AGH RIP!!!! NICO!!! I love the way this series develops it’s characters and even though you don’t love their action, you truly understand them and their tragedies
What a ride this volume turned out to be. Ride as in, a tear jerker of despair with little grains of hope. The whole volume consisted of just two fights and flew right through both of them. The stronger of the two was definitely the battle with Rip which felt a lot more fleshed out due to Andy having more of a relationship with him that we have seen. Ultimately we learn the backstory of Rip and Latla, a sad tale of a doctor trying to save his love. The fight between the two of them was really fast paced and well plotted out, with Andy eventually saying he would do what he can to make Rip able to save Laila in the next loop. Once they move on from there, it's into the old hideout and a battle against Nico. Tatiana has a quick bit where she attacks Ruin and Seal but who knows how that turned out. The fight with Nico works well on a thematic and intellectual level as it deals with the discussion around memory and forgetfulness. The real kicker for Nico is that he remembers everything and the only memory of his wife is her face on her deathbed, and so he has made a deal with Ghost to see her again. We'll see how that plays out. The actual fight between them is by the books with nothing terribly fancy or thrilling about it. Ghost has seemingly fused with Nico, so I'll be intrigued to see what that turns into.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
The scenes with Rip and Latla are some of my favourites in the entire series, finally getting their backstory! Ever since Anno Un described Rip as a cool 'hero' who unfortunately became a villain, I was left wanting to know exactly how their backstory worked. And it's a tearjerker! I love his relationship with Latla and how their collective grief keeps them together but also ensures they can never really move past it. It reminds me a lot of Cross Game, in a way, and you gotta know I love that series to death.
This volume has a lot of characters going into the endgame of this Loop and doing whatever they can do find their loved one again. I think that's something really tragic about Undead Unluck, especially in this Loop, that so many characters just want their loved ones to be happy. They'll do anything to find a way to bring them back, make them smile, take their pain away, God makes everyone miserable with negator abilities and they're doing everything in their power to use those abilities to make someone else happy... except themselves. They're so content to let themselves suffer if it means making the one person they care about happy. Which makes Fuuko so cool because she wants EVERYONE to be happy, she cares about everyone.
We get a really good fight between Andy and Rip which was kind of a shock but still believable and I do feel the pacing is being rushed a bit to get to the next arc. But still a lot happens with Nico becoming a traitor which leads to a cool fight. I even like that Victor and Andy do have a nice bit of dialogue between each other and it is kind of nice that they are on good terms since the Autumn arc.
I'm not sure what you'd call this arc. The Ghost arc, I guess. Andy's got a new plan to defeat god, but first he has to save Fuuko, by fighting his way through both friend and foe. This is definitely one of the most emotionally charged volumes of the series. It feels like the time on UU's clock is running out. I'm excited to see how they stick the landing.
Rip and Nico's backstories are kind of underwhelming. This manga has had great emotional moments in the past, but these two felt "forced." At least we get more Latla and Ichico cleavage...!
Also, it is cool that Fuuko is more or less confirmed for the Loop.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
this volume got to me. everything with rip and latla like yeah i did cry. i am just hoping for the best with all of them and it hurts bc he loves leila but latla loves rip AND NOW. UGHHHHHHHHH. and then we have all the shit with nico??? and ANDY GONNA RESET SHIT AND GO BACK LIKE OHHHH BOY
I was upset about Rip going after Andy. With their fight, and backstory of Lala and him. It makes sense, on how we came to be. Andy's solution with the Ark, and what Ark was: 10/10
Read the official English translation through an app called “MANGA Plus by SHUEISHA”. This volume is definitely one of the more emotionally impactful volumes in this manga series. We see Andy continue to struggle to fight against Ruin, Seal and Ghost, as well as, there now being 2 traitors. Andy has a pretty difficult time in this volume while also there being backgrounds given for 2 notable characters; one from the Union and one from the Under. Their backgrounds were very heart wrenching to learn about and while their betrayal hurts, it’s somewhat reasonable. As always, I’m very excited going into this next volume to see how things play out for everyone.