Things finally start to pick up as both Yamato and Ultimo’s allies and enemies begin to reveal themselves.
Creative Staff
Writer/Artist: Hiroyuki Takei
Translation: John Werry
What They Say
Things just keep getting more complicated for Yamato since Ultimo showed up. Now Yamato and Ultimo must face new doji and deal with people whose intentions aren’t always clear. Can Yamato find the strength to meet these challenges and solve the mysteries of the Karakuri Doji?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
As the volume opens, we find Yamato in his apartment, being offered a large sum of money in exchange for Ultimo by the corrupt politician Iruma Tomomitsu. Though Iruma tries all kinds of tricks to tempt Yamato (none of which he intends to follow through on), Yamato holds strong and refuses to sell Ultimo. Seeing that he has failed, Iruma orders Jealousy, his doji, to kill Yamato. However, Jealousy decides to kill Iruma instead and then turns his attention to Yamato, only to be thwarted by Ultimo’s return.
Soon, another doji, a short bald headed monk Regula, as well as his master, a large sushi chef named Eco, show up and take Yamato away, promising to bring him to the club of the good doji, known as the Six Perfections. Upon arriving, Yamato begins to question what “good” is and whether he can trust his new “allies,” and ends up snapping at Eco when he explains Regula’s power is memory manipulation and implies that he might have used it on Yamato’s friends to hide the secret of the doji’s existence. Of course, this ends up being simply a “test” that Yamato passes it, and as such he is then introduced to the other members of the Six Perfections.
The next day at school, a small child and her very large evil doji known as Eater, one of the Seven Deadly Sins, show up and challenge Yamato. Upon the girl’s threats to destroy the school, Yamato enters into battle with her, and even shows off a few new tricks in the process. As the volume wraps up, we see a flashback that shows that the Six Perfections’ plan is to capture Dunstan, the revelation that Rune is now working with jealousy, and a flashback chapter in which we see Yamato as a child.
In Summary:
With this second volume, Ultimo has finally started to hit its stride. Yamato’s big enemies and allies have started to move, and Yamato and Ultimo’s pledge has resulted in an interesting growth in power for the two of them. The big fight scenes all work well here, and the plot is certainly starting to shape up, but unfortunately, most of the side characters don’t really get a chance to develop and there are a number of slow, pointless moments. Hopefully, future volumes will continue to further both the events and characters present here, as this series still has the potential to become something truly exciting.
Chris has been writing about anime, manga, movies and comics for well on twenty years now. He began AnimeOnDVD.com back in 1998 and has covered nearly every anime release that’s come out in the US ever since.
Things finally start to pick up as both Yamato and Ultimo’s allies and enemies begin to reveal themselves.
