The Power of Skull Man

For those not aware, this is the final volume so spoiler warning.

The Skull Man Vol. 7 (Kazuhiko Shimamoto, probably Weekly Shonen Magazine)

I didn’t particular like this series but the concluding volume is strong enough to made the series worthwhile and at the very least, it confirms that Shimamoto was a promising new mangaka who I imagine was probably itching to get on to a better project. For those who don’t know, this was a sequel of sorts to the classic 70s shounen series by Shotaro Ishinomori. My overall impression of this series is that it’s not much fun, though that’s possibly a compliment in this case. The narrative alternates between aimless and mechanical. The latter is especially true when it’s building up to some big, iconic moment. There’s nothing glamorous about skull man or the villains, who tend to be ugly, one dimensional, mutants. In short, the series comes across as being anti-heroism though it still reminds us that the villains are dependent on indifferent masses to continue their operations.

This volume takes a look at and challenges the motivations of both Skull Man and one of the major villains. Apparently neither are particularly noble. The villain derives his power from human passion, which he obtains through lust. At one point this is demonstrated and I have to admit, the sex scene was surprisingly well handled. There’s romantically rendered silhouettes of the bodies drawn against the night sky but the panels only allow a small part of them to be viewed at once. Any ways, on the other hand we have Skull Man, who we’ve known has been trying to get revenge for the murder of his family and we’ve had a clear picture of who was behind it. I won’t say exactly what happens but these notions get turned on their head.

The series is left open ended. It has a big climax battle scene, which is cut humorously short, but ultimately it paints a grim picture. The obligatory police detective is left interrupting random people on the streets, demanding them to wake up and realize they’re being controlled. Skull Man states that the fight will continue but given how his motivations have been skewed it seems that he’s doing it for no other reason except out of habit.

This book contains a killer mermaid

After School Nightmare Vol. 6 (Setona Mizushiro, Princess)

In one of this volume’s opening scenes, Mashiro displays his frustrations over the fact that their dream forms never change and the implication that if your inner-self is ugly, then that’s who are in reality. Rather then letting this scene evolve in to a call to arms against the dream world, the author uses Kureha’s harsh response to turn the spotlight on Mashiro. In particular, Kureha takes offensive with the way he sees the dream forms as being all encompassing of the person’s inner-self. Kureha’s unsettling response proves to be beneficial for Mashiro as it helps her forgive Sou’s earlier actions in the dream world.

This isn’t the only time Mashiro is harshly questioned in this volume. In the first dream world sequence, a handicapped woman, who resents Mashiro for saving her, accuses her of using the dream world as a stage to play the heroic prince. Even though the woman ends up graduating and gets wiped from every one’s memories, her impact on Mashiro continues to linger on. Unfortunately Kureha also comes to believe in this accusation which disrupts their relationships, to put it mildly.

In a later dream world sequence, it’s revealed that Kureha’s accusations were really expressed out of love for Mashiro and that because of this love, she’d rather they stick together even knowing that she’s merely being used to inflate her masculine image. Mashiro’s role of being the oppressor in the relationship is quickly switched to being the oppressed when she comes face to face with Sou, the person that she’s truly in love with, and he wraps her up with his giant snake. However, it seems that because of Mashiro’s experience of being the dominate member in a relationship, she no longer gets aroused by being in the submissive position.

Deciding she dislikes both roles of a traditional relationship, Mashiro gives up on the dream world. She instead finds another pretty female classmate, named Ohara, to spend her free time with. The story appropriately feels like it has made a detour. The two of them have a nice reflexive discussion about the recent events in Mashiro’s life. After they part for the day, Ohara immediately fills up with negative feelings, believing that Mashiro only opened up to her because she doesn’t really care about her. However, she is able to push those feelings aside and be happy about her new friendship.

Later on, Ohara encourages Mashiro to accept her reality of being female while simultaneously accepting that she doesn’t have the strength to deal with her own dark side. It’s important to note that the previous scene I mentioned strongly suggests that she did have the strength but she never realized that it stemmed from the truthful interaction she had with Mashiro.

I want to mention that the scene where Ohara disappears is almost certainly going to be the visual highlight of the series. The shadows of her empty room are so very… complacent.

Beyond Twilight?

This is, Selected Pandemonium by Ichiko Ima, or so it seems. See this amazon page. If the description is correct, then it definitely is.

Either way, I’d like to be the first to congratulate Aurora Publishing on their fine licensing decision. I’m sure they’ll do a great job.