This series is never as obvious as it seems. Okay, except for the first volume, which is exactly as obvious as it seems until the ending. Otherwise it has been a creepy and stellar bit of spooky.
Michiru remains a mass of writhing tentacles as far as Miko’s concerned, but her real concern should be for Michiru’s obvious dislike for Hana. As the situation escalates, well, there certainly aren’t entire genres for females who are single and white replacing their rivals or anything.
Good horror is a treat and this remains a particularly excellent confection. The opening sequence, where a sleepover goes awry, is pretty fantastic. It’s pure atmosphere the whole way, with an archly timed crash of lightning.
Even better, the way an obvious fake-out gives way to something truly horrifying is done superbly. The return of Miko’s father is elegantly realized, coupled with one hell of an insightful line of dialogue from Yuria that you just know we’ll come back to later.
Everything just clicks along on all cylinders. This is a manga that knows when to veer away from the expected and predictable. It makes it more of a guess as to who outside of the main cast might actually survive.
Michiru is, ultimately, less of a monster and more just on the spectrum, if anything. She’s got some bad experiences relating to others in her past and that, coupled with her sister’s smothering behaviour, has not made her any better at understanding other people as time passed.
When she has lashed out and lashes out again, it’s very cut and dry (so to speak), until it decidedly isn’t. The way Miko has a handle on the whole thing is very much in character for her. She’s quietly stronger than she realizes.
And then, of course, there is Hana. I must have observed this before, but she is so much the beating heart of this series. It’s such a far cry from her introduction as jiggly fanservice. She’s wonderful and such a good friend throughout this volume. It’s going to be very interesting seeing where things go with all this moving forward.
Amidst all this resolution, including one that makes a lot of sense about Michiru’s origins, we get another budding plotline involving Rom that starts off with him as comic relief and goes pitch black in a heartbeat. And draws in something that has been present but was never presented as a clear threat before. Stellar plotting as always.
I wouldn’t say this is an especially funny volume, although I will call out Yuria’s ridiculous imagination painting Hana and Michiru as, well, bread warriors. That’s a really bonkers image that I got a chuckle out of. That’s my only note there.
What’s really good is the atmosphere and the world building. There’s just enough of the latter to make it feel like this is all going somewhere and the former makes the trip just as satisfying.
4.5 stars - I mean, it is a fantastic entry. I think the fox maidens were the pinnacle of this series, they were handled so well, but this turned out a lot more interesting than I expected. Creepy and heartfelt and an easy pick if you like horror.