Manga-ka: Kaori Yuki
Publisher: Viz
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Released: August 2008

Synopsis: “Ian and Rin used to just see spirits. Now Ian is one. Using the Fairy Cubes, Ian must figure out how to stop the lizard-spirit Tokage from taking over his life and destroying any chance he has of resurrection. Tokage has troubles of his own when he gets involved with the Gotoh Group, conspiratorial fairies aiming at world domination.”

As if contending with Tokage for his body, and Rin’s safety, wasn’t enough, now a global organization called the Gotoh Group aims to take over the world and return it to a state suitable for fairies, and fairies alone. Tokage continues to ruin what’s left of Ian’s life, taking his evil nature out on Rin and Ian’s father, and while Ian’s determination is strong as ever, his new body seems a little less than up to the task.

One of the things I enjoyed most about this volume was that Ian’s secret new home in the body of a deceased child isn’t much of a secret for long. His girlfriend found out in volume one and this body-stealing-fairy-double figured it out no problems too. I was afraid it’d be a drawn out situation where we as readers would be left groaning as the obvious is neglected by characters. Not the case here though! The characters being observant of the obvious makes them feel more intelligent and in turn makes me happier as a reader. A simple thing but it stood out to me.

The plot also feels like it’s getting comfortable, feeling more linear and focused than the first volume. There’re still a few aspects of the series I don’t fully understand yet (so… Fairy Cubes are what?) but hopefully continued reading will lay it all out nicely for me. There are some emotional moments, funny moments and the occasional fight scene, which makes this a well-rounded volume. Scattered sadistic elements, such as Ian’s next encounter with his Father, give it all a dark feeling that’s both fun and chilling.

The female lead of the story had some ups and downs with me in this volume but overall I appreciate having a character who doesn’t spend the whole book as a damsel in distress. Sure Rin volunteers to waltz straight into enemy headquarters, and only then realizes the futility of it, but at least she went in with a cause. Through her entry into the protagonist home base, some other interesting characters got to be introduced so that was a nice bonus as well. I enjoy the cast being put together here though I hope it doesn’t get bogged down in too many as I’ve found in some of Kaori Yuki’s other series.

Kaori Yuki’s artwork has also come along nicely since her earlier works. While much of the style remains the same, it has a more solid look to it, where the detail and negative space is pleasantly balanced. Thus far all the characters are easy to tell apart too, which is nice (anyone else find parts of the Cain series next to impossible to follow for that reason?).

So a second volume in and Fairy Cube hasn’t let me down yet. With a plot that feels more focused, interesting characters with back story that has numerous layers yet to be explored, and beautiful artwork I can never seem to get enough of it, I hope the series continues to uphold that which I’ve liked about it up until now.

Review written August 26, 2008 by Lissa Pattillo.
Book purchased from hobby store, The Batter’s Box

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About the Author: Lissa Pattillo

Lissa Pattillo is the owner and editor of Kuriousity.ca. Residing in Halifax, Nova Scotia she takes great joy in collecting all manners of manga genres, regretting that there's never enough time in the day to review or share them all. Along with reviews, Lissa is responsible for all the news postings to the website and works full time as a web and graphic designer.