Haro Aso

You'd think traveling the length of a country overrun with zombies while trying to tick off entries on a bucket list would be dangerous and difficult, but no, it's all "super easy, barely an inconvenience" as Akira Tendo and his friends blaze through a sake festival and dinosaur fossil excavation. The stakes seem even lower as they've brought along a robot butler from the luxury hotel from last volume.

Just as I was getting tired of the whole concept, the author anticipated me and had a show more chapter on boredom that has zombie stand-ins for Blaise Pascal and Martin Heidegger talk Akira through his sudden ennui about the zombie apocalypse. That's enough to keep me rolling through the next couple volumes I have on hand from the library. show less

The grand finale . . . is a bit of a fizzle. Much like the TV show Lost, there is really no good way to end a series like this that will satisfy everybody, and Haro Aso even plays around with that concept before going with the one he settles on. But he tries to transcend such plot mechanics by pushing readers to contemplate a bigger question, and it works well enough.

The main character only has a cameo in this whole damn book as the first quarter wraps up the boring trust game from last volume and the rest starts a side story with junior high student Hayato Dodo on the run from the mercilessly lethal King of Spades. At least this Predator knock-off is engaging as Dodo crosses paths with Morizono Aguni and Akane Heiya, two very competent and dangerous survivors.

I'm hoping this series will find its focus again now that there are only a couple volumes show more left.

FOR REFERENCE:

Contents: Chapter 47. Jack of Hearts, Part 3 -- Chapter 48. Jack of Hearts, Part 4 -- Chapter 49. Jack of Hearts, Part 5 -- Side Story 5. King of Spades, Part 1 -- -- Side Story 5. King of Spades, Part 2 -- Side Story 5. King of Spades, Part 3 -- Side Story 5. King of Spades, Part 4 -- Side Story 5. King of Spades, Part 5 -- Side Story 5. King of Spades, Part 6 -- Side Story 5. King of Spades, Part 7 show less

I was getting bored of this series so I set it aside for a while. That strategy seems to have paid off as I enjoyed this entry with our group of survivors completing their religious pilgrimage despite some outside interference and then boarding a party boat where a little romantic tension came to the fore as the orgy atmosphere caused some tension.

Oh, and zombies ate people too.

FOR REFERENCE:

Contents: 39. Pilgrimage of the Dead (2) -- 40. Pilgrimage of the Dead (3) -- 41. Cruise Ship of the show more Dead (1) -- 42. Cruise Ship of the Dead (2) show less