VOL. 2 – Into the World of Dreams
The Will
that Cannot be Stopped
Ahh, a
really good chapter so far, the mysteriousness of the forests is increased, as
well as a promising backstory of Iyo.
Again, I could foresee what was going to happen purely because the plot
twist had been done a lot before, in this case, the chief’s attack is a test
for them, and they passed. One of the
better chapters in terms of content, and the heroes finally head into the
infamous forest.
The
Forest of Tokoyo
The
chapters are getting better, and we get to see why the forest is also called
the “Forest of No Return”, the guardian looks familiar, as does all the spell
casting. The chapter does have some good
scenes in it, and has a lot of interesting tidbits here and there.
‘The
Guardian’ and ‘Haru-sama’
Wow, the
fight was disappointing, quick and fairly uneventful. Apparently, Empress Iyo can fight pretty well
too… Mysterious figure shows up, protagonists
follow, yeah, no surprises there, and all done before. I was even a little bit hyped from the
previous chapter as to what would happen in this one.
The
Creeping Insanity
A great
chapter in terms of story, so mysterious, so much promise in what could be
revealed in the later chapters… I quite
liked this one, and was really absorbed in it, not just in terms of Shion, but
also in Iyo’s backstory. There were
quite a lot of humour in this chapter, which is a major reason why it was so
much more enjoyable.
Aiming
for Qualification
The
suspense is killing, well not really, but the most suspense we’ve had in the
series. The backstory of Iyo is not
revealed here, but teased a bit. Also,
there seems to be a fight that’s going to emerge between Shion and one of his
‘comrades’ back when he was part of the nation destroying organisation, and it
seems this new guy, Kouma, might be more powerful than Shion.
The Two
like an Onmyou
More of a
spacing chapter where nothing much really happens, the next chapter seems to be
the one that’ll have the fight. As the
series fall to an end, I do wonder how the author is going to wrap it up, as
there’s a ton of unanswered questions…
The
Crimson Weapon
While the
battle is nothing special, the ending is really good. You can care for Shion when his sword cracks
and then snaps right at the last panel, and you think, all he’s been through
and gained, is this really the end (probably not but still, you care for the
character).
The
Calling Voice
So, with
the Shingu sword destroyed, so should Shion’s spirit. His father’s spirit talks to him in his
unconsciousness though (so Shion doesn't die, and is fully aware of what’s happening…),
which I thought was a cheap way to overcome this problem. Anyway, Shion learns what we knew was going
to happen, and that is that Iyo is so important to him, that she will help him
revive, and I think his sword reacts right at the last panel.
Into the
World of Dreams
Shion
wins!! Well, what else do you expect, we
don’t get to see the fight, but Shion has gotten a lot more powerful.
The ending is very open, and it doesn't
resolve anything, so all the build up throughout the series was all for nothing
(I suspect the author was going to do reveal it but the manga was cut short due
to low popularity).
There are so many
ideas and concepts the author has put forward but never realised, such as the
City of Takama (a major part but we never know if they got there), Iyo’s
backstory, the five keys of which Shion’s shingu is one of them and their
significance, and of course, how the nations were united into the one Japan.
Overall
I found
that the latter chapters were good, much better than all the ones from the
first volume. The story resolution is
disappointing, as it didn't resolve anything, there are still too many
questions unanswered, and just when it was starting to be good. Wished the author did continue this on like
he said he might, as it would interesting to see the process in which Iyo
united the nations, and if the Onmyou is destroyed or not. There seems to be a few hidden agendas but
we’ll never know. I think it’s an okay
manga to read if you’ve got nothing to do, but it’s nothing something I will
search high and low for. The overall quality is really evident that this is the
author’s first work.