The battle between Shou and Kyou comes to a dramatic end.

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This chapter concluded the battle arc in a dramatic fashion. The first part of the chapter reviews Kyou’s relationship with his brother and their constant antagonism. We then turn back to Shou, who is reacting to Kaede’s final spell. He begs Kyou to kill him because the spell is unpredictable, but Kyou doesn’t act quickly enough. Shou’s hair turns white and his teeth grow into fangs. He begins destroying the area as Kyou and his men try to seal him. Shou finally sees Misao and runs up to her. While they hug, Kyou takes the chance to cut Shou down. Shou dies smiling at his death by Kyou’s hand and his moment with Misao. The chapter ends with Misao returning home to her parents with a sadness in her heart unknown to them.

This chapter was meant to be dramatic, and although it accomplished this mission, it was badly tied together. It seemed as if the resolution was pulled out of thin air. I have no idea what Kaede’s spell was supposed to do and I have no idea why it turned Shou into a fang monster that shot energy balls. It is also unclear why hugging Misao stopped Shou. I felt as if this whole section was just there to build up drama with a massive energy surge, but the surge itself was not explained at all.

There was also way too little real dialogue in this chapter. Most of it was pointless flashback and Kyou’s thoughts. The amount of inner reflection only added to my confusion because it was like a run-on sentence throughout the whole chapter. I got lost in what Kyou was saying and I got lost in the action taking place. The actions just weren’t drawn clearly enough for me to understand what was going on.

Despite my criticisms of this chapter, overall, it was a decent ending to the Shou arc. I think both Kyou and Misao got an acceptable amount of closure and Shou died in a pretty nice way. I’m hoping that the next arc and chapter can add some more clarity when it comes to action scenes. We’ll have to wait and see who the next big villain turns out to be.

GO Rating: 2/5

[mangahere]