Volume: 3 (of 6+)
Creator: Hiroya Oku
Format: Right-to-Left
Original Publisher: Kodansha
US Publisher: Kodansha Comics
Release Date: 2/23/16
Pages: 192
ISBN: 1632362058
MSRP: $12.99
Genre: Seinen
Rated: OT (Ages 16+)
Summary: A LIGHT IN THE DARK
With his new found powers, Inuyashiki has taken a new lease on life and has decided to help as many people as he can. But as day turns to night, the seedy underbelly of society comes out, and a depraved Yakuza member by the name of Samejima preys on an innocent woman. Inuyashiki must save this woman from a grim fate, but will he be able to take on a small army of gang members and rid the streets of Samejima's darkness?
Contains Chapters 18-26:
- Chapter 18: Normal Happiness
- Chapter 19: Assault
- Chapter 20: Mine
- Chapter 21: Despair
- Chapter 22: Unforgivable
- Chapter 23: Help
- Chapter 24: Declaration of War
- Chapter 25: What Are You?
- Chapter 26: Divine Punishment
Review:
Cover: The cover for this volume features Ichiro. Basically its just his head, upside down, and opened up showing all of the inner circuitry that the aliens put into him. The color scheme for this volume is purple, and uses the circuitry scheme that previous volumes have used. Series title is along the right side, with the volume number across the bottom.
The spine from top to bottom contains the Kodansha company logo, series title, volume number, and mangaka.
The back cover has the volume summary on the left side of the cover. the right side has the same background scheme used in the front of circuitry with the purple color.
The simplistic style of these covers is what really draws my eye to them, Volume 3 is no exception. The character image and the background style and coloring really go well together. It would have been nice to have something more on the back, since it is a bit bare minimum, but sometimes less is more.
Artwork: The art style for this volume continues the same path as the previous volumes. Using a Shonen/Seinen Style, it has a very dark and gruesome style that puts will appeal to a lot of fans if they are into that style of art. It isn't as graphic as Hiroya's previous work, GantZ, but it still has tons of blood and this volume has an extensive amount of sexual content as well. The art style is very consistent as well; it doesn't change much at all over the course of the volume, but this volume's tone pretty much stays consistent as well.
Translation: Character names, sound effects, places, plot, and cultural references are all left intact. This series is probably one of the better titles that stays truly faithful from cover to cover.
Extras: There are two pages of translation notes.
Content (Warning: May Contain Spoilers): With the battle between Inuyashiki and Shishigami over from the last volume, and Inuyashiki swearing he will stop Shishigami from harming anymore people as well in the last volume, one would expect that we would continue on with the same story arc since it didn't seem that our last events actually concluded. This volume however goes on an entirely different road as we are introduced to brand new characters in almost what feels like a small side-story to let the creator think of ways that our two alien created monsters will eventually clash again.
This volume begins with a couple who will soon be married. One day a leader of the Yakuza, Samejima, sees the wife and decides to stalk her until he eventually kidnaps, drugs, and then rapes her. She puts up a fight as well, managing to escape and using one of his samurai swords severly cutting Samejima's wrist.
The other members of the Yakuza take it into their hands by then going after the husband, trying to extort him for money and find out the location of where he lives. They eventually get to his home and with Samejima with them, end up strangling him to death. Inuyashiki hears the pain and the violence that is going on, so he rushes to the scene but it is too late. The Yakuza members pummel Inuyashiki with bullets, knocking him out but leaving him uninjured.
When Inuyashiki wakes up, he sees the husband dead and he tries with all of his powers to bring him back to life. After several attempts, he is revived, and Inuyashiki then heads to the Yakuza's base of operations.
On his arrival, he is greeted by Samejima himself, who pulls a gun on him and fires it right at Inuyashiki's head. Inuyashiki with one punch manages to knock Samejima on his ass. As he asks him where the wife was, the other Yakuza members enter the room and begin to open fire on Inuyashiki. Inuyashiki's defense weapon system kicks in and kills every single person in the room.
The volume ends with the husband looking down an empty street hoping for the return of his wife.
This volume as a whole wasn't my favorite read from the series so far; I found it to be a bit convoluted. We have two new characters, not sure if they will be in any of the upcoming volumes yet, but they have no real development. As a reader you do show some sympathy for them due to the ordeals they go through, but as of right now we don't have a real clue who these people are. Samejima seemed like he could have been a much cooler villain as well if they would have drawn his story out a bit more too. If Hiroya would have taken the time to just draw this story out a bit more, it would have probably been a much more enjoyable read when it came to the overall story presented in this volume.
Objectionable Content:
The spine from top to bottom contains the Kodansha company logo, series title, volume number, and mangaka.
The back cover has the volume summary on the left side of the cover. the right side has the same background scheme used in the front of circuitry with the purple color.
The simplistic style of these covers is what really draws my eye to them, Volume 3 is no exception. The character image and the background style and coloring really go well together. It would have been nice to have something more on the back, since it is a bit bare minimum, but sometimes less is more.
Artwork: The art style for this volume continues the same path as the previous volumes. Using a Shonen/Seinen Style, it has a very dark and gruesome style that puts will appeal to a lot of fans if they are into that style of art. It isn't as graphic as Hiroya's previous work, GantZ, but it still has tons of blood and this volume has an extensive amount of sexual content as well. The art style is very consistent as well; it doesn't change much at all over the course of the volume, but this volume's tone pretty much stays consistent as well.
Translation: Character names, sound effects, places, plot, and cultural references are all left intact. This series is probably one of the better titles that stays truly faithful from cover to cover.
Extras: There are two pages of translation notes.
Content (Warning: May Contain Spoilers): With the battle between Inuyashiki and Shishigami over from the last volume, and Inuyashiki swearing he will stop Shishigami from harming anymore people as well in the last volume, one would expect that we would continue on with the same story arc since it didn't seem that our last events actually concluded. This volume however goes on an entirely different road as we are introduced to brand new characters in almost what feels like a small side-story to let the creator think of ways that our two alien created monsters will eventually clash again.
This volume begins with a couple who will soon be married. One day a leader of the Yakuza, Samejima, sees the wife and decides to stalk her until he eventually kidnaps, drugs, and then rapes her. She puts up a fight as well, managing to escape and using one of his samurai swords severly cutting Samejima's wrist.
The other members of the Yakuza take it into their hands by then going after the husband, trying to extort him for money and find out the location of where he lives. They eventually get to his home and with Samejima with them, end up strangling him to death. Inuyashiki hears the pain and the violence that is going on, so he rushes to the scene but it is too late. The Yakuza members pummel Inuyashiki with bullets, knocking him out but leaving him uninjured.
When Inuyashiki wakes up, he sees the husband dead and he tries with all of his powers to bring him back to life. After several attempts, he is revived, and Inuyashiki then heads to the Yakuza's base of operations.
On his arrival, he is greeted by Samejima himself, who pulls a gun on him and fires it right at Inuyashiki's head. Inuyashiki with one punch manages to knock Samejima on his ass. As he asks him where the wife was, the other Yakuza members enter the room and begin to open fire on Inuyashiki. Inuyashiki's defense weapon system kicks in and kills every single person in the room.
The volume ends with the husband looking down an empty street hoping for the return of his wife.
This volume as a whole wasn't my favorite read from the series so far; I found it to be a bit convoluted. We have two new characters, not sure if they will be in any of the upcoming volumes yet, but they have no real development. As a reader you do show some sympathy for them due to the ordeals they go through, but as of right now we don't have a real clue who these people are. Samejima seemed like he could have been a much cooler villain as well if they would have drawn his story out a bit more too. If Hiroya would have taken the time to just draw this story out a bit more, it would have probably been a much more enjoyable read when it came to the overall story presented in this volume.
Objectionable Content:
- Language: Yes
- Violence: Yes
- Nudity: Yes
- Sexual Situations: Yes
Score:
- Cover: 8/10
- Artwork: 8/10
- Translation: 10/10
- Extras: 1/10
- Story: 4/10
Overall Rating: 6/10
Where Purchased: Barnes and Nobles
Original Review Date: 5/10/16
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