+Anima 7
Posted: May 27, 2008 Filed under: + Anima 5 Comments »Natsumi Mukai – Tokyopop – 2008 – 10 volumes total
The story in this volume was much more developed than usual. The characters stay on track through the mountain to get to Sailand, and after a minor distraction in the pitch black tunnel, they emerge in the new country. It’s revealed that Husky wanted to come this way because he was looking for his family.
This new country has some strict laws that the characters have to stick to. Husky and Nana nearly get captured for entering the country illegally, but they are quickly assisted by another +Anima. The initial awe that +Anima walk around with their powers clearly visible in front of regular humans quickly wears off when it’s revealed that all +Anima are kept as slaves in that country, and if you are walking around free, you will be quickly captured and sold. I was kind of surprised to find something so dark and twisted in this series.
Well, anyway, some other things happen, and we learn even more about Senri and what happened to him after he lost his short-term memory. He meets someone from his past, and there’s a scene or two which are quite touching in their own minimal way.
Despite the rather dark thread of slavery that popped up suddenly, the series still does a good job of keeping its lighthearted fantasy themes going. Most of the characters (especially Cooro) stay pretty upbeat, and I’m still pretty happy with the way its been going. I’m still itching to find out what Cooro’s story is though, and I’m hoping it comes after the next part, which will likely be a lot about Husky.
[...] Spiral: The Bonds of Reasoning, and Sakura Eries checks out vol. 27 of Iron Wok Jan. Connie reviews vol. 7 of +Anima and vol. 22 of Detective Conan at Slightly Biased Manga. The Boys Next Door blog posts reviews of [...]
…If a book can make you feel this bad about being free… then it’s well written… but still… I feel so sorry for the +Anima ensnared in that stupid law… I know it’s just a book… but still I almost cried.
Yeah, I was really shocked by how suddenly dark this volume was. I mean, we’ve had the stuff at the coliseum and things like that in earlier volumes, but this is… child slavery. It definitely made me feel bad.
The dark theme is certain to come up even more as the rest of the group tracks down Husky. Even though the slavery of +Anima is horrible, there is a good side: Where before only a few +Anima could be met in each volume because they were in hiding, but now (although enslaved in a surprising twist) there are many new +Anima to be seen everywhere.
True. And I’m sure the eventual outcome will be to free all of them too, so I probably shouldn’t feel too bad about it.