Frau Faust, Vol. 2

フラウ・ファウスト [Frau Faust] #2

by Kore Yamazaki

From the creator of The Ancient Magus' Bride comes a supernatural action manga in the vein of Fullmetal Alchemist! With electrifying art and a gripping story, Frau Faust reimagines the protagonist of the classic tale who makes a deal with the devil as a tenacious female scholar. A century after a scholar made a deal with a devil in exchange for eternal life, the story of Faust has passed into legend. But the real Faust is not a stuffy professorial man, but a woman, still on the run with her homunculus servant. When the magnetic, bespectacled woman passes through a provincial town, she adds a young orphan named Marion, looking for an escape, to her group. The next stop: A church basement, where a disembodied demon's arm lies sealed away, and an officer of the Inquisition name Lorenzo waits to spring a trap for the blasphemer...

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Josei, Comics, Supernatural, Historical

160 pages, Paperback

First published November 6, 2015

About the author

Name (in native language) : ヤマザキコレ

Born in Hokkaido. Also known as Yamao Mitsu.

Reviews

[Norma ☁️]

Ho divorato questo volume. La storia e i personaggi mi hanno intrigato parecchio e i disegni sono proprio belli.

[Doc]

With recovering from Lorenzo's attack in the last volume Johanna Faust's past is revealed to us showing what Johanna was like before meeting Mephistopheles and the events leading up to their contract. This was a really good way to show us readers something of the past and to humanize (as oppose to demonize I suppose the main characters of our tale while the action takes a back burner for the moment.

Unfortunately for Johanna her curse of immortality comes with a major drawback in that anytime she takes serious damage she loses mass to compensate making her appear even younger after getting her strength back. Deciding to not to involve Marion anymore even though he insists on following her Johanna attempts to alter memories of his so he hopefully forgets her as she continues her quest to gather her demon's body parts.

Danger awaits everyone as corruption takes hold and innocence is turned ugly with demon blood being used as a catalyst. Now everyone involved is going to have to do their best as Johanna and Lorenzo make a temporary truce to get to the bottom of whatever is being hidden in this lone church which contains one part of Mephistopheles.

I find the story pretty solid so far with a lot of good parts but probably the part I remember most fondly is Johanna appearing before Lorenzo and he cuts through her without hesitation only to find she was simply projecting her image there saying "I'm not a fan of you slashing at me every time we meet." Also there is no short story like in the first volume but be prepared because something big is happening at the end of the volume that might make you crave the next volume right away. :)

[Shae]

4.5 stars

[Loz]

Gorgeous, passionate drama. Interesting characters, beautiful art. This volume took the promise of the first and ran with it. Definitely recommend.

[Bibliothecat]

Review for complete series

I usually like shorter and compact series but I feel as though Frau Faust would have needed to be at least twice as long as it actually is to deliver what it's trying to achieve. As a premise, this is a very interesting series - it's a gender flipped retelling auf Faust and will likely appeal to readers of Yamazaki's other work The Ancient Magus' Bride. It has the same dark undertones and folklore, loveable but also macabre characters and plenty of great artwork to go around, even if the character art itself doesn't appeal to me personally quite as much.

While the premise itself was a good, I found that everything moved too fast and a lot was left unexplained. Given all the other high ratings, perhaps I am just missing the point here but I didn't even understand most character's motivations. I don't understand Faust's motives nor what her exact relationship with the demon Mephisto was about - it is implied that were was romance from both sides yet we didn't get any glimpse into when or how that came about. I don't understand their contract and I don't understand all that Mephisto did afterwards. I never fully understood Lorenzo and Anastasia's situation - I understood that both siblings were trying to protect each other but I don't understand why their aunt felt the need to keep them in check in the first place - I kept waiting for some great reveal about that, especially given that Lorenzo always hides his face, another thing we never get an explanation for. Vito's main motivation seems to be that he wants to help Lorenzo but we never get to understand that to any particularly deep level either. I could go on and on about this for every other character.

It just feels like so much is missing which is a real shame because the idea and characters could have delivered something much better. The ending is also so vague, I have actually no idea what happened. I think I shall sign this off by saying that this series has simply left me confused. If anyone has answers to all my questions, I beg thee please to explain.

[Alisha]

After the cliffhanger of last volume we get to see some of Johanna's past, which I for one, was super excited about! We get a glimpse of what her life was like and how she first met Mephistopheles and came to enter a contract with him. Plus we learn an interesting tidbit about how her deal with him works and why she looks the way she does and so on! It was nice to get a couple of answers straight away, but there's still plenty of mystery left to puzzle out!

I'm really loving Johanna, even when she was younger she had fire, and she's so sassy and intelligent and kind of sly when she needs to be. Poor old Marion gets left behind bless him, and we get a small smidge of his past too and come to know him a bit better along with why he's so determined to stick with Johanna. Nico appears to be coming along with our duo as well, which I'm thrilled about because I'm really loving her as a character!

Lorenzo is on the case this volume, along with Vito. They're kind of a hilarious duo and it makes me sad that they're on the opposite side to Johanna and co! I just want them to all get along, especially because I lowkey ship Lorenzo and Nico! They do appear to come to an understanding and start to team up this volume, which I'm excited to see in the next volume!

As we're on the trail of another of Mephisto's body parts, we meet an old friend of Johanna's. Niklas. I'm kind of wary of him, like I'm kind of expecting him to be dodgy, but he seems like he's okay. We'll see I guess. He's certainly got an interesting family and lineage, shall we say!

This volume has a nice mystery element to it, with a dose of creepy. The pace is steady, the art continues to be on point and there's some nice historical details and information in the afterword. While we do get a couple of answers, there's still plenty of mystery to keep you hooked and keep you guessing. I'm waiting for Lorenzo to just give in and join Team Mephisto but I guess we'll see! There's a new character thrown in to the mix who could prove interesting, and as we go to recover the next part of poor old Mephisto....we're hit with a tricky situation! All in all, this is an excellent volume, and a perfect continuation that leaves you wanting more!

[Lynn]

Today’s post is on Frau Faust, Vol. 2 by Kore Yamazaki. 160 pages long and is published by Kodansha Comics. The cover has Faust, Marion, and Mephisto on it. As it is the second volume in the series you need to have read the first volume to understand the story. There is no foul language, no sex, and mild violence in this manga. The intended reader is someone who likes fairy tale retellings and adventure manga. The story is told from third person close of mostly Faust but other characters as needed. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- Personal Demons

After narrowly escaping a battle with Lorenzo, Johanna falls unconscious. In her wounded state, the century- old memories of her first contract with Mephistopheles runs through her head. In these memories are answers Marion is beginning to understand: what is the nature of his master’s immortality, and how is her curse inextricably tied to the body of her demon? Faust, Marion, and Nico’s immediate aim is to find Mephisto’s right led, a mission that becomes more urgent when evidence of a young girl using demonic power comes to light. To find the next piece of her precious demon, Johanna may even need to form a tenuous deal with Lorenzo…


Review- A good second volume. Faust dreams about her past when she met Mephistopheles for the first time and all the times after until they made a contract. We get to see what drives her and how that has changed her. There is much we don't know yet but the journey is great and I like the characters. The world is becoming more complicated than the church characters would like but it is good to see them confront what lies they have been told and to see Faust overcome what stands before her. The child eating the demon blood is not the one who is the bad guy but it will be interesting to see how everything comes to light.


I give this volume a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I bought this manga with my own money.

[Karissa]

This is the second volume in the Frau Faust series and this was an excellent book in that series. I really ended up enjoying it.

Faust is recovering from her battle with Lorenzo and, in her unconscious state, she revisits her history and how she was originally bound to Mephisto (her demon). There is much more to the story than we were originally led to believe.

When Faust awakens she finds herself diminished to a child-like size but is determined to continue her quest to find Mephisto’s arm. The church she journeys to is very mysterious and, as Faust and crew unravel the mystery of a strange child within the church, Faust believe Mephisto’s limb might be somehow involved.

The illustration for this series is well done but not spectacular. Still, it’s easy to follow and I am really enjoying the characters and storyline.

Overall this is a very well done continuation of the Frau Faust series. I am enjoying the story and characters in this manga a lot and definitely plan on continuing it. I would recommend to those who enjoy manga like Black Butler or the Ancient Magus Bride.

[Rereader]

This was a great second volume for the series! It retained the best qualities of the first volume and built on the established characters. This volume seemed to be focused on the grey areas of morality, specifically with Faust. Her desire for knowledge leads her to committing devious acts, in this case introducing a plant to a famine-stricken village that causes annual sickness. While it is obvious that she shows compassion towards others, Mephisto is quick to acknowledge that Faust's obsession for knowledge is what drives her actions. Readers were also introduced to Faust's "daughter", Nico, a homonculus. Nico herself is an interesting character and her love for Faust is very sweet. I truly love this series and love seeing what new creatures or lore I'm going to encounter as the series continues. Truly an amazing work.

[Kristin]

If I hadn't ordered the first three volumes from the library together, I would have dropped this after the first book. Thankfully there's some actual characterization and plot in this volume and a decent cliffhanger to boot. Johanna's flashback provides some much needed character shading, but her modern incarnation continues to be irritating and smug.

[Zian B.]

More of a 3.5 star rating but I put 3 stars for the actual review because this volume was a bit all over the place. I had to read it a second time to make sure I understood some things.
I’m intrigued by the addition of new characters and didn’t expect this volume to take on such a dark turn. I’m very curious and almost nervous to see what happens in the next volume.

[David Doel]

I'm tired of manga that demeans Christianity. That does not mean that Christianity is undeserving of such treatment in Japan. I probably bought this because of the Faust connection. I've not read Faust, but I doubt that this story reflects the classic in any meaningful way. It's also very hard to follow.

[Elaine Ker]

J'aime de plus en plus les personnages, et tous ces mystères m'intriguent vraiment ! On a quelques sous-entendus saphiques sur un personnages secondaires, j'aime bien même s'il est très clair que ses sentiments ne seront pas réciproques :'(

[Vi]

one of my favorite manga of 2017.

[nidah05 (SleepDreamWrite)]

That cover art is really good. Same with the other volume. Another good volume in the series so far.

[Bee (BacchusVines)]

*plays Christina Aguilera's Keep Getting Better in the background*

[Cherish]

Another awesome and gripping read. I am looking forward to the next read.

[R]

Awesome storyline!! Creepy and suspenseful. I can't wait to read more! The illustrations are beautiful as well.

[Aliks Pendragon]

je pense avoir bien fait de continuer, dans ce tome là tout est beaucoup plus propre que le tome d'avant, les cases et la trad sont moins messy.
et c'est même plutôt intéressant.

[Talamar]

This just gets better and better.

[Meakuel]

Es bleibt weiterhin offen, welches "Spiel" Faust und Mephisto spielen, also zu welchem Zweck. Der Ausflug in Fausts Vergangenheit war aber auch ganz nett.

[Amanda [Novel Addiction]]

Still a very good story. These cliffhangers are killing me, though.

[poet]

Mephistopheles has large claws, strongly approve

[Rae the Reviewer]

Interesting continuation of the series and brings in a lot more backstory.

[Lindsay]

This was super interesting from start to finish.

[Mir]

More like 3.5, but this is very middle of a story. I'm interested in the direction it's going, though.

[Rachel]

Loved it!

[Cha.len.novels]

origin volume

[Amy]

Enjoying this series so far. I had fun!

[Caitlin ~WordsAreMyForte~]

This volume finally cleared up some misconceptions that were boggling me about Johanna and her whole immortality deal. Marion really wasn't present for most of this volume, and I feel like he is such an unnecessary character thrown in here just for the purpose of audience integration.
I appreciated the relationship between the two inquisitors -- guys can care about their friends too, geez. Mephisto is also getting creepier by the minute.