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Zettai Karen Children 238
[scanlation by JS Scans]
The Children’s initial reactions to the mission briefing: more delusions. I would have been fine if Minamoto going Bond-style suave on Momiji was just the whole chapter. As it stands, there’s been a tad too little of his competent side visible lately.
Even Minamoto is curious as to how this became their job, and rightfully so. Despite the fact that level 7s have been specifically assigned to this mission, it’s true that, except for Shiho, their powers are pretty useless for this. The government is throwing espers at their problem expecting a brute force solution, but as an experienced terrorist agent, Momiji is really unlikely to be persuaded via force. Seduction as a mission is going to take other experienced hands at Babel who actually know how to handle women, which means Sakaki, pimp cowboy outfit and all.
Sakaki’s inclusion in this arc pays immediate dividends. He may be capable of hitting a sniper rifle with a thrown scalpel, but his most important job is that of the womanizing comic relief. His shift in tone from enthusiastic to evasive is quite amusing. Of course, he’s not getting out of there so easily.
Got a Death Star you want blown up instead?
Apparently, the obvious way of blackmailing Muscle is out; Robiet is claiming the ambassador is a different person from the criminal that fires Hard Gay beams. I had been wondering about why Muscle’s past wasn’t being used as leverage. If anything, it’s a testament to the competence of Babel that somebody kept that footage intact, presumably resisting the urge to burn the computer it was on.
Yet more signs of growth from Kaoru. This time she’s practicing cooking, starting from the basic omelet. This act of maturity is quite possibly the biggest step forward. Before, she was taking more responsibility for and being more conscious of the actions of those around her, but now she’s actively concentrating on self-improvement. This is such heartwarming progress she’s made from the 10-year-old who relied on her natural gifts for everything and thought that “adult” only meant 18 and over.
Though it may take a while yet
At last, we finally start to see Minamoto reacting to Kaoru’s maturity. Like a real parental figure, he’s happy for her, but immediately he starts feeling lonely. While he’s a long way yet from being an empty-nester, he’s definitely paying for Kaoru’s newfound independence with the closeness they used to share as pseudo-parent and child. Those are some very complex emotions, and the method used of displaying old memories use to depict them is very effective.
Well, it’s officially a date; Minamoto, Sakaki, and Momiji are going out to have some fun. I’m really looking forward to more exposition on Momiji, and the prerequisite comedy that comes from Sakaki trying way too hard.
Final Flash: Excellent chapter for a number of reasons, from cowboy Sakaki to Minamoto’s memories.
The World God Only Knows 122
[scanlation by Red Hawk Scanlations]
Excellent chemistry between Haqua and Keima continues to entertain, especially after that shower scene last chapter. Keima has to be one of the most single-minded harem protagonists of all time (TWGOK soon will be one if it isn’t already). He’s seriously so centered on the goddesses that he continues to miss the most obvious hints of tsundere coming from Haqua. I’m not complaining; it’s kind of hilarious.
Excellent use of bold text
Make no mistake about it, Keima’s focus right now is the goddesses, and he’s definitely done a good job of thinking ahead. Yes, they need the goddesses drawn out quickly, but the Vintage agent is still around, and bringing out a powerless goddess would just invite more stabbings.
Starting with Ayumi, the mass conquest plan begins. The apple on the desk is a pretty classy touch, and the rooftop confession scene is an extremely enjoyable one, all the way to the ending high-kick by Ayumi. For all the extra plot elements behind Keima’s actions now, Wakaki Tamiki never loses his touch in making romance cute. It’s also fun to see the school tabloids have not been idle.
Your source for all Idol x Geek related gossip
Keima’s plan is to power up the goddesses through copious doses of love, with the end objective of stealing first base. This plan is totally appropriate for this series. Frankly, it’s just a great excuse to see more quick romance.
A similar confession scene with Chihiro brings about a fantastic punchline: Keima not only has a script for each confession he’s going to do, but it’s the same script (albeit with a decision tree built in) for each one. That is so very like this manga. I’m loving this arc already, and we’ve still got a couple more interesting characters to go through. This series has been showing us nothing but its very best of late.
It always pays to plan ahead
Final Flash: Hilarious, fast-paced, and fun. There’s still no evidence as yet as to what part of Keima’s new plan is “demonic.”
Kekkaishi 328
[scanlation by A-Team]
Kekkaishi’s getting the Shonen Sunday cover for once. Excellent.
Shichiro and Raijin are up in the sky, sporting some sweet new banchou-style outfits. Also, talk about a large-scale kickoff to the festivities. The giant storm that they whip up should certainly be some effective camouflage, which is kind of a necessity given the nature of what’s about to start. Certainly, any storm large enough to cause school closures will keep normal people from noticing large scale paranormal warfare.
Free at last
Surprisingly, our cool new outfits get a bit more exposition. Apparently they’re what Raijin and Shichiro’s father used to wear. The way this comes up in conversation is a reminder that Shichiro still has outstanding family issues of his own, as do most of the side-characters in this series. This little chat doesn’t exactly add much to the plot at hand, but it does continue to contribute to the richness of character background that this series thrives on.
Cut away to the Yagyou, who are prepping for the support role they’ll have to play in the upcoming battle. This is probably one of the last times we’ll get to see Sen, and he seems more committed now than ever to the background role of information gatherer. Given his abilities, it was the job that most suited him; his acceptance of that is a sure sign that he’s matured.
Especially compared to a certain someone
In rather ironic contrast with his squad, Masamori does actually have a critical role on the front lines, and he’s visibly feeling it. For a long time, he actually was the strongest character that we knew, before others such as Shichiro and Mrs. Sumimura started showing up. Once he wasn’t the strongest, we saw increasingly visible signs of an inferiority complex. All of this buildup gives his excitement at having finally gained a chance at the spotlight completely understandable.
Pressure he's always wanted, that is
The plan Zerogou mentioned last chapter is revealed: Suigetsu and Nichinaga’s companion girls are in hiding, stored away in a magic room that will presumably be quite difficult to find. Nichinaga is as pissed as we’ve ever seen him. At least as far as psychological warfare goes, Zerogou’s plan seems to have worked excellently.
Final Flash: We got see a couple of nice moments from the allied forces, and Zerogou chose the correct way to hurt Nichinaga.
Toriko 117
[scanlation by Hi Wa Mata Noboru]
It looks like this isn’t the real Melk after all. The title page definitely seems to indicate that the real Melk is in fact super-buff like Toriko was expecting.
Toriko’s explanation of how he deduced that this Melk was fake is another reaffirmation that, while Komatsu may be better at observing ingredients, Toriko is no slouch in the brains department. The size thing wasn’t exactly easy to miss, but it’s pretty impressive that he didn’t just chalk up Melk’s youth to Gourmet Cell magic (as I did at first).
The shocking truth is that this Melk is the second generation disciple of the previous one. That’s not too surprising, really. Given that Melk knives have still been coming out without anybody noting a drop in quality, somebody had to have been doing it in the first generation’s stead.
Having finished the Century Soup continues to pay dividends for everyone’s favorite midget chef. It’s good to know this widespread recognition isn’t changing his personality at all. Classic impressed-by-everything Komatsu is one of the main linchpins that makes this series fun.
Some handle fame more smoothly than others
Komatsu’s knife taking three years to finish due to order backlogs is the kind of obstacle this series overcomes regularly enough. That segment is worth nothing aside from a quick Komatsu facial gag. Much more interesting is the notice Melk II takes in the blade of Komatsu’s old knife. We know Komatsu’s been handling his knife well, and this is just another way of indicating how impressive of a chef he is.
Melk I has been away hunting for the stardust for six years, and now Toriko’s going to go retrieve him and the stardust in exchange for getting Komatsu’s knife faster. That neatly wraps up the three main plots of this arc: finding old Melk, finding the stardust, and getting Komatsu’s knife. Given the fact that this arc is very marginally relevant to the main plot, I appreciate that it’s going to be handled with appropriate brevity.
We close by introducing a new environment: the Heavy Hole, a super-gravity cavern. Considering that Toriko recently dealt with something similar in the gourmet world’s enhanced gravity and got his tail whipped, he’s going to have to step up his game just to get to the bottom. As a side note, the sequence of panels with the dinosaur struggling to get up is a pretty effective way to show off truly crushing amounts of gravity. Not only can’t he get up, he’s actually sinking into solid rock. That’s an appropriately intimidating introduction.
Should have done more Pilates
Final Flash: Heavily an exposition chapter, but the Heavy Hole looks promising.
Enigma 9
[scanlation by CXC Scans]
Congrats to Sakaki Kenji on earning enough votes for a top-5 Table of Contents spot and a color page. This manga certainly deserves it.
Last chapter, we were left waiting with baited breath to find out the nature of Matsurigi’s “cubic subtraction” ability. This chapter wastes no time with the reveal: Matsurigi can shrink (and otherwise modify) objects. The ability does fit the name, but I’m not sure how a miniaturized flagpole will solve our current predicament.
Further proving that these abilities are well thought out, the cubic subtraction ability is numbers-based, restricted to powers of 10. This makes it a bit less useful than straight alchemy, but such a limit allows Matsurigi’s character and intelligence to be brought to the forefront. Even the most creative power is still only just a power until it gets paired with an interesting user.
Matsurigi’s motivation is perhaps the easiest to appreciate of any other thus far; he wants to be a doctor because he wants to save lives. His motivation, more than any other, hints at character development he underwent between discovering his power and the current e-test, probably something having to do with seeing his parents work as doctors. It’s an appreciably subtle way of hinting towards something deeper with this character.
Ok, that’s how you use a shrink-regrow power. That whole sequence – shrinking it from 600cm to 6cm to get it through the crack, then partially regrowing it to 60cm to block the heat vent, then returning it to full size to ram down the incinerator door – was an unpredictable level of badass from this character. That’s what I’m talking about; limited powers make their users look much cooler.
Cool guys don't look at explosions
Haiba reminding Matsurigi of “that man” is a worrisome tidbit. First of all, we don’t have any clue who “that man” is. Also, it feels a little soon (specifically for a mystery series) to start drawing comparisons between the main character and important people from the past. It’s not a huge concern, but this device for building up the main character has been abused a lot over the years.
Of course, there are consequences for Matsurigi’s busting down the incinerator door: Haiba now has blackmailing material to get out of cleaning toilets. This is a delightful short comedy bit showcasing the chemistry between these two characters.
Not friends in everyday life
They’ve acquired the third password, along with a capsule which cures the shadow. Shockingly, Matsurigi not only chooses to avoid taking it, but makes a big show of fooling the others into thinking he has. I can only guess as to what his reasons are, but they’ve got to be good ones.
Now the guy wearing the mascot costume is evidently set for an arc. Talk about total unknown quantities.
Final Flash: The use of cubic subtraction was the most badass utilization of powers this far this series, and one of the best-planned.
Zettai Karen Children 237
[scanlation by JS Scans]
After the Phantom Portrait arc, we’re due for some comedy, which Muscle Okamarov the ambassador is certain to provide. It was quite a shock when we first learned that he was actually a hyper-competent diplomat. Only now does it become obvious as to why: the Japanese foreign ministry has exactly no female diplomats.
Better diplomacy through gay chicken
Meanwhile, at school, a fall down the stairs results in an accidental kiss between Hanai and Touno, the perennial non-couple. Mio sees and tells everyone, leading to a quite entertaining lunch conversation among the main group. Kaoru is kind of expected to want all the juicy details. However, delusional fujoshi Patty taking the story as yet more evidence that Kagari and Touno are a gay couple is a nice sidenote gag.
Shiho, level-headed as always, understands what actually happened. Thus, the focus turns from kissing at school to other scandalous romantic moments, specifically all those times the kids came on to Minamoto. Now a bit older and wiser, they realize how disastrous their early attempts at romance could have been. This is another instance of the reflective part of this manga; I love the way it sets up early situations with the kids acting immature and ties it in with their current growth.
We can’t get too serious here. Any reflection by Kaoru on deeds past wouldn’t be complete without a wild delusion or two.
Not pictured: a realistic Minamoto
Tying back with the beginning of this chapter, the Children have now been charged with trying to get leverage over Muscle by getting Momiji to defect. This is interesting, considering Momiji is probably the most relevant character about which we know nothing.
Final Flash: This was a fresh-feeling introduction to an arc featuring a proven comedy character and a totally unknown quantity. Very promising.
The World God Only Knows 121
[scanlation by Red Hawk Scanlations]
I love the job Haqua is doing filling in for Elsie. Her disguise is flawless, except for the fact that she gets questions right in math class.
Specially mentioning Akari now is a bit odd. It is true that Keima still doesn’t know her true identity, but she does feel a little out of place when talking about the other conquests. While her arc was an interesting one to read, it seems more out of place in hindsight.
Akari’s also eliminated from consideration by virtue of the now-defined borderline: only girls Keima could plausibly encounter in a regular school day could have goddesses. This category includes Chihiro and Ayumi, as well as Shiori (the library girl), Tsukiyo (the doll girl), and Yui (the body-swap rich girl). Chihiro and Ayumi are fairly obvious at this point, but as for which of the other three are going to be in there, I can’t be sure; all of them feel equally important at this juncture.
The montage of girls who have been systematically been eliminated from the plot disappointingly includes some very interesting ones, particularly Sumire and Nanaka. At least they earned a mention.
Seriously, the shop could have been a sweet hangout spot
Of course, knowing where the goddesses are is exactly half the problem. The key point of this search is that they have to be dragged out from hiding. I expect this necessity of the arc to shift Keima’s focus from analysis to action.
Haqua’s sleeping over? Excellent. The evolving chemistry between her and Keima as partners is becoming increasingly fun to watch as she gets more and more dragged along by him.
The mention of Kanon is being used a lot to prompt serious mood swings. I do get that Keima regrets what happened, but there’s a limit to how much that point needs to be hammered home. We could do with a little less of that at this point.
Haqua’s shower was a fairly obvious setup for what happened next: an oblivious Keima walking in on her. While this situation is as old as it comes, the author still gets props for avoiding the pitfalls Kimi no Iru Machi has encountered of late by not stuffing the shower scene with full frontal. He gets even more props, however, for this:
A sound effect to define the decade
Haqua provides a typical Tsundere reaction, prompting a peculiar statement from Keima. Now he’s going to be a demon? Does that mean he’s going to start acting like a Black Rainbow protagonist? The impact of this statement is only magnified by the fact that he delivers it buck naked. Gotta love this guy.
Final Flash: Serious development at the end aside, this chapter got good results out of deepening the chemistry between Keima and Haqua.
The World God Only Knows 120
[scanlation by Red Hawk Scanlations]
The search for the goddesses continues, taking us all the way to a neighboring university town.
I never get tired of being reminded about just how awesome Keima has managed to be. 16 conquests is quite an achievement, though it does make the task at hand somewhat more difficult.
It's not him, it's that sex pistol of a PFP
Meeting up with the wrestling-obsessed teacher again brings back some fond memories of earlier, less-serious arcs. It’s a fun set of memories, and seeing Haqua forced into the role of fake girlfriend is a nice bonus dose of cute.
Keima’s mention of the boundary line and subsequent interaction with Jun does seem to disqualify most of the girls we haven’t seen since their conquest. It is somewhat intuitive that the ones we’ve seen nothing of are going to continue to be less relevant, as they’d be much harder to integrate into the main plot. Still, it’s too bad we won’t get to see the ramen shop girl again.
Another check with Minami, the underclassman in swimming club, confirms Keima’s theory that only girls close to him are possible goddess-holders. Also worth mentioning: Keima is acting like more of a bona fide playboy in this scene, matching his current public image. His confidence with normal girls seems to have increased significantly since he started doing conquests.
I would pour hot coffee on this face
Keima’s attitude on the rooftop is a jolting moment of character introspection. He still has the conflicting emotions over getting Kanon involved in things hanging over his head; add to that mix the realization that the conquests he put so much effort into were so easily erased, and it makes for one terrific effort by Wakaki Tamiki to put a dent in his confidence.
Final Flash: Nice to see girls from prior arcs, but I will miss the girls who were not (and will probably not be) shown.
Enigma 8
[scanlation by CXC Scans]
I’m interested to see how the moral dilemma the characters were presented with last chapter will be altered by Matsurigi’s shadow-induced selfishness.
In defiance of almost all precedent, this sudden and abrupt shift in Matusrigi’s tone does not go unnoticed. Not only is Haiba immediately suspicious, but the hooded guy also quickly notices the flecks of black on Matsurigi’s hand and keeps the door from being unlocked. My respect for our protagonists is being earned yard-for-yard.
The delay in opening the door gives Matsurigi time to reassert himself and regain control of his body. While it would have been interesting to have him remain as a shadow for the duration of the third password test, this particular action makes up for how abruptly he was cut off last chapter; he’s actually getting to dispense the information now.
Testimony about the shadow shows that it at least has human hands. In some ways, the bad guy is a bit scarier that way than as a formless mass; we now know just enough to prompt speculation, but not enough to formulate anything solid. That uncertainty is what creates effective fear.
Plus, those are hardly ordinary hands
Matsurigi’s reassertion doesn’t mean that he’s going to remain himself forever. Even if he gets out, there’s not any guarantee he won’t become a shadow before the e-test finishes. That’s one plotline that could go any number of ways.
Interesting line of reasoning coming from the hooded guy. I understand his hating Enigma, but another thing gleaned from his speech is that, apparently, even he is concerned about group unity at this point. I guess somewhere along the line he observed that this group of people can function effectively together. In any event, nice subtle attitude shift.
Youthfully rebelling into camaraderie
So, we go for that standard third option: choose both and save everything. That is a tad disappointing, but it does give us the opportunity to see a new power demonstrated.
Apparently, Sumio can do something like telepathic communication now. Weird. Now that we’ve seen him do this, I’d kind of like to see an explanation for his new powers sooner rather than later. As it is, I’m a tad confused about what all he can actually do.
They open the password door, and Matsurigi is now ready to free himself through his new power, something called “Cubic Subtraction.” A little surprised they opted to show his power rather than the hooded guy’s; this makes me all the more curious what his will eventually be.
Final Flash: This chapter produced unpredictability on a page-by-page basis. Not in the sense of inconsistency, but in the sense that the next step is never boringly clear. Mystery series can thrive on this balancing of suspense and surprise.
Zettai Karen Children 236
[scanlation by JS Scans]
Supplement’s back, thankfully.
It seems last chapter was not the end of the Phantom Portrait arc, despite several indications that it was. Instead, we kick off with a curtain call for the play. Likely this chapter is going to be a wrap-up one for the arc.
The truce between Fujiko and Hyoubu continues for now, but that doesn’t stop them from baiting each other. Despite subtle hints that Hyoubu is becoming more open-minded towards normals and the government, it’s nice to see he can still banter like an antagonist. While I still expect him to change more significantly in the long run, last chapter was enough of a personality shift for a while.
Minamoto, being still in the dark about Hyoubu’s hidden agenda, compliments him for coming just to see the kids’ play. It seems like Hyoubu is going to slip under the radar this time, which is all the more promising. That said, his reaction when he realizes he just got a compliment from Minamoto is great.
It's not like I agree with your principles or anything
Kaoru kind of knows that Hyoubu did something, but has no idea what. Her intuition could do with a little more elaboration. Knowing vaguely that something happened doesn’t do anything much here other than give Hyoubu another opportunity to knee-combo Minamoto.
Yuuri seems to be building up a library of memories and souvenirs, the latest being her costume from the play. It’s fairly insignificant by itself, but if it becomes a thing, it could be used to flesh out her character whenever Phantom Daughter reemerges.
Last of all, the mascot characters, the most disparate pair in terms of relevance. Seriously, Feather is a plot-central timestream-hopping super-esper, while Momotarou is Hyoubu’s telepathic flying squirrel.
Because you're a squirrel
Apparently Feather’s obligation to change the past didn’t come into things today. Given how broken she’s been shown to be, it’s probably good for the plot that she’s not involved in every little thing. That statement she makes at the end, though, the one about things that Hyoubu let happen, is cryptic and could be referring to either his backstory or something yet to occur.
Final Flash: The Phantom Portrait arc ended without another major upheaval, which is probably for the best.
Kekkaishi 327
[scanlation by A-Team]
Mahora keeps wordlessly lashing out, and Tokine keeps phasing out. This interplay oddly reminds me of the relationship between Grineed and his assistant from Beet the Vandel Buster; this dynamic, with the powerful one pounding away while the invincible one tries to calm him down, feels quite similar. In any event, Tokine definitely seems to be showing a bit of stress despite her invulnerability as Mahora continues to throw wild attacks at her.
Making it a little hard to concentrate
I do like the way this confrontation is being set up as a mental battle of attrition, with Tokine trying to avoid snapping until Mahora decides to stop attacking and listen to her. This kind of struggle fits her character quite nicely.
In the course of trying to persuade Mahora, Tokine’s arguments turn towards Karasumori, and her thoughts turn towards her late father. Going virtually unmentioned for 300 chapters or so, the way her emotions are shown at the bottom of page 8 is absolutely perfect. One of the ways that Kekkaishi really hooked me was its unique approach to showcasing grief; it’s never something Tanabe hits you over the head with, and it’s rarely at the forefront of anything, but that makes moments like these so greatly impactful.
Cue up the Mother 3 love theme
Souji’s back up and about. Far more interesting than that, though, is Zerogou, coming to him with a job offer and making a roundabout allusion, which Souji misses, to a coup d’état. He’s clearly attempting to overthrow, or at least stop, Nichinaga. How he plans to do so should be interesting.
Prisoner #536’s transparent attempt to get away from Ichigou is a nice little bit of light comedy. I did not expect he’d be this fun when he was introduced two chapters ago.
It's important to put ranks in Bluff
Tokine’s continued speeches are getting a reaction from Mahora. Unfortunately for her, he’s not talking, but rather bringing to bear a raging tempest that gets felt by every powerful character in the Shinyuuichi. You have to wonder if she gets found out because of the tangible commotion her negotiations are causing.
Nichinaga waking up to find himself alone has the potential to go in very interesting directions. He may be a strong villain, but his ability is entirely people-dependent; all he himself can do is brainwash, which is meaningless without subordinates to play with.
Final Flash: This chapter continued to deliver with Tokine, and introduced an interesting new element with Zerogou’s plan.
The World God Only Knows 119
[scanlation by Red Hawk Scanlations]
Oh, it’s that one Gokult lady again. I would like to see more of Haqua’s partner. As an old-school dating-sim buff, the concept of a buddy who operates on the town-map system of the 90s is immensely promising. That said, Gokult lady will likely stay as a side character for a while yet.
Just as Elsee is taking Kanon’s place using a magic disguise, Haqua now is using magic to disguise herself as Elsee. Now all we need is Kanon to sub in for Haqua once this whole cursed dagger thing clears up, and the cycle will be complete.
Not that it would ever fool these eyes
Haqua wastes no time getting tsundere on Keima. That routine could do with a little more variety, but I think that them being partners for the duration of the arc is a good opportunity to take the chemistry beyond that of a standard tsundere relationship.
The logic behind deducing where the other goddesses are is vintage Keima. It still seems he has some deeper reason as well, but he continues to cite games as his number one precedent for pattern-recognition. Good to know that part of him is still as strong as ever.
Kanon’s public confession seems to have had wide-ranging consequences. Now the whole school knows, and the fans are raging. Fortunately, Keima seems to have integrated even this into his grand master plan.
Possibly the lamest protest group ever
We’ve been getting really mixed signals from Chihiro. She’s been ambiguous about remembering things whenever asked directly, but her actions, both passively and now actively taking an interest in Keima, suggest she does remember. I would not mind her being a significant cast member at all. That said, hopefully the ambiguous “Does she remember me or not?” teases will all be settled by the end of the dance festival.
Haqua is definitely a more interesting sounding board for Keima’s explanations than Elsee. The exposition of Keima’s plan was made way funnier by her deadpan comments afterward. This is the kind of chemistry I was hoping for.
The makings of a perfect partnership
Ayumi seems to be acting more aggressively towards Keima as well. She is another prominent and enjoyable character, but her and Chihiro both having goddesses would be a bit of a reach. It would be kind of lazy, just going with characters who have gotten the most post-conquest screen time, and would leave little room for potentially interesting but less prominent characters to play a role.
Keima’s final internal monologue of the chapter is yet another bold statement, but it differentiates itself from other similar statements made in the past in that it’s made with him lying upside down against the wall. Classic.
Final Flash: This chapter had some decently entertaining moments, and did its part to advance the arc forward.
Enigma 7
[scanlation by CXC Scans]
Sensible decision of the guys to leave someone behind to guard the girls. There will indeed be no lame hostage plots in this manga. Well, the president is already captured, but none of the “save the distressed damsel” plot that lesser series seem to love.
Matsurigi is indeed in the incinerator. Strange, though not entirely off-base, for him to cite his student council duties so insistently now. He’s clearly not the leader figure after being captured so easily. Still, it does provide us with a solid moment of comedy.
Student council members: They just always know
The next password hunt/test begins. This time, it’s a moral dilemma problem. One key, two doors, and something important behind each one. Fairly standard setup. Of course, ever the hero, Haiba vows to get both.
Moto vanishing the door is a pretty good utilization of his power. This is a clever way for him to contribute, and it also soothes one of my few lingering worries about this series. Up till now, we were dealing with puzzles deliberately written to make characters useful. While they were well-written puzzles, they were situational. Moto’s actions here show that Sakaki Kenji is abundantly capable of applying set powers to a wide variety of situations.
Opacity doesn't stand a chance
Unfortunately, seeing through the door does little to help the guys figure out a way past it. Matsurigi, about to be taken over by the shadow, seems resigned to lose his life anyway. Too bad he went under before he was able to spill that one critical bit of information about the shadow’s identity.
The shadow taking over Mitsurigi triggers an abrupt personality change. Evil Mitsurigi now is demanding to be freed. It seems like he’s going to play Haiba and Moto’s humanity against them. This would be an appropriate time for the hooded guy to step up to the plate.
Final Flash: Very solid chapter. This series has a good way of delivering situational uses for the limited powers it gives its characters.
Toriko 116
[scanlation by Hi Wa Mata Noboru]
With Melk now revealed to be a fabulous bishonen, Toriko and Komatsu certainly show enough shock. I guess we were expecting a bit less sparkle and more muscle, based on the rumors they heard.
Despite the shoddy maintenance of Melk’s hut, Komatsu’s totally geeking out over its contents. That aspect of his character never gets old, and given that this is a spotlight arc for him, I’m expecting fun times.
Better than an ocean of penguin drool
It’s a bit odd that Melk’s house would be this slashed up. On one hand, it fits his design, but on the other hand, what we’ve seen of his knife skills indicates he has a bit more control than that. Toriko seems to be aware of this, also.
Okay, the cuts in the floor make sense if a comparatively dull Melk knife can bury itself blade-first in the floor just by free-falling. The knives have to be at least that good for them to be a serious level-up for Komatsu, anyway.
It’s an interesting choice on Toriko’s part to backhandedly insult Melk and then mess up the floor of his house. He has to be deliberately provoking Melk for some reason; I can’t see Toriko being this much of a jerk by accident. Melk has certainly been provoked enough.
We'll settle this with a caber toss
Knife fight time! Toriko’s hand-knife matches up evenly with Melk’s, and after a little action, he has Melk down on the ground. The twist at the end, that this Melk is not, in fact, the real one, raises a couple possibilities: possibly he’s a disciple, or else Melk is a company’s name rather than a single person’s.
Final Flash: Felt like a short chapter. Hopefully the fake Melk plot doesn’t lead to a sizable detour.
Zettai Karen Children 235
[scanlation by JS Scans]
No omake this time around, and another Hyoubu cover. This claims to be the last chapter of the arc, which should work given that most of the action is wrapped up.
We get to see a little more of the play. Not fantastic, but it is supposed to be middle school students acting. They’re not all going to be Oscar-winners.
Kaoru gets a vision of Yuuri in her head somehow and rushes off in the middle of the play, leaving Kazura and Hino to cover for her. The script for the play may not be great, but watching characters improvise on stage is a ton of fun.
Written by Gainax
Kaoru rushes backstage to find Yuuri is fine, except for a total gap in her memories of the first half of the play. With all the maturing she’s done recently, she could stand to come out of this a little more suspicious of Yuuri.
Apparently, Hyoubu got Nai and Hanzo to take Yuuri back for him, after having temporarily sealed Mirage off. An interesting thing I took out of this flashback: Hyoubu changed his wording when saying that normals had made Yuuri suffer. He casually corrected himself and instead blames the adults around her. This is a subtle shift in the character that used to blame normals for everything without a second thought, appropriate for the long-term track this series takes.
The decision to get Mirage to quit Black Phantom on her own, allowing her to spend time as Yuuri, is not perhaps the best possible one to come out of this arc, but it is more suitable for Hyoubu. He can’t kill other espers for two reasons very central to his character: 1) needing to be morally above Minamoto in Kaoru’s eyes, and 2) his own strong esper-supremacist stance. It wouldn’t quite be appropriate for him to go all Killer 7 on other espers now.
As always, the anti-villain
Thus, the play ends with a middle school-level story twist – a reincarnated character. I guess it sort of fits with the serious part of the arc.
Final Flash: The play itself didn’t amount to much story-wise, but Yuuri vs. Hyoubu was interesting, and Mirage being sealed means that Black Phantom is not going to be a plot focus for at least the next arc. I’m looking forward to whatever Shiina decides to shift focus to.
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