Time Stranger Kyoko 3
Posted: December 28, 2008 Filed under: Time Stranger Kyoko Leave a comment »Oh wow, I’m kind of surprised how handily the story wrapped up in this volume. As I’ve said all along, I had heard that Tanemura had ended this series early, so I was anticipating a messy ending. The only actual evidence of this is the fact that the first chapter of the book handily introduces all the remaining strangers except one. The rest of the volume plays out quite an interesting ending to the story.
Ui is actually woken up almost right away (after some drama surrounding the last stranger is taken care of and some questions about Hizuki and Sakatachi are taken care of). When that happens… er. Kyoko’s true nature is revealed, and there’s some pretty heavy drama that I wasn’t expecting. The twist comes almost literally out of left field. While it would have been nice had more time been spent on this particular plot development, the way it was handled was quite admirable, and maximum emotional impact was taken advantage of.
For as much nonsense as was crammed in between when Ui woke up and the actual end of the story, I was surprised by how well everything played out, all things considered. The only thing I really found myself craving more information about was what was revealed about Hizuki, because his finest moment really was rushed. I felt a little bad about that, and I guess I wound up liking Hizuki and Sakatachi a little more than I thought. I also thought it was a bit of a shame that absolutely no story time was spent on Princess Ui, but I can’t say I liked or disliked her, and really, I guess that would have been introducing a new character at the end of the story.
For as much as I hated this series when I read the first volume, I’m really surprised by how good the story was by the end. It was a shame it couldn’t have gone on longer. But at least I can move on to Gentleman’s Alliance feeling pretty good about it.
This was a review copy provided by Viz.
