The battle with the elite force known as the Trumps is over, but things have never been more tense between teen psychic Haruka Touyama and her protector, the blind samurai Mamoru Hijikata. In the heat of battle, he reminded Haruka of their promise to remain together “until death do us part” and chided her cowardice under fire. Now the young woman, who took the promise far more seriously than Mamoru did, fears she’ll never be a suitable wife for a warrior. Of course, what Haruka never told Mamoru is that she’s had precognitive visions of their eventual wedding…
Mamoru has other concerns than the feelings of his young charge, however. Word in the criminal underworld is that the Transplant Connection—the organ-harvesting, child-slaving syndicate that Mamoru lost his sight fighting—is about to launch their boldest operation yet on a global scale. Worse still, they’re uniting with several other criminal interests and have already started work in the rogue nation of Galboa!
Thankfully, even ignoring the capabilities of the Element Network, who employ Mamoru and Haruka as trouble-shooters in the name of justice, the street-samurai is not without resources or contacts. To fight them, Mamoru plots an unlikely alliance between himself, his allies, the “modern-day Moriarty” known as Wiseman, and Genie Turus, the crime-boss behind the Trumps’ attack on Haruka!
After two and a half volumes devoted to one extended plotline and a massive crossover of seinen action heroes, Until Death Do Us Part, vol. 10 surprises the reader with a series of vignettes. There’s little page time devoted to Mamoru or Haruka as most of the chapters in this installment focus on various supporting characters. Thankfully, Hiroshi Takashige is skillful enough as a writer that even the most minor of characters prove developed enough to support their own stories outside the main action of the series.
The largest section focuses upon cybernetic bodyguard Tate Karito and super-cop Detective Teppei Genda tracking down a stolen robot arm that wound up in the clutches of Edge Turus, the main antagonist from the early volumes of the series. Another vignette shows the Wall—the militant arm of the Element Network, who have not been seen in several volumes—as they raid a Transplant Connection facility to save three children. The book’s final chapters shift back to Mamoru and Haruka’s team in Tokyo, as their cell in the Element Network moves to capture the child rapist/strangler responsible for the death of white-hat hacker Igawa’s sister.
DOUBLE-S’s artwork is as fine as ever. The action flows easily with the readers’ eye naturally guided from panel to panel. Each panel is perfectly sized with an amazing amount of detail present on each page, yet there’s no loss of clarity or bunched-up dialogue balloons.
Although this volume is less bloody than previous ones, I’d still say that Until Death Do Us Part, vol. 10 earns its OT for 16 and older rating. Of particular note is the Wall’s sequence, which does not hold back from showing young children in great peril or discussing the children’s eventual fate before they are rescued and returned home.
Until Death Do Us Part, vol. 10
by Hiroshi Takashige
Art by DOUBLE-S
ISBN: 9780316340229
Yen Press, 2015
Publisher Age Rating: OT (16+)
