Narutaru, Vol. 5 (Japanese) (Japanese Edition) ebook

NOTE: The following review contains very major spoilers and crucial plot points that take place past the end of the anime and current English manga releases. This particular review has massive amounts of spoilers beyond what I've mentioned before, and I'm giving you fair warning. If you do not want this story completely and utterly ruined for you in every way, DO NOT read any further.

So you thought the notorious volume 6 (English 7) was depressing, did you? Yes? And perhaps volumes 7 through 9 gave you some time to get your head back in place? Okay. Prepare to lose it again--in a way that you never have before while reading this series and never will again. It's not out in English, so volume 10 doesn't have as much of a reputation as book 6 does, but that doesn't mean it doesn't deserve one. This volume concerns no one but the three good guys (Shiina Tamai, Takeo Tsurumaru, Norio Koga) and the United States military, whose own captive dragon Tarask somehow escaped. Tarask's bearer is a sickly boy named Robert, and his mother Jen Franklin has been sent to Japan to track the beast down. Jen quickly befriends spunky young protagonist Shiina, who begins helping her in her quest to retrieve the hulking shadow dragon. It's a crazy chase through the streets of Tokyo, and along the way there are more than a few shocks and secrets. Yes, more shocks than volume 6. Be prepared.

Some fans like shocks. Some like it when everything they thought to be true is really as far from the truth as possible. I cannot stress this enough, but volume ten will rip you from your comfy chair and drop you into nothing but misery. Almost every character who shows up in this volume has something miserable happen to them, be it trying to quell Tarask's fury or getting caught in a nuclear explosion. Most miserable of all is the brutal torture and death of Norio Koga, one of the deepest and most misunderstood characters in the whole realm of comics, whose selflessness was anything but expected. It's such a depressing thought that he never had a scrap of compassion in him until his demise, and that he secretly wished for a child and never admitted it until it was too late. I won't tell you exactly how he meets his end, but it's not at all pretty, and even worse to think that such a powerful young man was undone by a gang of sick-minded street punks. This is so much sadder than volume 6, because the school bullies in the Hiroko chapter deserved their deaths, but Norio is as clueless as he is hopeless while he is slipping off the edge of life. As for other shocks, we finally figure out why main character Shiina can't link with her alien sidekick Hoshimaru: he's not really her dragonchild. I personally saw this coming from a mile away, and I don't want to spoil exactly who Hoshimaru is really linked to, but tons of things makes sense after this revelation. And the third event is so startling that I'm not going to even try to mention it here. If you really want to know, you'll just have to read book 10.

Mohiro Kitoh, in addition to the poignant writing and beautiful artwork, really gets your senses fired up in the saddest volume yet. It's not the best, because even though all of the death and secrets are necessary to the plot, they make you feel so down in the dumps. But somehow, past all of the mayhem, there's a unique satisfaction you get here, from both carrying on with the adventure and finally understanding the stuff that has been puzzling you for nine volumes. If the Hiroko arc scared you, stay far away from this and get someone to tell you the really important things. If it didn't and you want to know what's in store, fasten your seatbelt and get ready for one hell of a bumpy ride.

NOTE: The following review contains very major spoilers and crucial plot points that take place past the end of the anime and current English manga releases. If you do not want this story completely and utterly ruined for you, DO NOT read any further.

Anyone who has read volume 8 of the Narutaru/Shadow Star series will probably agree that it was about time for some explanations. Here, in a volume that revolves mainly around the evil dragon bearers (snobby Satomi Ozawa, expressionless Sudo Naozumi, mysterious Mamiko Kuri, and lighthearted Kazuyuki "Bungo" Takano), that's exactly what we get. Not only are a few of those burning questions starting to be answered, but character development comes a long way and there is a fair share of both humor and action that will keep your eyes glued to the panels like never before. The Hiroko plot in Japanese volume 6 may have been a better volume as a whole, but keeping your eyes glued to the panels was hard to do when it had no happy scenes and quite a few images that just made you want to look away.

But back to this volume, I think it's one of the most enjoyable in the series. It's particularly interesting to see into the distant past of Satomi and Kazuyuki's relationship. Satomi's marks the third time that a girl has been bullied by classmates during this series, and in a way it was the most unexpected. I sure didn't expect a rich, beautiful, popular girl to have had such a muddy past. Plus, seeing a young Kazuyuki defending her with everything he's got shows you that while some things between them have changed, some have stayed the same. It can get pretty heavy between these two at certain points, but you'll find that Mohiro Kitoh always stays tasteful with his nudity as all genitals are blank space like Barbie dolls, and he's even pretty mild with his violence in this volume. It's little more than a few scrapes and an alien car chase scene, which gets pretty exciting. Satomi and Kazuyuki are two of the most interesting characters in the manga, and their interaction seems the most real, so it's great that they finally get a chance in the spotlight.

Everyone else gets a solid amount of time to shine, and while preteen heroine Shiina Tamai adjusts emotionally into her role as a Banda private school student, she still seems pretty much out-of-place to readers. This, in a way, is perfect, because all of the characters in Narutaru are out-of-place in one way or another which serves to make them more unique. Norio Koga, a bitter teenage boy who looks frighteningly like a woman, is given one of the funniest scenes in the whole manga as he is forced to go undercover as a Banda schoolgirl to ensure Shiina's safety. I've never giggled so much at something in this very dark and serious comic. Praise be to Kitoh.

All things considered, with nothing to scare the easily freaked and a lot of mysteries finally beginning to be wrapped up, there's no reason for you to pass over volume 8 if you're interested in finding out what happens next. All of the mysteries start to make sense here, so if the infectious adventure still doesn't make any sense to you after volume 7, a large dose of books 8 through 12 is the only effective remedy that can be prescribed.