Naoki Urasawa’s Asadora! continues with another fast paced and thrilling volume. At the end of Volume four Asa has just spotted the Kaiju just off the coast, and this volume picks up at that exact moment. Asa has to make a decision whether to stay away or try to stop the monster from reaching land. The tension is there from the beginning, especially with the Olympic opening ceremony the following day. At the same time Yone, one of Asa’s friends, starts her audition to become a singer, without anyone else present.

Like the previous volume, this one doesn’t let up for a moment. From the first page it’s a true page-turner that will have you hooked until the last panel. It’s filled with tension and action as Asa tries to navigate the night skies. At the same time it’s very clear that Yone is in trouble, with the strange person claiming to be an agent, and without Asa there to protect her, it feels like something bad is about to happen. Kasuga is also away for most of the story, in the hospital with the person hit by the car crash in the previous volume. He doesn’t even know that the monster has reappeared.

The artwork is still really nice, and easy to follow, as with all of Urasawa’s work. All of his characters are completely distinct and there’s never a moment, even within the chaos of the story, that you don’t know what’s going on or who’s doing what.

At the end of this volume, it feels like the story will slow down a little bit in volume six, which would be a welcome change. The best part of this series so far has been the slower moments that feel like a period drama.

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