“Shirogane’s Thoughts”
Creative Staff
Story: Kentaro Yabuki
Art: Kentaro Yabuki
Translation: Satsuki Yamashita
Lettering: Mark McMurray
What They Say:
Japan may be brimming with mysterious monsters called ayakashi, but they have a special exorcist ninja force to counter the threat! Young exorcist ninja Matsuri spends his days fighting ayakashi to protect his childhood friend Suzu. But when an ayakashi cat named Shirogane shows up, things get turned upside down! Legendary mangaka Kentaro Yabuki returns to Shonen Jump with this new fantasy series full of ayakashi and romance!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Matsuri is dead, probably. Shirogane is back to his true form. And Sosuke still wants to devour the Ayakashi Medium. It just isn’t Suzu’s day, huh? On the bright side, Shirogane did save her. Granted, he needs her power in order to defeat Sosuke. That’s easier said than done. His engulfing shadow is quite troublesome. It eats all of the haku within its vicinity. Speaking of eating, Sosuke really wants to devour Suzu. She’s extremely delicious right now thanks to Matsuri dying. Shirogane attacks with a bunch of long-ranged attacks but they don’t even scatch Sosuke. Ayakashi jutsu uses haku for power. That means any attacks using it will just be devoured by Sosuke’s engulfing shadow. That’s unfortunate.
Suzu tells Shirogane to just go ahead and eat her. Hey, let’s think this through for a minute! I don’t think that’s a good idea. Heck, even Shirogane gets angry at her. Is she really going to throw her life away that easily because Matsuri died? What was his sacrifice even for then!? He desperately fought to keep her alive. She dishonors him by even suggesting such a thing. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I agree with Shirogane. This feels weird. Anyway, Sosuke mocks Shirogane for not eating Suzu. If he did, he’d easily be able to defeat him. He’s got a point. But as I suspect, Shirogane has probably grown fond of Suzu. While Shirogane is distracted, Sosuke attacks Suzu. That’s low! Smart, but still a dick move. Shirogane protects her and takes the brunt of the attack. He’s not looking too good.
At this point, Shirogane proclaims his hatred for humans. They fear and kill ayakashi. They worship and revere them. They forget and abandon them. But every time he tells himself not to get involved with them, Shirogane finds himself getting close to them. Not only that, he finds out that they’re not so bad. That’s why he hates them. Basically, Shirogane is just a big softie. He’s also a tsundere. I knew it all along. Sosuke captures Suzu and it looks like the end for her. Well, it was fun while it lasted. They put up a good fight. Time for Sosuke to eat dinner! Out of nowhere, Matsuri shows up to save Suzu! I guess he’s still alive!? Also, he’s back to his original male form!?!?
In Summary:
Oh hey, Matsuri isn’t dead. I suppose the series won’t be ending any time soon. Well, I say that but he also turned back into a boy. That’s something I was expecting to happen near the end of the series. Who knows? Maybe the series is ending soon. Random speculation aside, this was another good chapter. We learned how Shirogane really felt and I’m not going to lie, it was kind of adorable. I had a feeling that he had grown fond of Suzu. He says he hates humans but he also loves them. There will always be bad people but there will always be good people, too. It’s obvious Shirogane has seen his fair share of both. I think deep down he just wants to be friends with humans. He can act tsun all he wants, but we know the truth.
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: A
Age Rating: T
Released By: Shonen Jump/VIZ Media
Released Date: November 8th, 2020
