Creative Staff:
Story/Art: Kei Sanabei
Translation: Sheldon Drzka
Letterer: Abigail Blackman
What They Say:
Desperate to find and stop his brother as soon as possible, Senri reluctantly agrees to meet with Detective Wakazono. The offbeat officer has his reasons for wanting to find-and finish off-the “fire” man, but Senri is determined to beat him to it. Armed with new information and the few clues surrounding his parents’ deaths, Senri and Ena journey through the countryside, piecing together the past. Each step leads them closer to Kazuto…but they aren’t the only ones hot on his tail…!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Senri finally realizes his mistakes that he made in his quest to find his brother and the person who killed his family and begins to show signs of maturity. He has mistreated his friends and constantly pushed back Enan, the one person who truly cares for him. In this volume, he grows a heart and feels regret for his friends who he has put in danger time and time again. He learns to trust people and lets Enan know about his plans. Enan is shocked by this development and makes one weird face as he asks for his help. There are two panels where she is shocked but she is drawn with the same face and it would have been better if her face was drawn differently for each shock.
Senri is also deciding to use his brain and use every available resource at his disposal. He decides to put his pride away and let an outsider help him. He reaches out to Wakazono, a police detective, to pry information from him. Wakazano reveals some startling information that changes the game. There was an amazing two-page spread where he reveals his backstory that captivates his feelings. Both of them have the same goal and he positions himself as a friendly rival to Senri to accomplish the goal first. This series needed a rival who can push Senri to new heights but not have an antagonistic role.
This was the first volume where Senri finally had some personality attached to them. Enan also sees these changes in Senri and is impressed. She reflects on her past and how far she has come as well. This attracted me to their backstories and wanted to know more about them. Their happiness, pain, and hopes for their future is demonstrated and manages to pull me into their lives. Senri is the character meant to be filled with revenge and angst but those chains are loosened a bit.
The mystery of the fire is finally starting to build up but I still want more details on what happened. It is slowly revealing the details on how the fireman is connected to Senri’s family before the fire. Senri and his brothers had issues with his parents. Those issues correlate back to the “fire man.” The next volume looks set to reveal more about Kazuto and how he got involved with the “fire man.” Senri is bound to meet up with his brother and it makes for an interesting event to see how Senri will react to the current version of Kazuto. This volume is going on the right track and I am intrigued to see where it’s going.
In Summary
This volume focuses on character growth as Senri is beginning to run towards his journey and take massive steps. He is still the same aggregated character towards society but he has learned to trust his friends. Wakazano is cheerful but still shows glimpses of the dark aura that Senri shows. He provides a nice contrast to Senri’s personality. They have similar backstories and motives. Wakazano and Senri are engaging in a race t and it will be interesting to see who will finish first. The mystery is starting to build up some suspense towards the family mystery as more clues are dropped. These clues create more questions than answers. The mystery is finally taking massive steps forwards as Senri gets closer to the truth.
Content Grade: A-
Art Grade: A
Packaging Grade: A
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: Older Teen
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: March 30th, 2020
MSRP: $17.00 / $22.50 CAN
