Many thanks to Yen Press for providing a review copy

About the Mangaka

This series is a collaboration between Ryukishi07 who, as well as doing the original game, does the story. And Houjyou Yutori who does the art.

Ryukishi07 is the pen name of a member of a doujin group called 07th Expansion. They are famous for their visual novels, of which Higurashi is the most famous. You can check out their website here (NSFW & Japanese).

Not a lot of information available on Houjyou, whose only notable work seem to be her work on this series, and another arc. She does however have a website. Be warned it’s all in japanese and potentially NSWF (or after recent events hell it could just be not safe in general lol).

About the Manga

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I have to admit that I was seriously looking forward to this volume. However it was, in the main, a disappointment. The reason being the art goes through some drastic changes, which was to be expected. However the extreme change in style really cause some issue for me.

Story wise, I loved it. This series pretty much rewinds to the beginning of the previous arc and takes a different route. For example in the previous one the girl of interest was always Rena, this time around it’s Mion.

I always liked Mion and was glad to see her getting some love this time around. And I have to admit I found the twin sister aspect bloody funny through out. The story has so far been a lot milder than the previous arc, and I have to admit that’s a bit disconcerting in it’s own way. The previous arc had a high creep factor that made it a classic horror/chiller series. This time around it doesn’t have that element to it.

I do think that this volume has a lot of good prep work for the story. It sets up both Shion and Mion really well. However I did find adjusting to Shion a bit of a challenge, since she wasn’t in the previous arc. It sounds silly true, but I got used to cast just being the few girls from the previous arc. Throwing in another, and a twin of one of the main characters, just felt a bit wrong to me.

Though as I said, the twin aspect was bloody funny, and I have to admit it was a hell of a lot funnier than the previous arc.

What deadens the feel of the volume for me was Houjyou’s art. I think that part of the problem comes from loving Karin’s art so much, and having gotten used to the way she drew the characters.

There are several aspects of the art that have been drastically changed. For example Mion has undergone some changes that really just don’t sit right with me. Sure she’s more ‘girly’ in this series, but this just doesn’t really fit with the image I had of her from the previous arc.

Rena has also had a change, most notably when she goes into her kawaii mode, well, to be frank she no longer looks kawaii, rather she looks just normal. I was rather disappointed with this aspect, since it’s these moments that interject some humour into the series.

Sadly that wasn’t the last of the changes. Gone are the really creepy ‘demon’ faces of the previous arc. The art for those used to give me nightmares, and I freaking loved it!! What we have now, resemble more normal angry or disfigured faces. Sure they look scary, but they don’t look creepy and that was what made the previous arc so awesome. A lot of the other changes are more just differences in style than anything else, but on top of the other changes they’re a bit to much.

I am not going to say it’s bad, because it isn’t, and if I had seen this arc first I would truly sing it’s praises. Since I have to admit that on it’s own merits it’s a great read.

However it just doesn’t compare to the previous arc art wise. With each arc only being two volumes long, and each arc having a different artist, this could take some getting used to. And it’s not a way to win me over, changing art styles and designs are really going to throw my enjoyment around.

Yen Press did their usual great job however, and I was once again impressed. I do like the cover art for the volume. The colour inserts are equally amazing, and just so damned cute.

However I did spot some editing errors, just a few misused words, but something we rarely see in a Yen release, so it stuck out.

For now I’m not adding this arc to my Essential Read list, since I feel it lacks the depth and creep factors of the previous arc. It was a fun read, but it’s not an Essential Read.

Where to Buy

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