Customer Reviews

Kekkaishi, Vol. 3

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In the first two volumes of Kekkaishi, we learned about two teens from different families who are guardians by night. They keep creatures (ayakashi) away from their school to prevent them from becoming greater threats; as the beasts absorb the hidden power that's buried there.

Story overview:

Yoshimori practices his kekkai barrier on a large bolder, but when practicing his "Joso" (positioning) of the kekkai, he struggles to get it where he wants. It seems his powers are enormous, but his control has yet to improve. Tokine on the other hand has the opposite problem: she has complete control but is limited on power. They both secretly envy the other's abilities and use this as motivation to improve their skills.

They come across a Hiwatari (Ice Blower) ayakashi, and Yoshimori ends up positioning himself in front of Tokine to protect her. Together the two of them join forces (ignoring the family feud) to defeat the foe. We learn of an ability called "Nenshi" (Sense Thread,) which is a kekkai in the form of a string rather than a box. Their job is never done, and soon they face a new enemy for Yoshimori to practice the Nenshi on. Among the group is an old friend of Yoshimori's magical ghost-like dog, Madarao.

We learn some past history with Madarao and how his/her old friend Koya were both wild dogs living off the land until man came and destroyed it by war, thus forcing the two companions to starve to death. Now it has been five hundred or so years later, and Koya wants to kill humans for revenge. Yoshimori removes Madarao's collar so that he/she can use full power to defeat Koya. It still turns out to be too hard a task; it takes Yoshimori and Madarao working together, doing the very thing Koya despises (working with humans) to defeat him. Yoshimori then has the difficult task of creating a new collar on the huge beast Madarao has become, and he has to do so before he/she gets totally out of control.

My thoughts:

I continue to enjoy this manga series. There's a lot of heart in the story and the characters are wonderfully designed (and executed.) It's interesting to know a little more history about Yoshimor's helper, and how things work between them. We also get a few more clues into the history of the clans.

James D. Maxon

Author of, "The Cat That Made Nothing Something Again"
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1440485275

Manga and speculative fiction reviewer:
[...]

We don't really know much about Madararo except that he's a dog-demon ghost, and that he's gay. But more of his past comes to light in the third volume of "Kekkaishi," where Yellow Tanabe fleshes out Madarao's backstory and introduces another chilling villain -- as well as showing how hard Yoshimori is working on his training, and how scarily powerful he might become.

First there's a brief story showing Tokine and Yoshimori's strengths -- she is adept at creating kekkai exactly where and in what form she wants, while he's got the raw power, and has vowed to destroy one of the steel-filled training boulders in a week. And they have to combine their powers when they encounter an ice-type creature that is strong enough to punch holes in kekkai barriers...

Then Yoshimori and Madarao are assaulted by three small-fry demons on their nightly rounds, and imprison them without any effort. But they are only the minions of a far more terrible creature -- Koma, a savage dog-spirit from Madarao's past. The only way to destroy Koma is to unleash Madarao's terrible, devastating powers by removing his restraining collar -- but can he defeat Koma? And can Yoshimori somehow put the collar back on him when it's all over?

Then there's a little one-off story -- a freaked-out Tokine shows up at Yoshimori's house with a certain extermination request, and extremely strict guidelines. To destroy her little black scuttling monster, he'll call upon all his supernatural powers -- shikigami, kekkai, and his wits!

The big reveal in "Kekkaishi Volume 3" is the background for Madarao, the gay dog-demon who usually follows Yoshimori everywhere and helps him exterminate small nasty creatures. He's actually quite impressive in his power once the collar is removed -- enormous, nasty, and potentially toxic -- and we get to see how he died (it's very sad), how he met Yoshimori's ancestor, and how he lived before (and after) his death. And we see how his old friend became so psychotic about humans, to the point of wanting to kill 'em all.

Tanabe also takes some time out to show the varying skills of the kekkaishi, and how freakily powerful Yoshimori is becoming as he gains greater skill and precision -- including the nenshi, a useful little skill related to the kekkai. And he spins up some funny elements as well, such as Yoshimori's little Shikigami squad, which are so bloody cute that you wanna squish them.

But he's brilliant with the supernatural fight scenes -- they're intense, precise, and ferociously simple, with some wonderfully detailed artwork and an overhanging sense of menace. Better yet, they are matches of intelligence and quick wits as much as magical power, which is something you don't see in many manga.

"Kekkaishi Volume 3" explores Madarao's tragic past, as well as exploring our laid-back hero's rapidly growing powers. Not exactly an arc story, but a good solid character-development volume.