Sakamaki gets to live another day as Kurenai finds herself unable to make the killing blow in this week's Souboutei. It's got me kind of wondering how Sakamaki will eventually meet his maker? Unlike Fujita's other series like Ushio and Tora or Karakuri Circus where the leads are superpowered to an extent, the group that stands closest to Sakamaki's mad ambition are actually not all that strong. I would have liked to see Kurenai end it, but admittedly this isn't the time...not yet. That being said, she is technically the stronger warrior between Takoha, her little brother and Seiichi...so if not her, than who? Though on the other, other hand she has less of a personal stake in his story so I suppose it would be less fulfilling if she were the one to finish him. On that note, maybe Fujita is instead going for something a little different this time around? I can't speak for Circus since I'm still reading it, but Ushio and Tora definitely had a "spectacle" ending, and it feels like Circus will too. Perhaps Souboutei will break that tradition....and Sakamaki will have a quiet end or maybe not one at all. Though with his supreme control over the aliens that in turn run the Souboutei it's hard to imagine that he'll simply walk into the night unperturbed.
Though really the interest of this chapter is that Sakamaki has shown more than an "you're amusing" interest in someone for the first time in the current timeline. He actually asks for Kurenai's name, and upon getting it explains himself a bit more in his search for the greatest color. Heck, he even says that she's right in wanting to kill him. After all it is he who posesses the power to open the "doors" in the Souboutei due to him being the first to subjugate the aqueous aliens that came to the planet. Though while Kurenai's instinct to kill him is on the money it comes with a high price. If he dies the aliens splash through the doors and that's doomsday. Although it's not outright confirmed, (and Sakamaki kind of comments on it) maybe this is why Kurenai's instincts held her back at the last second. The two get surprisingly comfy around each other as Sakamaki then asks how Kurenai knows what his sister could have been thinking in her last moments, and while Kurenai isn't sure herself, she comments she has a brother herself so perhaps she's just instinctively taking that into consideration.
Meanwhile Zanka (who it feels like ages since we've seen last) is wandering around the mansion when the form of new enemies ambushes him. Wanting to go forward but realizing he can't unless he deals with this, Zanka prepares to do or die! It's likely the next few weeks will take place from his POV, which leaves me with some mixed feelings. I'd really like to hear more of Sakamaki and Kurenai, but I know there are other parts of the house we need to explore. (I do kind of miss Takoha in all honesty.) For now Fujita has seen fit to give us Zanka's side of this sprawling tale starting next week, and I'm sure it'll be worth the wait!
Xeno opens up with some hypocritical humor that's as cute as it is endearing. I really like how far Ayla and Xeno's relationship has come that they can have this kind of exchange. Ayla asks if Xeno's not cold in the coat he's wearing which earns her a stare from him at her outfit. It's a small part of the chapter, but I appreciate the attempt to flesh out their personalities a little bit more.
They arrive at the cafe to find Baron already there and Umi outside. Although it's probably not surprising that Baron isn't the most....upstanding of individuals, Umi says that there's basically nothing about him that is "true". Even his greeting to her is full of lies to the point that she has to retreat outside to keep her sanity. Xeno and Baron's interact inside when the latter gives the former a bookmark and tells him to "deduct something", before deducting himself that Xeno is a defective detective because he's lacking memories and thus cannot get into the human psyche to find the why out of the who(dunnit). Although there have been shounen mystery manga to touch upon this, Xeno makes it a hallmark which is intriguing. Like it is probably possible to solve a mystery without understanding the motive --in fact it happens all the time in real life. Yet in series like this it becomes very important to understand human behavior and while Xeno is good at what he does it's with Ayla's insights that he becomes a true mystery solving master. That being said after Baron assaults his character, Xeno is able to deduct from the markings on the bookmark that a child has created it and said child has a close relationship with the man. This is enough to unnerve him into demanding Xeno stop, and prove to Baron that Xeno is more than capable of deducing with even the simplest of clues.
Though it doesn't stop there. Xeno's memories of the masked man and his past have been coming to him in clumps within his dreams and he's made some connections. The mystery masked man wasn't laughing in his memory, no, he was crying. Not only that, but the bookmark Baron asked Xeno to make a deduction from has the faint smell of smoke on it, leading Xeno to one conclusion --The man in his memories is actually Baron.
Just as he figures this out, a truck nearly plows into Xeno --but Baron is able to push him out of the way before it can end him. Someone is clearly out for Xeno's life, and they're even willing to send unmanned trucks out to ensure that he dies. That's right, no one was behind the wheel of the truck, and now the real case is afoot --who doesn't want Xeno to get his memories back and why are they willing to kill to ensure he doesn't? Who is Baron to Xeno, and why hasn't he shown up before now? Xeno's in the editorial section because it's been intriguing, but now I'm excited to see where this is going to take us.
I try not to be openly biased on this blog though I am aware I usually fail miserably but RYOKO's return was the most exciting part of this issue for me, and it delivered in a big way. The series has been on hiatus for what is essentially a year, and right when things were getting really good. Above is a bit of a refresher course in what you need to know --Ryoko and Zen arrive in Dish City to learn more about the world around them, meet up with Rere Shinajina who's trying to die due to feeling responsible and guilty for her sister's death, and the abalone that connects them. Ryoko was about to deliver the finishing blow last time we saw her back in 2017, and Mitsuhashi picks up where he left off, so let's dig in.
The color page which you can see here feels a little different artwise than the artwork in the chapter, which makes me think that perhaps this chapter was ready to back when the hiatus started, but the editorial staff probably wanted to have some stock left over just in case. I hadn't realized that the first volume was actually only six chapters long either so the upcoming releases of volume 2 and 3 are actually kind of appropriate. (And probably the other reason why Mitsuhashi was away for a bit --he'd have to prepare for those in advance as well.) It's still a little worrying that he wasn't included in some of the holiday artwork --especially when RYOKO's return was announced almost immediately after that, but maybe they did it for the hype --and there's a lot of it here. I know I'm talking more about the circumstances surrounding the series rather than the chapter itself but I feel like it's a little necessary. Shougakukan was really hyping up the series before it's hiatus --an official twitter, color pages, and other things. Heck, it even got advertised billing with Ranma as seen in the features section. I'm hoping that with it's return that Shougakukan will continue to show that faith in Mitsuhashi.
Though yes, the chapter. It does finish the Dish City arc, which makes it hurt all that much more we had to wait a year to get the finale. The chapter felt a tiny bit rushed (just a tiny bit!) But I'm satisfied with the conclusion we got --Ryoko pierces through the abalone and it spits out everything it's eaten in the shape of shiny pearls. I like Rere's line of how ironic it is that they're technically rich, but since the world has basically gone post apocalyptic, the money is useless to them. RYOKO isn't a particularly deep series or anything, but I found that one off remark to be really telling. Since Ryoko isn't exactly wallowing in the truth of this reality I do enjoy this reminder. Speaking of Rere, she's finally able to accept that her sister Nana has passed away and she has to move on....which she does into Ryoko's city where she's welcomed with open arms. Ryoko's always wanted a big sister after all! This chapter started off action packed and ended on an endearing note --something I feel like is RYOKO's strength. Mitsuhashi could have made a series with a brooding heroine and that might have sold a bit more, but I like that RYOKO is at it's core a series about hope in overwhelming circumstances --a bit for normalcy and a little personal dream in circumstances conducive to despair. It helps that Mitsuhashi's art is still out of this world and very commanding of it's craft, but if that's all it was then I probably wouldn't be so endeared to the series. No, there is a heart there and that's what Ryoko is all about. Welcome back, and I hope you're here to stay a while.
If you've read the features section, you know that this is the penultimate chapter of Memesis. It's not surprising as I've seen this coming for several weeks, and I'm not sure how to feel really. Takuya Yagyuu is an artist in Sunday with only a few peers --(not quite peerless since this is the magazine that houses Fujita and once(?) housed Yamaji) but I really believe Memesis got bogged down by it's comedy styling. Not so much because it was a comedy, but because it was a comedy that really only had one or two jokes --both of which lose their luster after being told once. It really does sadden me that the series has been reduced to a fairly rushed ending, and I don't think that Yagyuu necessarily needs a writer (though it could help, really.) I just think he needs to decide on what kind of story he wants to tell. A comedy? an action series? It is very possible for a series to be both, but that takes two trains of thought. Plus although I don't like pigeonholing anyone, Yagyuu's art definitely favors one thing over the other, and I think he should dial into that more. Though no, I'll have more thoughts for sure in the finale next week depending on how that goes, but I will say this. Seeing Leon, Ash, and Kijira working together again was really fulfilling. Like I really would have loved to see these three in a fight that wasn't over in one chapter, but them's the breaks. I'm sort of surprised that we're going to get what seems to be an epilogue of this series, but honestly? As much as it's obvious this was a cancellation I think the ending works on a conceptual level. These three are heroes and they defeated the demon king. While yes, it would have been nice if this fight wasn't off screen (from the looks of the final panel), that's what they started out to do and they accomplished it. That's really what a story is about right? Though again, it's a shame it was so rushed. We've got one more week --and I'm hoping Yagyuu sticks the landing.
Evans has had good press, so of course it naturally means at some point he's going to have bad press. Wanda Roberts is the writer of this new article on everyone's favorite lawman, and she prides herself on bringing the side of Evans that no one has seen, and is sure that aside from his bad photo that he's got all kinds of lady problems. (He has one, and that's the type you have when you don't have any lady problems but want some.) Though Kurt's cut in kind of makes the point that a popular guy sometimes has a bit of a bad streak in him, even if he hasn't actually done anything. I guess in a way that plays into the popular trope of ladies liking bad boys. Though I love how Kuriyama plays into this by having Wanda ask extremely personal questions to the point that Evans would either look like an extreme cad, or reveal that he really is just a playboy-wannabe. There's also a bit of continuity when Wanda brings up the secret child he has --(Remember Mattie?) And that he might actually hate women? Wow things just spin out of control for Evans who deserves the credit of cooly stating he just does his job and not freaking out. It's actually a bit noble of him, even if it's simply to hide his own insecurities.
Though the problem with journalism that pushes the envelope is that someone gets hurt, and someone gets angry. Wanda finds this out the hard way when a guy who was the target of her articles attacks her with the intent to kill. Despite being harassed by her moments earlier, Evans still does his job, and saves her life. Wanda promises not to print the part of him fathering a secret child, but will say that he's a ladies man. (Which hey, is a somewhat better reputation to have I suppose??) Though to his surprise there's another account in the paper that he wasn't aware...someone was a witness and all they know is that this person goes by "O". Pheebs' expression really is worth more than a thousand words, hmm...
This week's Youkai giga features the "Tsurara Onna" or "Icicle Woman". These youkai are said to be created from the loneliness of single men during winter months. It's said when men gaze at a strong and beautiful icicle hanging and thinks of how loneliness that a Tsurara onna will appear afterward. In this week's chapter a tsurara onna wants to head into town but her friend is less than thrilled at the prospect, due to their being a specific man she wants to see but her face is bright red due to sickness. She's eventually convinced to go at least to see him and to their surprise he's still waiting out in the snow for her despite the temperature. Her friend pulls a power move and says she'll go talk to him instead, and that's enough to get her moving, the man is just happy to see that she's safe and sound and doesn't even notice that her face is bright red (though it becomes so for other reasons later.) It's a cute chapter --It's been a while since Satou has done one of these without there being a punchline --I've kind of missed it. Though more interestingly it's been a while since we've seen Kuro. I wonder why that is?
And that's it for the editorial this week! While the features section will only be around for one more week, the editorial will remain and the TOC will start joining the lineup starting with issue #10. Other than that things shouldn't change too much so please keep enjoying the writeups as you have been. Until the next one, see ya!
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