Synopsis: As Bonkers tells Tylty that their goal is for everyone to pass, Mylty notices that the trap they set for Debonair is just about to go off. A string pulls a lever and causes the floor to open up, depositing Debonair and a load of coal down into the furnace area, with Bonkers, Porschen, and the other applicants barely avoiding falling down with her. Bonkers says that Tylty could've warned him first, but Tylty says it's his fault for storming in with so many people that the trap launched early. He thinks this should still keep Debonair busy for a while however. Porschen tells Tylty that it's okay if he doesn't trust them completely, as she's also only using everyone else for her own benefit. She tells him he can betray them if he wants, but in this current situation, that probably won't be of much help to him. Bonkers tells Tylty that he can look at the situation however he wants, but the point is that the other applicants aren't the enemies that Tylty thinks they are. In the rooftop jail cell, Velou praises his fellow applicants, saying that the things Nulo, Migael, Bonkers, Porschen, and Merrio can all do are really amazing. He thinks that he doesn't have anything nearly as good in his arsenal as they do, but the guard Laurell tells him that he's the eye of the storm. He says that while Velou might not have noticed it, it's his plan that's brought everyone together and has engulfed all of Ironworks while he sits in the middle of the vortex. Velou asks him if he's just trying to sweet-talk him into something, and Laurell laughs and doesn't deny it. He ponders if things would have been different if someone like Velou had been around when he took his own exam... Mylty tells her brother that she thinks they should cooperate with everyone. Tylty asks where Velou is, and Bonkers says he's probably in the jail on the roof. Tylty asks if they have any plans on how to rescue him, and Bonkers says probably just throwing a large group of people at them. Tylty says he can't go along with a plan that's not really a plan. Time passes, and with only five minutes left in the exam, almost twenty applicants have been arrested. Nulo and Migael fret, but Merrio tells them there's not much they can do from inside the cell, so they'll just have to wait and hope Bonkers rescues them. Just then however, Bonkers is brought in in handcuffs by another guard, though Laurell and the applicants soon notice that the 'guard' is actually Porschen in disguise. Velou and the others are confused as to why they switched the obvious roles around, but realize that this must mean they didn't run into any of the other cops on their way here, so if they can quickly tag everyone to free them... Grimm says that she figured they'd try something like this, and leaps down from a nearby roof, commenting that waiting until the last second and freeing everyone again is an obvious plan. Porschen quickly ditches the guard's uniform, revealing that she was standing on top of Mylty's shoulders as Mylty levels a large gun at Grimm. Grimm punches at Porschen and says firing that puts her at a high risk of failing, but rather than firing at Grimm, Mylty turns the gun on a nearby crane and shoots it. Grimm is confused, but quickly realizes that the crane isn't a trap, but a signal for their ambusher – Tylty – to leap out from the floor below and make his move. It's revealed that when Tylty told Bonkers he couldn't go along with a poor plan, he told him and the rest to go on with their plan as they had been, but that he'll act during the last five minutes. Tylty thinks to himself that he still doesn't know if he believes in them, but if he can change something and pass with everyone else... Porschen quickly uses her strings to wrap around Grimm's leg, but just then Debonair bursts from the smokestack, having finally burned her way back up to the roof. Bonkers rushes Debonair and grabs hold of her handcuff, telling her that he's not afraid of the heat anymore, confusing Debonair who is otherwise pleased with him for having made some kind of breakthrough. As Grimm throws Porschen off of her, Bonkers struggles to keep Debonair at bay and yells for Tylty to do it now. Tylty quickly runs in and tags the hands of Velou and Merrio. Velou tells Tylty he always had faith in him, and Tylty nonchalantly thanks him before realizing Grimm is just behind him. Velou and Merrio quickly tag everyone else and they all rush out of the jail with only thirty seconds to go before the test ends. Tylty thinks that both Hunters being here means they're all going to get jailed again, but one of the other applicants tells him to go sit in the jail cell if he wants to give up that easily. Mosko and some other applicants say they're not wasting this opportunity, and they along with Velou, Nulo, Migael, Merrio, and all the rest declare that they're 'on the hunt'. The applicants all do their best to fight off Debonair and Grimm, and as the seconds count down, Velou leaps in to try and take away Grimm's handcuffs from her when... Time runs out. The 42nd Final Debarkation Exam ends with nobody jailed, and thus, all participants pass! Review: This was definitely one hell of a fun end to the Debarkation Exam arc, and I for one am still really hoping we get to see what's beyond this storyline. It's clear the author has plans to make at least a fair bit of use out of a good handful of these newly introduced characters, and they've all proven to have more to them than first meets the eye, so I'm excited to see more of them in action. Once again, Kawaguchi pulls a fast one on me too. I thought we'd seen all there was to see of Tylty's plan and that it wasn't that good of one, but it turned out to have more to it than we thought. I can't help but wonder just how long he was planning to keep Debonair at bay in some other way than dropping her into the coal though. We're not really made privy to what his plan after that point was either, since everything we see him do after this point is a new plan only concocted after he agrees to work with everyone else at the end. Porschen in particular still really intrigues me as a character. She's got an interesting skill set, she's older than she looks apparently, and she's quite open about how she's really only going to the lengths that she is because it seems like the best way to try and pass this exam. She's openly admitted to not really caring about Velou's past or aspirations either, and there's really been nothing to indicate that she's anywhere near as gung-ho about wanting to hunt werewolves as they all are, so what exactly is her reason for being here? Hopefully we find out eventually. Velou on the other hand is a character that we know pretty well by now, but ironically he doesn't seem to realize his own capabilities. I've commented before on how he's definitely more on the brainy side of the hero scale rather than the brawny one, and that's highlighted well here. He realizes that, in combat? He doesn't really have much to set him apart in the same way that the various other characters do. Heck, it's a pretty good bet that even Mosko could take him in a straight-on fight (though I suspect Velou would come up with some way to deal with him and come out on top in the end). What he lacks in power however he more than makes up in charisma and intelligence, as his plan was a good enough one that it's continually spoken to people that may have had a plan of their own or just plain didn't care about the others. Some of them probably still don't, but they've been forced to realize that his plan really is their best bet at victory. Even the guard Laurell seems to realize how much of a difference Velou's presence here has had on all of the other characters when he laments not having someone like that around when he took the test (further building on the idea that even if you don't make it as a Hunter, the guild might still employ you in other ways). Even Tylty eventually comes around, and his refusal to not go along with a plan he doesn't have faith in shows that he's also on the brainier side of things after all, at least compared to the likes of Bonkers. He definitely still bears the scars of the last exam he took part in though, and I suspect even his turnaround success here won't be enough to completely fix what's broken inside of him – but it's a start. Once the action starts going at the chapter's halfway point, it's really chaotic and enjoyable from beginning to end, but I'd be lying if I didn't say there was something to criticize. As much as I love the artist's overall style, things can still be a little hard to follow at times. Things like Bonkers' fight with Debonair are clear enough even in smaller panels, but I had to flip back and forth multiple times before I realized it was Grimm's legs that Porschen had wrapped up in her wires before being kicked away. The two weaknesses I'd say Kawaguchi has is moments like that where the art could be clearer, and a really, really bad over-reliance on flashbacks (seriously, we could do a drinking game based around flashbacks and be dead by chapter five). And just as Velou had wanted, everyone managed to pass! There were a good handful of background characters that had notable designs but we never really got to see in action, so there's a good chance that if the series does get to continue onward, we'll be seeing some of them in action alongside our named characters we've grown to like in this arc. Until next time! Favorite Panel: Next Time: Chapter 15
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About the AuthorAspiring author and big anime/manga fan, just trying to do my best in the world. For more details, go to About Me. Archives
September 2022
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