Shinoa Squad heads off join the rest of Guren Ichinose and the various Japanese Imperial Demon soliders following him to the battlefield at Nagoya, only to find they’re far behind most of the other squads. Guren’s personal team isn’t hesitant to hammer in their shortcomings during a smackdown right before Yu and his new family find themselves pitted against a ruthless vampire noble, while working with a team that doesn’t trust them. In the meantime, Yu’s old family is finding it harder and harder to resist his lust for blood, torn between his former human sympathies and his vampire nature.
There was quite the character explosion in this volume. Not only did Guren and his team take a more central part, but Shinya Hiragi keeps showing up and insisting on helping Guren. Shinya is quite the fun, flirty character, teasing Guren and Yu alike, while being a helpful mentor to Youichi as a sniper. One wonders if Shinoa didn’t pick up her wicked sense of humour from him. Shinoa finds herself getting chastised for her playful nature in this book, while Yu makes steps towards becoming more a team player, defending Shinoa while clashing with both Guren and Makoto. It’s clear that Guren has a soft spot for his fiesty little punk, for all he picks on Yu. One also senses the beginning of a camaradie beneath the bickering between Makoto and Yu as well. The design of the new vampire was striking, reminding me of certain pop singers during the 1980s. The action and character development kept me engaged, even as if the plot of this volume didn’t move as fast as the previous one. The interpersonal interaction and lively banter made up for it. For all of these elements brought together in a gorgeous art style, I give this four stars.