+ Anima 10
Posted: February 24, 2009 Filed under: + Anima 3 Comments »Natsumi Mukai – Tokyopop – 2008 – 10 volumes total
This series has been an absolute joy to read. I think it’s one of the few kid-oriented series I’ve ever enjoyed this much.
We get the expected Cooro background in this volume. Surprisingly, the friend we met last volume plays little part in this revelation. I kind of pegged him for an orphan, but the characters go to the orphanage where Cooro grew up and learn that he was also involved in some +Anima experiments conducted by a nobleman with an obsession with +Anima, the same one who was implanting +Anima into people who hadn’t earned them. I have to say, I could not have guessed what was shown in his very earliest flashback. That was, quite frankly, kind of weird.
Nana and Husky start to doubt Cooro’s motives, and some of their worst fears are realized, though Cooro takes everything pretty stoically, as is his way. Their lack of trust in Cooro versus believing something they were told by a random stranger was a little sad.
We learn that the artificial +Anima are actually real ones that were removed from children who didn’t want them anymore. Both Nana and Husky comtemplate the surgery, and Cooro… well, has it comptemplated for him.
We also get to see an entirely artificial being that has been implanted with many different +Anima, something that the researchers call an angel. The last scene, with her, the lord, Cooro, Nana, Husky, and Senri, is pretty fantastic, and was a really, really nice way to end the series.
I think there are plenty of adults out there who would really enjoy this. It’s a pretty solid story, the random stories are fun as the characters move from place to place, the characters are strong, and it’s one of those stories that always manages to put you in a better mood, though life is actually kind of hard for the four kids. The real beauty of this series is not so much that I enjoyed it, but that I would not hesitate to give it to kids. There are very few series that I can say this about, but +Anima is probably the best of the bunch.
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Oh my God, the ending was so beautiful! Once I got to the eight volume, I was really thinking how the mangaka was going to wrap up the manga, but when I read the ending I was in awe.
I will admit it, I cried.
It is quite good. Those last few scenes will stay with me for quite some time.