Spoiler Alert!!

The windows and doors of Yamada’s house are sealed and as the smoke from the deadly fire seeps into every room, it looks as if there’s no escape for Shiro and Ichiro, trapped inside with the hostages they’ve risked their lives to rescue.

Yukiko and Masashi, the two survivors of the four students who carried out the Tetra Building blast, have been taken hostage by Satoshi Yamada in his remote house. Yamada has used the hostages to lure Shiro and Ichiro to try to rescue them – but Superintendent Taguchi and Rion Nakaba are tracking them every inch of the way. He’s convinced politician Takashige Azuma, Yukiko’s father, to help them by pretending to agree to Yamada’s terms. But Yamada has smelt a rat and has trapped Azuma, the two hostages and Shiro and Ichiro inside his house, setting fire to it and using a jammer to stop any communication with anyone outside. Meanwhile, he’s waiting under cover outside, fully armed with a submachine gun, ready to pick off anyone who manages to escape from the flames.

Which is when a heavy truck roars into the grounds and rams into the house, coming to a halt inside the living room! The driver? Superintendent Taguchi! After everyone’s initial shock, Shiro and Ichiro are ready to try to create a distraction to draw Yamada’s fire and get the hostages out alive. The superintendent has brought a motorcycle in the truck which he’s planning to use to get up close to Yamada. But first they have to try to find and disable the signal jammer. The battle is far from over.

And while Shiro and Ichiro are holding the fort, Ichiro suddenly realizes that various seemingly unrelated facts about the whole case are linked. Which is when Lon Aterof appears…

In many ways, this is Superintendent Taguchi’s volume as his actions dominate the action; the full-page image where he bursts out of the back of the truck on the motorcycle in a hail of bullets is breathtakingly drawn! (If you’re a fan of the silver fox superintendent, that alone makes this volume a must-read.) But Yukiko’s father is also doing his best to help and says, “Me and mine have already put you three in enough danger. I’m drawing the line. I can’t stand by and watch anymore” before calling the police – and we’re afforded glimpses of his daughter’s face as she begins to realize that her father has put his life on the line for her too. Perhaps this will lead to her making a recovery after years spent in mental institutions as a result of the Tetra Building incident?

All credit to mangaka Yoshie Kaoruhara yet again for making this another tense, page-turning read. Shiro and Ichiro – and the superintendent – have never been in as much danger as they are now and the story stops at yet another nail-biting cliffhanger, while providing more valuable information about the events that led up to this deadly confrontation.

The volume doesn’t end there, though, it delivers a whole series of bonus comics, including ‘There Wasn’t Much to Spoof in the Main Story so We’re Just Having Fun’ and the five-part ‘A Comic to Work Off the Stress of the Main Story’. These light-hearted short comics include our heroes body-swapping with inevitable embarrassing results and the spoofs run through a series of fairy tales including Red Riding Hood and Japanese fairy tales. They are, indeed, fun to read after the grim events in the main story.

And as for Boys’ Love… well, it’s still on the publisher’s description of the series but, apart from the teasing in the fun extras, it’s more about the power of friendship and trusting each other enough to make risky moves in a combat situation. Maybe next volume…

The mangaka’s afterword says, ‘Thanks for picking up this volume. I’m surprised to find myself spending so long on events that take place over a single night (Ha ha). I hope you’ll stick around for a while longer’ and Volume 9 is due out from Kodansha in November so not too long to wait to find out what happens next!

Kevin Steinbach’s translation for Kodansha is as good as ever and well conveyed by Dietrich Premier’s skilful choices of lettering; there are interesting translation notes about the Japanese fairy tales in the spoofs. The series is still very much ongoing in Japan at thirteen volumes, so we’ve still got some catching up to do.

This is another well-drawn, well-paced and exciting volume in this readable series and one that shows the way Shiro and Ichiro work together is evolving as they get to understand each other better. That image on the front cover and the scattered crimson rose petals tells us everything we need to know, maybe more…

Our review copy from Kodansha was provided by Diamond Book Distributors.