ブラックガルド 5

Blackguard #5

by Ryo Hanada

『デビルズライン』の花田陵が描く、
自由と愛のダークファンタジー、ついに完結!


突如現れた化け物「ショウジョウ」に、世界は蹂躙されていた。
凶暴な力で人に牙をむき、少しでもショウジョウに傷つけられた者は
あるウイルスに感染し同じショウジョウとして蘇ってしまう。
人々は「空中都市」を作り、「ガルド」と呼ばれる討伐部隊を組織して
ショウジョウに対抗していた。

自分のために生きるのか、愛する人のために生きるのか。
あるいは、死を選ぶのか──。

誰もが自分と向き合いもがく中、
“飛行型”を一掃するための「アリアケ作戦」が始まった。

川上の「声」でショウジョウたちを焚きつけ、
翼が生えたクリスが空を飛び飛行型を誘導する役を担う。
そして、クリスを地上から援護するのは南。

危険だが成功すれば成果の大きい作戦の行く末は──。
そして、週末へと向かう物語が辿り着く先は──。

「自分のために生きろ。私たちは自由だ」

Genres: Manga, Science Fiction, Horror

224 pages, Paperback

First published December 23, 2021

About the author

Also known as Ryou Hanada and Ryoh Hanada.

Reviews

[Nella ☾ of Bookland · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 stars
Yikes, what happened with this one???

[sas · Rating 4 out of 5]

crying, screaming, throwing up. I'm going to miss this found dysfunctional family. The ending was bittersweet but also perfect.

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

The last couple of volumes were dreadful, a complete mess of a series.

[Siobhan Louise Johnston · Rating 5 out of 5]

6 stars 🌟

[Blair · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a great series!
Love, trama, fighting, flying monkeys
I wanted there to be more it ended sooo quick!

[cas · Rating 5 out of 5]

this volume had my heart by its strings. i completely fell into their world.

the series was beautifully tragic and became one of my top five manga series.

can't wait to read more works from this author!

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall series rating: 4.5 stars

This is such an underrated gem. At first a story about soldiers fighting for humanity against an infection that turns humans into mindless monsters, it ultimately becomes a story of love, and an affirmation of life and choice. It is perhaps a bit heavy handed at times, but that didn't detract from my enjoyment, as I was swept away by the story and its characters.

The love between Miyaji and Minami is the strongest element here, but there are plenty of other interesting characters. My other favorite ended up being Kawakami, who I hated in volume one, but the growth he undergoes is significant and well done.

I wish we were given more time to "rest" with the characters after the main events. I especially wanted some more Miyaji/Minami content. But the author does provide an epilogue of sorts, and just like real-life it's bittersweet.

This is heavy series. There is a lot of disturbing imagery, and a lot of discussion of death. But it is also hopeful. The author wrote that she used this story as a way of processing the inevitability of certain tragedies in life, and it works well within that theme.

Overall, this wasn't perfect, but it was beautiful and emotional, and I'm so glad I read it.

[Ya Boi Be Reading · Rating 3 out of 5]

This final volume was pretty nice. The afterword really helps rationalize the series as a series as a whole as Hanada explains the series was an exploration of more "unfightable" situations after the hopeful fight against stigmatization in Devil's Line. With that in mind this final volume is really great as you can feel Hanada exploring unfightable situations like death and terminal illness in her characters.
This isn't to say the story is amazing. It's still crazy with maybe a bit too many things going on especially with the AI becoming a main character. But Hanada is a strong story-teller and makes you still want to read and carry on through good character writing and good page-by-page writing.
Hanada's artwork over the series has improved. By this volume the art inconsistencies are gone and the artwork has become more consistent. Her use of spreads are strong and create a sense of timing and cinematic-ness to the reading which helps smooth the reading process as a whole.

[Nathaniel R. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ultimately, this is a series with a lot of interesting ideas that are not given the space/time to have the impact that I feel they are capable of having. I feel this Ryo would benefit in understanding giving emotional moments pause and pausing on reactions, which I feel is lacking in the blackguard series. This is especially the case since this is the last volume, and it feels we have were not able to explore what the author had set up.

Combined with a fairly basic art style, this is not a book I would recommend for being good or inspiring, but I feel this is something I will come back to in the future when discussing the evolution of Ryo's work.

I'm interested in what the future has to bring for this author.

[Raquel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This ending was way too rushed. The mangaka aimed to wrap up every character's story nicely while also adding a whole new character and trying to fit in their character arc as well. The mangaka should've just focused on the characters that were already established or done at least one more volume to end everything properly.

[Shawnie Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Took me months to read this even though I had the book on my nightstand because I knew I wasn’t going to be able to deal with Chris dying… or any of them for that matter and I was right.
BUT, I enjoyed this last volume. While I do feel it was rushed and the ending was ehhh it still gave me everything I needed to end the series.

[Samantha · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the last volume in the series. It was paced very poorly and kind of ended abruptly. I still seem very confused as to why certain plots were added and what the point was. I was really hoping to like this series and the first 3 volumes were great. But the last 2 volumes took a turn.

[Esther Reyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was very excited about this book, but it felt rushed. The ending, in my opinion, was definitely rushed. It's the last book, but it left me feeling empty

[Rochelle Benoit · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a brilliant ending to a unique story. I hope they get an anime someday.

[Aslaug Jonsdottir · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5 stars

[ReadingFrog · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 stars.

[Veera · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5

Oon pettynyt

[gaywhodrives · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to give this series a higher rating but I can't. I like the characters a lot but the execution of the plot does them so so so poorly.

⚠️ TW ⚠️ Also, there needs to be a trigger warning on this volume because there is blatant trans bashing and harmful language. This came out of nowhere towards Alice. She deserved a much more in depth part of the story and all she got was bashed and the woman who "loved her" only "loved her as a man" and was lying to her the whole time about it?? this whole section pissed me off

I like Chris and Minami so much. They had good chemistry. If this story could be adapted into a longer more indepth novel, it would be amazing. It was just heavily lacking here unfortunately.