The Jackalopes deadly northern base needs recruits and Youkou ticket gets punched; can he survive the brutal cold and daily Spider attacks?!
Creative Staff
Story: Jinsei Kataoka
Art: Kazuma Kondou
Translation: Leighann Harvey
What They Say
Amenotori has pitted friend against friend and brother against sister, and its crimes have taken a toll on the Jackalopes, both mentally and physically. But the Shikagura were just a little white lie in the vast sea of Amenotori’s sins. In the frigid north, the Jackalopes’ regional base has requested backup to help confront a new enemy-one as extreme as the landscape!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
At this point in this series, Kotoharu has become the most fascinating secondary character. He has been teamed up with Youkou repeatedly and the two play off each other, often in comical ways given their personality differences. But where Youkou is the main protagonist, Kotoharu has morphed into the character that most readers can relate to. Thus Kotoharu has almost achieved an on-site narrator type position in the story.
It is through Kotoharu’s eyes that we experience Youkou’s disturbing attempt to kill his sister-turned Spider. This situation shifts Kotoharu into the moral compass for this story. However, the story quickly shifts from “what do we do with Youkou’s sister?”, to a new story arc as Youkou and Kotoharu get shipped off to another Jackalope base.
Surprisingly, it seems the main base is a cake walk compared to the northern base, Bold Bolt. The northern base is not only on the frozen frontier, but the number of spiders roaming the wildlands is mindboggling. To make matters worse, they need more manpower because some type of super Spider had been killing Jackalopes left and right. This might be the end for Youkou and Kotoharu given the super Spider mostly makes its appearance in surprise attacks, completely overwhelming and decimating any Jackalopes it finds.
In Summary
The Amentori story arc comes to a close with a bang! I can’t decide if Youkou’s new life has caused him to sink to the twisted mentality of the Amentori or if his attempt to kill his Spider-turned sister was more of an Old Yeller moment. If he has lost his humanity then there won’t be a lot to cheer for him from here on out. If his desire to be the one to kill his Spider sister is more familial duty, then Youkou might be viewed as a man among men for some. Either way, this volume ships Youkou off to the deadly Northern frontier to fight alongside the Jackalopes of fortress Bold Bolt. Readers also get a glimpse of the deeper mystery behind the Spiders!
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: B
Packaging Grade: A
Text/Translation Grade: A-
Age Rating: Mature
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: March 19, 2019
MSRP: $13.00
