 | | ▪ | RELEASED BY: | | VIZ MEDIA | | | ▪ | AUTHOR / ART: | | KAZUNARI KAKEI | | | ▪ | FORMAT: | | JAPANESE / B&W | | | ▪ | PAGES: | | 200 | | | ▪ | RATING: | | OT | | | ▪ | RELEASE DATE: | | 12/01/2009 | | | ▪ | REVIEW DATE: | | 01/30/2010 | | | ▪ | REVIEWED BY: | | SCOTT CAMPBELL |
Nora, an unruly demon, has defied his Dark Liege one too many times. For the sake of his "education," Nora is sent to live among mortals and enters a bond of servitude with cool-as-ice star student Kazuma Makkari. Kazuma is about to learn the ways of the underworld... and Nora will learn more from the "real world" than he ever thought possible with the help of his new human “friends!” In volume eight, the ultimate battle is about to erupt! At long last, Nora and Kazuma face Fall in a final battle. But not only is Fall overwhelmingly powerful, he surprises our heroes by taking the battle to the Human World! Will changing into Cerberus give Nora the power he needs to face Fall's true form and stop the demonic invasion of Earth, or will Kazuma be forced to make a brutal sacrifice? All that and more is ready for you in the latest volume of Nora! This latest volume defies expectations as the battle becomes even more frenzied than before. Just when you think that Nora can’t get any more action-packed, this series takes it to an even higher level and continues to impress with its abundant ability to do so. The fight scenes come fast and are well drawn as always, but the battles this time around have so much more importance behind them and that’s what gives it such an edge. Aside from the action, there’s always the humor inherent in this series as a whole to level it all out. Our disaffected main human character is as likable as ever, and Nora (the demon for those of you coming in late) is gruff and expectedly a bit dull witted as usual. This combination is always good for a laugh, even if it is often a slapstick sort of humor that is delivering it. I’ve really come to appreciate the clean art and the easy to follow panels – no jumbled work to be spoken of here. As for the character designs and artwork, Kazunari Kakei tends to use a lot of simple line art for his character designs but effectively showcases the character's emotions quite well. But where Kakei continues to shine all the way into volume eight is when he features the various battles, the monsters, Cerberus and even the Dark Liege in her buxom blonde mode. Kakei starts featuring these battles with a lot of lines and these characters with a lot of blacks and grays and really capturing the action effectively on paper. It has a great look, and great art is half the battle! All in all, Nora is a fun, predictable work that avid manga fans will find familiar. It is worth considering for a light hearted no think read. The extras include some four-panel cartoons, and some advertisements for other Viz Media titles available for purchase. A little bit about the author never hurts, so here’s some information about him. Nora: The Last Chronicle of Devildom is Kazunari Kakei's first manga series. It debuted in the April 2004 issue of Monthly Shonen Jump and eventually spawned a second series, Surebrec: Nora the 2nd, which premiered in Monthly Shonen Jump's March 2007 issue.
IN SUMMARY:
Nora: The Last Chronicle of Devildom is more action-filled then ever in this latest volume. The artist excels at showcasing this action in their visuals, and makes volume eight the most exciting one yet! |
