Shadow Star 6: What Can I Do For You Now? (Shadow Star)

By now, this series has set up nearly all of the major characters' places in its dramatic plot, and a couple little loose ends have been tied up concerning the shadow dragons: hulking, unearthly, and, more often than not, terrifying beasts that the mentally frenzied teenage cast can control to do whatever they wish. It keeps you interested at all times, intrigued at others, and even smiling at a few precious moments. Yet it's no understatement to say that volume 6 will be the last time you smile until a point past the current English releases.Volume 5 was an offering dedicated to showcasing the murderous talents of the dragons on the evil side of the spectrum, commanded by three high schoolers working together to change the very framework of society. Joining them was Mamiko Kuri, the mysterious girl who reveals in the beginning of this book that she has a dragon, too. Its form remains unknown. Elsewhere, the heroic dragon bearers--headstrong Shiina Tamai, timid Akira Sakura, bitter Norio Koga, and smug Takeo Tsurumaru--are all off on their own adventures after the aerial onslaught brought about by the mysterious villains. Unbeknownst to young girls Shiina and Akira, their calm friend Sudo Naozumi is one of the telepathic dragon bearers they fought high above the ground, and the three make a plan to go on an innocent day of fishing. Trouble in paradise brews as they drive home, though: Sudo invites Akira to join his wicked group (to which she utters no reply), going on to explain that their fishing trip was no different from "hitting someone for your own enjoyment, but the fish can't complain or fight back". Through the whole series Sudo's remain the most brutally honest, realistically-thinking views of all those presented.But there is another brief plot brewing, one which I consider the happiest and most believable through the whole manga. Some fans call it the story of the "terrible three", and it focuses on the relationship between three new youths, going a bit further into the origin of the dragons as well. Cousins Kyoji and Shoko Fukayama, along with lifelong friend Jyun Ezumi, become entangled in a romantic side story that journeys to every corner of the human heart and forces out some of the strongest emotions exhibited during all twelve of Shadow Star's volumes. The three meet up in Tokyo after a long separation; Kyoji in a coma after falling off an abandoned building, Shoko heartbroken at the severity of his injuries, and Jyun giving Shoko a caustic lecture on how selfish she came across when they wrote letters to one another. Shiina, who had befriended Jyun the previous night when they found each other training on their shadow dragons, is witness to it all, from Shoko confessing her poignant love for Kyoji to Jyun showing her the birth of a dragon princess. Kyoji ends up passing away, Jyun is revealed to be both deceased and a physical form of Kyoji's soul granted to him by the dragons, and Shoko cries that she can keep on loving Kyoji past his death.If it sounds complicated, that's because it is, but it's, above all else, the ultimate contrast to the upcoming plot, which is without a doubt the most terrifying in the whole series. Author/artist Mohiro Kitoh knocks down your defenses with this volume's account of self-discovery and the power to move on, which makes volume 7 have leaps and bounds more impact. But what happens in the next volume stays in the next volume, and standing up against what has already come, Shadow Star's volume 6 is the simultaneously the best and most compassionate yet.