Editorial time! What I think of the series I typically follow this week? Do I ever think at all? You get an answer to one of those questions, and I can say with some confidence it's not the latter.
I've been reading "Karakuri circus" recently and ah, I'm basically convinced that Fujita is a manga God who lives unnoticed among us mortals. It's interesting to compare Karakuri to Souboutei as while Souboutei is known as a "Spectacle horror series", Karakuri seems way more "bleak" so to speak. Maybe I'll write more about this comparison later, but for now let's stick to what we have in front of us. The search is on for Sakamaki, as Zanka takes on more of his men. Now with Takoha around, however they're able to pinpoint where the mad painter is, and Seiichi is off and away!
Sakamaki is hiding in the center of the Souboutei's landscape --The building at the top of that mountain. I think this is the first time we've really been able to see just how huge the estate is. I don't know how even now Fujita is able to pull out these double pages as if they're no big deal. He has one nearly every chapter (and it's the same in Karakuri), and they always look marvelous!
Though back inside the house, Zanka continues his own fight, and finds that the soldiers are willing to even throw away their bodies if it means victory. To them abandoning everything to die in battle is truly the greatest honor --which is why the guy who was defeated above thanks Zanka for killing him in the heat of combat. Though one fight ends, a war is beginning, as even though they know where Sakamaki is, a hoard of nasties are headed toward them from that direction, and their only instructions are to kill! It really does feel like the series is heating up and heading somewhere fast --but is it the end or something much more sinister?
Marry Grave's gotta be gunning for some sort of "Longest flashback ever" award, not that I'm upset or anything, as it's been quite gripping over the last few weeks. We're almost back at the first chapter, which means it's close to the time where we'll need to prepare ourselves for tears, fears, and more. Something that hadn't occurred to me until this week that really should have is how did Sawyer die? No I mean --his wife-to-be is one of the most powerful magicians ever, so you'd think even if he's a squishy goof that she'd be able to save him, but yet...she didn't for some reason. Yamaji's got that covered, even if it seems kind of inexplicable at the moment. For whatever reason, Rosalie is unable to use magic as the attack is underway. I scanned the chapter twice to make sure I didn't miss the reason, but no, it just wasn't explained. Even she isn't sure what's going on, but Sawyer reassures her that he'll be there like the good hubby he is. A shame we know that he won't be able to keep that promise...
Interesting place to end this chapter --I have no doubt that things are only going to get worse before they get better (If they do at all), but this brazen display of badassery suggests this baddie might have more to do with Sawyer and Rosalie than one might imagine at first glance. Not only that, but where is this knight in the present? A lot of questions are bearing their fangs as this flashback continues, and I'm looking forward to seeing how this reflects on the present as we know it.
Xeno gets a little more exciting this week too as he stares down a mystery assailant and loses Ayla to the abyss. It's the first time we see him emote past his quiet demeanor, and I gotta say I love seeing his development come a bit further. Ayla has gone from "assistant" to someone who is important to him right before our eyes. That being said, who is in that mystery suit of armor, and why do they want Xeno gone so bad? He wants to know as well, but Ayla's fall cuts that short. The investigation leads the group back to the lower court of the Kuga estate where all the Kugas and associated acts gather...
But just then Ayla calls in --she's okay and has found one heck of a discovery, an underground river! The end of chapter text says this has a hidden meaning (but you know by now not to completely trust that, don't you?) that will be revealed next issue. I'm glad that the Ayla angle wasn't played out over several weeks as we've got enough on our plate as is between Hina's disappearance, Manami's disappearance, the fallen soldier, and the mysteries surrounding the Kuga's --adding more to that might bloat this arc a little too much. Still this new discovery is intriguing to say the least.
I gotta appreciate Leon and by extension Yagyuu for not even having any pretense of changing their ways. I mean, I feel foolish for being gullible enough to think that this arc would end with some huge revelation between Leon and the two he left behind, but it's all wonderfully in character and full of what makes Yagyuu's artwork incredible that I can't really be mad with him for long. Though this does get me wondering about how my beloved Rose fits into this whole thing. She mentions that if she's asked to by her friends she'll definitely go with them opposed to staying with Ash and Kijira. That isn't revealed by the time this chapter ends, but I'm assuming that's not what happened? But yes, the enitre chapter are the two agonizing over taking Leon up on his offer to travel with him, and acting reaaaallly like they don't want to and will never want to, but at the end of the day they decided to reluctantly (but not really reluctantly at all) go with him, just to find he already left and his invitation was under the influence of alcohol, and when Leon thought about it (for five minutes no less) he immediately realized it was an awful idea and after writing a note including a halfassed apology (and to watch out for liquor), he left. What I love most about this is their dragon aura of pure and unfiltered rage silently rising into the sky as the chapter ends. There aren't any need for words, just...that. That explains everything. I suppose this means the revenge fantasy series will continue a bit longer after all, thank goodness!
Birdmen had a color page that you can check out in the features page that came out a long time ago, hahahah... So we're just getting right into the chapter. I'm still somewhat behind in events of the series, so some characters aren't quite as familiar to me as others, but I'll do my best. The masked character there is interesting to me since they don't seem to know much about themselves and are mechanical-ish? Like, when interviewed and asked things like their age and what not, they answer in "probably's" and "maybes" Like "How old are you" is answered with "Most likely 15". Also it's implied they were born from a "box", with the assignment (or need to?) Murder as the surprisingly unfiltered gore shots above show. I know I'm going into a strange amount of detail for this chapter, but this character is the feature, so I suppose I have to a bit.
More importantly is their aim --they want to be a seraph, and the lady here asks if they're sure they want wings on their back. Those who have read Birdmen thus far (or have followed my summaries, as lacking as they are) know there's a whole lot that comes with making that decision. Though even when they go through with the experiment it seems to be a failure...leaving this little guy's future in doubt, as his master seems to want to take on Eden and send the world into chaos. On the other side of things, with the advent of Eiji meeting his dad last month, you'd think that's all the familial fracas we'd get for a while, but....when we catch up with the group and the mysterious figure they met last month, after a bit of an interaction....
This is apparently Takayama's...well, maybe a parent?! She refers to him as "son" after all, so I'm not sure what to think. She looks kind of young, but if there's one thing manga has taught me is that age is just a relative concept. Is this really Takayama's mother or someone who's a guardian figure of him, and why is she here?
I will never tire of Pheebs using a situation to further her own agenda in eventually settling down with Evans. It's amazingly genuine and kinda cute, in a backhanded sort of way, haha. Anyway she accuses the fake Evans of being fake because well, she's his....(she actually does stop one word short of saying "girlfriend", sorry shippers.) "acquaintance". So she knows all about him, and how the faker isn't the guy.
The problem is, she has this idealized vision of Evans in her mind, and while she's not...wrong per se, she's not right either. Like, she imagines Evans to be the type to have cool phrases and be stalwart in the face of danger, but little does she know that these things are more coincidental occurrences than anything he's actually trying to do on purpose. The faker has enough of this and threatens her, but she instead scools him on how to talk like Evans, completely misreading his intentions. It's hilarious to watch him get taken down verbally by Pheebs --by accident. Though when he does try to take a shot at her, she nails him with ease. That's how real ladies roll!
In the end the two are more than a match for him and take him down. Now there's only getting his henchmen and this is a done deal! However when Pheebs takes off his mask, what they see underneath is surprising enough to shock them both into silence. You're so cruel to me Kuriyama!
Although this arc has been great so far, I'll admit I've had some reservations on Will as a villain --mostly his appearance out of nowhere. I'm big on proper foreshadowing, and while these events haven't been completely out of nowhere, they have been kind of hard to swallow with only a single chapter of backstory provided to us. That being said, despite his sudden appearance, Will really is a heck of a villain --far different than any I've seen from Fukuchi. I don't think we've had anyone in his wild and wide world who's just been the epitome of evil like this monster hiding in the skin of a six year old. He's taken to hypnotizing Hizu to stop Saike from rescuing him --by finishing the hero-to-be off himself! That's a special kind of wrong --and it's effective and efficient. Especially as Ana and the other have been captured and thus cannot help Saike who without a lake is essentially harmless. Though what really drives home how awful Will's actions are is how they're personal rather than business. Will comments that Saike is suffering what he did --his friends abandoning him, forgetting him just when he needed them most. It truly is despicable --but kind of compelling.
Saike realizes his own weakness and rather than fight against Hizu or rebuke him, he plays back what he and Hizu have been through up until this point....meeting each other, adding Ana to their group, going to Nepal, everything. Even as Hizu chokes the life out of him, Saike recalls how back in Nepal, Hizu was pissed at Depes taking Ana out--and how he thought back then that they'd be fine even without him. It's with that gentleness that he removes the blindfold on Hizu's eyes and comments on how gentle he really is. I wish I could have included the pages between the two above since Fukuchi uses his medium to great effect to show Hizu's eyesight slowly returning as Saike's life leaves him.
I can't tell at all where the story will go from here. Or well, I have some ideas, but it's hard to see any of them working out. More importantly, the shock to Hizu.....will it drive him to the brink or...?
This week's Youkai Giga features the "Nekomata" a cat youkai who's popularly depicted nowadays as the mascot of "Yokai Watch". They can be mountain born yokai, or those raised domestically that grow old. In this week's chapter, a Nekomata tries to rile up the neighborhood kitties to join it in a strike against mankind, and finds that...well, normal cats aren't the revolutionary type. Even after it tries to convince the other cats of it's power, they ignore it and go on their way. In the end, a human girl who loves cats and gives it the attention it really wanted all of this time is enough to convince it to go home with her for tasty food and a warm bed. Sometimes what one says, and what they want are really different things, hah.
And that's it for issue #44's editorial! Sorry it took so long, I try to separate my personal issues from the blog, but yeah, life happened and it happened hard. Hopefully next week's duo will be a bit more timely! Thanks for being patient, and I'll see you in a day or two!
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