Midori and Haruki take center stage!
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Naoe
Translation: Leighann Harvey
What They Say
Toy Gun*Gun claims victory in their second match at the TGC! But not without casualties – after being forced to withdraw from the fight against 11 DOGs, Matsuoka’s headed to the hospital to get his injuries checked. And the usually invincible Midori gets the wind knocked out of him during Star White’s second match…by who? With both team’s leaders worse for wear, will Toy*Gun Gun and Star White even be able to advance to the next round?!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
With this volume, two characters in particular get the majority of the focus: Midori and Haruki. Touching on the latter first, he gets a chance to step up as soon as he makes it back, as Matsuoka needs to head to the hospital to get his injuries checked. Of course, as always, the opponents get a good bit of focus in the ensuing match too, which is fine but unexceptional. Regardless, Haruki is definitely the star of the match, and it’s cool to see him get a chance to really shine… much as I don’t know how I feel about his plot involving reaching his dad considering what we had previously been shown about the man.
The real focus this book is definitely on Midori, though, and it’s kind of interesting how it plays out. Ultimately, the core of all this is a good chunk of flashbacks showing his past with Matsuoka, only from his point of view this time around. It’s got some rough edges where his logic feels a touch extreme… but in the end, I walked away from it feeling like I had a much greater understanding of Midori’s character, which was greatly appreciated. Plus getting to see him show some weakness as opposed to being an unstoppable force helps, too.
The two teams continue to advance, but will the TCG ultimately lead into a showdown between Toy Gun*Gun and Star White? And if it does, just what will become of the two teams, with all the intense emotions running between them?
In Summary
As the TCG continues to advance, we also gain more of a look at some key characters. And fortunately, it’s handled as well as the book generally manages such things, blending action and character development smoothly. It’s sadly not a real high point on either end, but ultimately, it does do some interesting things with Midori’s character along the way in particular that I really appreciate. So while it may not blow you away, this is yet another solid entry in the series that continues to drive the plot forward.
Content Grade: B+
Art Grade: B+
Packaging Grade: B+
Text/Translation Grade: B+
Age Rating: Older Teen
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: January 22nd, 2019
MSRP: $12.99
