Trouble 143 – Hand and Tail
It wasn't a bad chapter, and is a really fun read. Rito gets his hand stuck onto Lala’s tail for a day, and a lot of funny things happen; I had more laughs in this chapter than a couple of other previous chapters combined.
A weird and bit of a perverted chapter (more than usual), some of the dialogue was good, but the things happening ruined it. The chapter story isn’t good, so I don't recommend this chapter.
Trouble 145 – The Things Projected in Those Eyes
A bit of a ‘meh’ chapter, an alien appears, but the “prospective fiancé” plot is all but finished by now, and this alien appears just for Peke. I guess it’s ok… but it doesn't appeal to me.
Trouble 146 – Those Warped into the Midst of Darkness
Another ‘meh’ chapter, but it’s better than the previous one. Pyon-pyon Warp-Kun makes another appearance (gotta love this invention!), and once again, Rito falls victim to it, along with Haruna. At one point it was fairly interesting but that’s about it, it wasn't really spectacular as such.
Trouble 147 – A Girl’s Feelings
Really don't like this chapter, Risa tries to seduce Rito, but I just feel its unnatural, it doesn't seem really in her nature and she hasn't shown any sort of affection for Rito before. She plays it off as a joke at the end but that’s not a good rationalization, I would rather just forget this chapter ever happened at all…
Trouble 148 – Silent Island
A four chapter story arc is begun here, and it is one of the more, if not the most, serious and suspenseful story yet in the To Love-Ru universe. The cast is taking a vacation in a secluded island, and we see that Yami keeps noticing a black Cat hanging around (*hint hint*), and the chapter ends with a gunshot and a murder, yes, an actual murder! It’s suspenseful and very unlike the usual atmosphere you find in To Love-Ru, so it feels a bit weird.
Trouble 149 – The Smiling Cat
The back of a mysterious stranger is shown and then later revealed in the chapter to be a hitman called Black (based on a character from the manga Black Cat). Yami recognises him and I’m surprised that Yami admits that the cast is her friends. Pretty much nothing more is revealed after this, still don't know what is happening (although Black is targeting someone, but just who?) and what’s going on.
Black is a formidable being as he seems to be at least as powerful as Yami. The chapter ends with Black looking at the cast through a window, which hints that his target is one of the cast…
Trouble 150 – The Determined Cat
The confrontation finally happens in this chapter, the body of the victim disappeared, and the atmosphere escalates in terms of suspense, and its fairly intense (for To Love-Ru anyway). We learn a little bit of Yami’s backstory, not much is revealed, but nevertheless, good to find out something about this mysterious character.
At the end of the chapter, Black actually points his gun towards Lala, suggesting that she is his target, so it’ll be very interesting to see how this works out and how she manages to get out of this one (and what she has done to deserve this). I had expected maybe Rito was the target but I guess Yami is enough, heh.
Trouble 151 – Friend
Well, all is revealed in this final chapter of the story arc, Black was targeting Saruyama who was in actuality an alien with a hologram ability (he was the ‘murdered’ victim earlier as well). A bit of a disappointment, I would have wished for maybe a more dramatic revelation that would shock the readers but alas it wasn't to be.
Quite funny near the end, and we see that maybe Yami has turned ‘weak’, in terms of assassination anyway as she is less ‘cold’.
Trouble 152 – Rito Style
Yeah, another pointless chapter, well, that’s a bit too harsh, the chapters are reverting back to their careless atmosphere. Story is actually a bit typical, and the story is split into two chapters.
It’s ok, but starting to get annoyed by Momo, she isn’t really a likeable character, seems like she is ‘cheating’, and against her sister too. Chapter ends with a promise that more havoc will be in the next chapter…
Overall
It started off as a pretty disappointing penultimate volume, but the suspense story arc containing Black was an interesting and intriguing read. It seems to be the most serious I have seen, but a couple of dud chapters in here, still worth it though.