Many thanks to Yen Press for providing a review copy

About the Mangaka

Okubo Atsushi is better known for his more recent work, Soul Eater. However he also assisted on the older series, Get Backers. B.Ichi is his first independent work where he did both the art and story.

About the Manga

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Still can’t make my mind up about this series. I drifted from liking to hating it as I went through this volume.

I now have no idea what’s going on with this series any more, which is a good thing. Last volume I felt to much had been given away, but with this volume we’re shown that what was revealed is nothing more than the tip of the iceberg.

Art wise not a lot is different from the first volume. The facial features of Shotaro are still not as good as I would like. His normal expressions are fine, and great. But when he uses a bone and changes, the features don’t really change much, which is disappointing.

I also found this volume to be less cluttered than the previous volumes, which helps with the readability.

I don’t know if it’s because I’ve been reading more Soul Eater or something, but the weird art style of Okubo is starting to grow on me. Though I do admit that I still find it a little weird at times.

My favourite in this volume was Lin Kinpar, she was drawn so damned cute, but as my usual luck has it, she was a throw away character >.<

Story wise we get a lot more than in the previous volume. It’s hard to see whether Emine is the bad guy anymore. I like this, it’s a good change from the first volume. Things are certainly getting interesting, more than enough to keep me reading subsequent volumes. Though I really don’t see how this can be fully played out in the two volumes that remain.

As usual Yen do their great job with the release. A good and smooth translation and editing, with very minor guttering. I did find it odd that honorific’s were kept in part of the time, then dropped later. This is the first time I’ve seen this, and I’m hoping it’s not a sign of them slipping, though I doubt it.

I doubt I’ll ever add this series to my Essential Read list, it’s lacking something to make it great. It is worth picking up if you have some spare cash lying around.

Where to Buy

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