The arrival of a foreign caravan provides plenty of excitement, but possibly a little too much, as MaoMao once again sees seemingly random occurrences in a sinister new light. As if that wasn’t enough, there’s a bit of business with a fungi, and it turns out that they actually do do it with mirrors.
Maomao engages in the business of being a mystery snoop of the best kind this volume, so an already great manga is back to doing what it’s always excelled at. Every single story is fully of clever problems along with the usual character beats. It’s perfect.
The caravan story is absolutely fascinating, just from the way it incorporates the politics of the court into the excitement of all these new items from around the world showing up, but that’s not the only trick up its sleeve.
No, Maomao starts from her perception of fashion (shrewder than you’d think) and then from there spirals out into the stuff of conspiracy theories. But it’s not just a theory if somebody’s actually doing something, now is it? The way she’s able to piece together several elements into a workable and worrisome theory is wonderful.
There’s also the way that Jinshi is coming to trust her judgement, going as far as to consult with her when he knows that her expertise can be of use. It’s just a continued evolution of their relationship, even if a genuine smile on MaoMao’s face is terrifying for all concerned.
And the slowly developing friendship between Maomao and Xiaolan has been really sweet. Maomao is certainly far more clever, but she has been teaching Xiaolan to read and when the latter asks her to walk the caravan with her, well, Maomao’s response is terribly heartwarming.
We also get the addition of Shisui to the cast, who becomes another friend of MaoMao’s and turns out to be just as weird, except over insects instead of poisons. The three of them hanging out is some of the most fun in the volume.
It’s hard not to love a book that has the phrase, ”I shall obtain consent prior to smelling anyone next time.” in it, honestly, and the back and forth of MaoMao and Jinshi is just as good as ever. As usual, she is obsessed with her medicines and this gets her some unwanted attentions more than once.
The second story ends up involving a multitude of mushrooms and is a tragic tale of somebody trying to do the right thing and then paying for it, plus a little revenge for good measure. Possibly some minor corpse desecration. It’s quite well done and I always appreciate how this series presents itself in stories like this.
The mirror story is a bit of a strange one, but it has some of the funniest parts to it and best reaction shots, plus Maomao’s continued obliviousness to the fact that Jinshi isn’t actually a eunuch. It’s decent, but nothing to write home about.
We end with the start of our next big storyline, which does have one pending aspect that feels a little too wacky for the series as it currently stands, but once again involves our hero trying to accomplish something that should be impossible using a little science, which is always a good time.
From the big action to the mysteries to the characterization to the trappings of the court, this is basically bulletproof. Every aspect balances the others neatly and even stuff that I normally couldn’t care less about becomes interesting at the hands of the creators.
5 stars - I will be honest; the only reason this isn’t my favourite manga series ever is because Frieren exists. Otherwise it would have top spot. I love how much work has gone into it, but how that care comes out in the story naturally.