the series thus far. He’s certainly a man who should get closer to Rose’s side, but he is now a traitor and wanted by his former organization.
The ending of this arc is unsatisfying and unsettling, setting up a villain for the final arc. I sincerely doubt the rift between the three parties will be healed. I expect that when the dust clears the only group still standing will be the garrison, and likely without Phil in the picture.
In the author commentary Ryukishi points out that he intentionally went for the hard shift in tone for this arc, mentioning parts one and two were “comic-y” in their violence. Yet he doesn’t mention if the final season will continue the dark mob overtones or pull back into the more lighthearted, low death count of the previous story arcs. If he really wanted to write a mob story it’s only going to end in tragedy, and the narrative flashback portrayed in part one seems to allude to a future where Primavera crumbles.
In Summary
After two story arcs where the consequences were deceptively low, the hard work Primavera has done to foster peace in their district have been undone. Tragedy has finally struck and driven a wedge into an organization which has always been fragile and in danger of breaking at any moment. Alan and Keith were destined to fall into the blood and chaos of their lives, denied the peace that they had fought for. I was not expecting the tragic collateral damage surrounding those events. This is perhaps the closest that this series has felt to a true mob story. Those harsh consequences and the way these characters were given depth made this the strongest arc of Rose Guns Days so far. All that remains to be seen is if final arc pulls back into the mold part 1 or it continues to take a tragic trajectory.
Content Grade: B +
Art Grade: B
Packaging Grade: B +
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: Older Teen
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: February 27, 2018
MSRP: $14.00 US / $18.50 CAN
