Though the devastating second round of the Six ways Exhibition may have been a tough act to follow, the contenders of the third bout promise a show down for the ages! Next onto the field of battle are Soujirou the Willow-Sword and Ozonezma the Capricious. Soujirouis known for his ability to kill at a single glance and has even reduced legends to after thoughts. But it will take more than that to shake Ozonezma. The enigmaticchimera has more than a few tricks in store, including a mysterious ability prepared just for Soujirou…
Ishura truly takes its sweet time to build its world and introduce (and weed) its characters, but once the pieces are in place and the gears start kicking, it gets truly interesting. This volume was exceptional to me because it truly shapes Elea into a three-dimensional personality, tragic as she was. It also broke my heart, because a character I'd grown fond of exited the stage - but Ishura had done that to me before, several times.
The matches are also fascinating: Soujirou finally showed fear in his battle against Ozonezma, and at the same time we got more glimpses of the Beyond and Shiki. The match between Rosclay and Kia was emotionally painful: Kia was just a child thrown into the mess, not having any killing intention herself while harboring a lot of love inside. Meanwhile, although we might not approve of Rosclay's ways, it was hurtful to read about him having to endure all the physical pain because he just could not surrender as the people's champion. And the deal between Kuze, Tu, and Uhak! It all just made me even more curious about where this all's headed! I will pick up volume 5 soon.
By the way, why does the translation keep referring to Jelky as jut 'Jel' in this volume?