Human Club 3
Posted: January 1, 2009 Filed under: Human Club Leave a comment »Ok! Here we go. From chapter 1, a plot emerges that carries through to the end of the volume and beyond. The plot wasn’t what I was expecting, only because I assumed the plot would involve Shinobu doing horrible things to people. But this series very much enjoys shocking the reader.
So while at the opium club, Shinobu basically gets raided and arrested. While arrested, he’s made to look like he’s attempted suicide, then an accident happens that basically means Shinobu Shikata is dead as far as Japan is concerned. He is actually being secretly flown to New York for reasons unknown. The who and why of the situation are still a mystery, but the part that made me a bit uncomfortable was that Shinobu was also being forced to take heroin so that he would turn into a junkie. Ron is wandering around trying to save Shinobu during all this, since the corruption happened in the police department and there was nothing that he could do initially to stop him from being kidnapped. Ron is a pretty awesome character, and we get everything from severed heads to Ron-on-girl action.
I also like that the previous two volumes of short stories seem to be tying themselves into this longer plot. Some older characters reappear, and I’m willing to bet even more will show up in time. It’s always nice to see patience rewarded.
There’s a pretty common shoujo plot device in play right now, which is not something I would expect from a shoujo series as depraved as this one (or at least I think it’s shoujo, like Banana Fish shoujo). I’m not too interested in what’s going to happen to Shinobu, because I’m pretty sure Ron will come through in the end. What I’m interested in is what Shinobu will do in retaliation for all this. I’m pretty sure it will give me nightmares, and that’s exactly what I want.
