Immortal Rain 8
Posted: January 13, 2008 Filed under: Immortal Rain 21 Comments »Wow. I forgot nearly everything about this series in the wait between volumes (volume 9 still hasn’t come out in Japan, though a prequel volume was released recently), but the story was still totally engrossing and just… very lovely.
So the group seems to be wanting to stop a laser cannon that is firing on the planet from outer space. The entire volume takes place on an island where the controls for this weapon are. There are lots of traps and minor scuffles, but mostly there is an intense battle that involves Rain, Machika, Dora Folk, and Ys. Rain gives up his immortality, which seems odd, and the general mood of the scene is that it was almost… a gift from Ys. One he’s not willing to give someone else. Bad things happen when he parts with it.
There’s not much I can say about it other than it’s a beautiful piece of shoujo storytelling, though it can be a bit awkward and hard to get into. I spent most of the volume trying to mentally fit the pieces of plot back together from what I’d read previously, but the best bits of the story weren’t until the end of the volume, when I had everything figured out. It was very much worth it.
Do you have any idea how many volumes total this is going to be? I have volume 1, and have heard nothing but good stuff about this series, but I don’t want to get into the waiting lurch if I can help it.
I think it’s still running (very slowly) in Japan, but my guess would be around 10 volumes. It seems like, unless there’s a huge detour, it would probably only take two volumes to wrap up. I have no idea how long it will take for those two volumes to come out, but after navigating the terrible “Wings” magazine site, the newest volume doesn’t look to be on the short list of upcoming stuff, and it’s been over a year since this volume was published in Japan. It could be awhile.
oh man, this is a drag..i really want volume 9 now..ozaki-san, pls pls pls hurry..hehe..immortal rain is just so damn good..oh this is the best manga ever!
I love this series my favorite one is the 8th book Rain is so unselfish to Ys and he looks out for him. I still cant belive that Ys is evil!
Yeah, I started off kind of not liking this series, but I’ve been totally won over by all the characters. I can’t check right now, but it’s been six months and last I checked, there still isn’t any sign of the next volume in Japan ;_;
Urgh, its been a year without any info… Does rain live or die.. The lurch is annoying
Yeah, it’s been over a year since that prequel volume came out, and there’s still no new volume in Japan. I can’t believe how slowly this comes out.
woohooo. vol 9 out in japan end of sept.
Or so i have read. I wonder how long it will take tokyopop to sort it out…
Isn’t it supposed to be the last volume as well? (vol 9 that is)… tokyopop better get a hold of it soon *shakes fist*
Volume 9 did come out in Japan in September, but I’m not sure if it’s the last volume or not. As far as I can tell, it looks like Meteor Methuselah still runs in Wings, so it’s probably not the end. What I’m looking at now could be wrong, though.
It usually takes about 9-12 months for a volume to come out in the US once it hits Japan. Tokyopop is actually pretty good about sticking to that time frame for this series (or at least they were for volume 8). I probably would expect to see it next Fall.
I’m pretty sure I heard somewhere that Ozaki mentioned volume 9 wasn’t the end.
That being said, I still haven’t read it, so… -.-
I’m having trouble finding a plot summary to find out whether that’s the last volume or not. It wouldn’t surprise me if it wasn’t, though. There’s not even a Japanese Wikipedia entry for the series.
…
Given the current problems at Tokyopop, I think the odds of us getting to read it in English are very, very, very slim. I’m just so sad that the wait will not be rewarded. I would also love to read that prequel volume (even though I’m pretty sure the story isn’t complete in that one either), but I don’t think that will happen, either.
What problems with Tokyopop? I was worrying about this series because our local Borders has stopped carrying it. Also its been ages since a new one has come out, is Tokyopop canceling it? ):
They haven’t come right out and said it’s being cancelled. The reason it hasn’t come out in so long is because it takes ages for the artist to finish a volume, and I think Tokyopop caught up to the Japanese version years ago.
When I mentioned the Tokyopop problems, I was talking about when they cancelled/delayed a lot of their series over the summer. A TON of stuff was affected, but since Immortal Rain isn’t a really active series, it’s hard to say if or when a new volume will be coming out. I’m keeping my fingers crossed, though.
immortal rain #9 was published in Japanese sept 2008 (here at amazon.jp). There is also a side story standalone about Rain and Machika’s adopted grandfather – how they met ….
Unfotunately, I kind of give up hoping that TP will publish this series provided that it’s not very popular … :(
Yeah… I suspect we won’t ever get to see the end in English. It’s a shame the volumes didn’t come out just a bit faster in Japan, because I think the odds of it coming out here were good until this past summer.
Do you happen to know if the prequel volume is complete? I know the prequel series ran in a magazine called “Huckleberry” that folded after a few issues, but I’m not sure if the story was completed or not.
“Do you happen to know if the prequel volume is complete?”
It looks complete to me as the story goes – since the ending is when Machika met Rain. Also, it’s almost 300 pages and says “End” at the last page :)
““Huckleberry” that folded after a few issues,”
Oh, I didn’t know that. Do you know what magazine “immortal rain” runs in?
Ooh, good news, then. I was worried she had to leave the prequel unfinished, too.
Immortal Rain runs in Wings Magazine. I think it’s sort of a mid-grade shoujo magazine. I tend to dislike series in Wings Magazine, but Antique Bakery, Immortal Rain, and Demon Ororon are the exceptions. For a long time, I wasn’t seeing Immortal Rain listed in the current issue of Wings on the magazine website, so I was wondering if it had gone on hiatus. It looks like it’s in the current issue though, and with the new volume, at least it’s still being serialized regularly.
“It looks like it’s in the current issue though, and with the new volume, at least it’s still being serialized regularly.”
Oh, that’s good news. I hope the end is near – I seem to recall she had planned it for 10 books or something.
Was it you or some other blog having an url to her blog?
I don’t think I’d posted the link to her blog here before, but this is the address: http://www.ne.jp/asahi/innocent/bad/
That prequel “Shinigami of the East” has a pretty awesome cover.
Thanks for the link.
“That prequel “Shinigami of the East” has a pretty awesome cover.”
Isn’t it? He’s a pretty cool character. I wish I could read japanese!