Investing deep dark secrets and… preparing for Christmas?
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Kazue Kato
Translation: John Werry
What They Say
Mephisto Pheles has freed his brother Amaimon from imprisonment and set him loose on True Cross Academy to serve his own agenda. While the Exwires deal with Amaimon’s surprise reappearance, Lewin Light, a.k.a. “Lightning,” continues to investigate the mysterious Section 13 and its connection to the Blue Night event that seems to be the source of all the current troubles. Together they delve deep beneath True Cross Academy, shedding light on long-lost chambers shrouded in darkness and the terrible secrets buried there for a reason…
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The first proper focus of this volume is Lightning and Suguro’s investigation into the enigmatic Section 13 hitting a key point. AKA Lightning corners Mephisto in the bathtub and forces a hint out of him. In turn, this leads them to a place known as Asylum, ground zero of the Blue Night, cut off from the real world in a different dimension ever since. Rather than all this crazy setup, though, what actually hits me strongest here is something Lightning casually reveals about himself: he literally lacks empathy. It’s an interesting twist that fits really well considering what we’ve seen about the character thus far. And plus, it also adds an additional element to his relationship with Suguro, who he sort of trusts to be his “heart.”
Anyway, thanks to their investigation into the place, as well as a followup conversation with Mephisto and a few further scenes, we learn a LOT about the world. The biggest one is the whole nature of the Baal, who were originally more concepts than beings, but upon taking flesh became attached to that physical nature. And yet, at the same time, the greater their power, the quicker they burned out their vessels. Thus, a plan was formed in secret to use clones and later elixirs to try to solve this problem, resulting in the conspiracy uncovered by Lightning and Suguro. It’s an intriguing revelation that really tells us a whole lot about the driving motivations of the big players and just what they’ve been up to, which is cool.
Rather than these revelations being thrust in our heroes faces, though… we get a Christmas/birthday party! Will Suguro be able to make it through the cheerful festivities while keeping what he’s learned buried inside? And just what secret is driving Shiemi to give up on being an exorcist?
In Summary
Rather than action, it’s intrigue that drives the book this time around. And fortunately, that comes in spades, with a seriously huge plot and some massive details about the world coming to light. It’s all just really intriguing and handled well, and makes me a lot more interested in the world of the series than I had been up until now. And yet the more personal details aren’t lacking either, as we also get a pretty big revelation about Lightning that I’d say makes his whole character a lot more interesting too. Really, the only downside to the book is that I’d say the more relaxed, slice-of-life plot that pops up at the very end is kind of dull. Still, taken as a whole, this is definitely a great entry in the series overall!
Content Grade: A
Art Grade: A-
Packaging Grade: B+
Text/Translation Grade: B+
Age Rating: 16+
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: June 5th, 2018
MSRP: $9.99