Synopsis: With Dodou held at gunpoint, Velou thinks back to the earlier conversation he had with Grimm. She forewarned him that the two werewolves they're now hunting would be younger and nastier than the old one they already hunted – these werewolves still have all their teeth, as shown by the marks left on the mayor's bones. She suspects that at least one of them will try to slip in amongst the villagers who will hide in the meeting house, so they'll use them as bait. Velou is outraged at such a risky plan and declares that he won't let anyone else get eaten. Grimm agrees, reminding him that she's currently under contract to keep the villagers safe, but says only Velou will be able to pick out who the werewolf is due to his familiarity with the villagers. She loans him one of her own guns, despite Velou's arguing that he already has one, as hers will actually kill a werewolf. She warns him to be careful though as it has a mean kick. In the present, Dodou admits that Velou found him, but so what? He'll just make a temporary retreat and come back later – since he's a werewolf, it's easy for him to kill people whenever he wants. As Dodou reveals his true form, Velou shouts for everyone to leave, and Dodou says he'll start by killing him. Velou tries to fire the gun but fails, and Dodou knocks him through a wall. Velou's takes some damage but is glad to have the werewolf's full attention, but Dodou just taunts him. A sudden noise catches both of their attentions, as a greatly injured Naraoia is suddenly dropped on the ground between them. Grimm appears, and Velou is horrified to see that she used the steeple bell to fight the other werewolf. Naraoia warns Dodou that Grimm is crazy, but Dodou rips out one of his brother's fangs rather than consoling him, chastising him for failing at his job. As Velou watches, horrified, Dodou continues to chastise Naraoia, saying that he never liked him and if he's going to be this useless, he may as well be dead. As he tries to hit his brother with a boulder off the ground, Velou tries again to fire the gun but is stopped by Grimm. Dodou simply laughs, saying that bullets don't work on werewolves anyway. He decides to inform Velou about what makes werewolves so strong and superior to humans: the true nature of their ability to transform back and forth from human form to werewolf. He explains that it's more than a way to hide in plain sight, transforming involves their muscles changing shape entirely and regenerating each time they tear, which is how they heal their wounds so fast as well. To demonstrate, Dodou cuts himself all over his body with his claws, and explains that every time a muscle tears and is healed, it's made bigger and stronger than it was before. He proves this by becoming a much larger wolf after healing all of his wounds. He concedes that werewolves do have one true weakness though, the heart, a fact he demonstrates by ripping out Naraoia's and crushing it into pulp in front of him. As Naraoia dies, Velou is enraged. Dodou merely laughs, remarking how he's seen that look on plenty of human's faces right before he ate them. Grimm tries to get Velou to calm down, but he demands to know why she didn't let him shoot. She explains that it would have been pointless, as one of them killing the other just makes their job that much easier. Velou declares that he can't forgive Dodou for what he's just done, and that killing your own family is despicable, but Grimm counters this by saying they were going to kill both of them themselves anyway. Dodou grumbles that he's getting hungry and prepares to attack, but Grimm clouds the air with some gas shells and escapes onto a nearby roof with Velou. Velou is still enraged, but Grimm forces him to stop and listen. She's going to allow him to kill the werewolf all by himself, and reminds him that he was the one who said he'd protect the hamlet once she was gone. He has to come up with a plan, and she'll assist as needed, but it's going to be his job to get it done. She cautions him to give up on anger and thoughts of justice, saying there's no point to such things. A hunt is merely a battle of wits between the hunter and their prey. Now is the moment for him to become a true Hunter. Review: This chapter had a lot more action than the last one, bringing it way closer to being as entertaining as the first chapter. It's clear that the author is building upon what the previous chapter brought in to really make this one that much stronger, so I'm really excited to see what they'll bring to the table next time, which I'm betting is likely the conclusion of this particular storyline. With continued flashbacks to the conversation Grimm and Velou had in-between chapters 1 and 2, it's clear that Kawaguchi is going to heavily favor this sort of non-linear storytelling for this series. While it's easy enough to follow now, I can't help but worry a little bit that it could get a little out of hand as the series progresses. We've seen countless times how this sort of thing can be done wrong in manga, so let's just hope this doesn't become another case study for that down the road. It's amazing the sorts of things you might miss when you first read a chapter of something, at least if you're me. For starters, I didn't even catch that the old lady werewolf in chapter 1 didn't have any teeth, I was too distracted by how bizarre looking her monster form was in the first place. Secondly, and to rectify a mistake I made in the last review, I didn't even realize that the gun Velou was holding Dodou at gunpoint with wasn't the musket he had before. How I failed to notice this is beyond me considering the two look absolutely nothing alike, but hey, I'm not a gun guy. That's gonna be my excuse and I'll have to run with it. I will try to be more careful about that sort of thing in the future though. Speaking of guns though, it's interesting that their ability to kill werewolves is broached from two different angles in this chapter. Grimm asserts that her gun can kill a werewolf whereas Velou's musket can't, but Dodou later claims that guns flat-out can't kill werewolves. I'm still placing money on this all leading up to a reveal of a werewolf's truest weakness being silver, as that would allow both of these statements to be true in that it's the special kind of bullet that kills them, not the guns themselves. It would also help loop around back to the mayor's axe and why it's so special too. I said last chapter that Dodou came off way less intelligent than he thought himself to be, especially in comparison to the mayor's wife who managed to hide in plain sight for an undetermined amount of time. While that's still true, he also proves himself to be more than that this time around: he's a total and complete bastard. We had hints of how he was only using his brother as a means to an end last time, but it's nothing compared to the cruelty and lack of compassion he shows him this time around. The build-up to his ultimate betrayal is very well done as well. At first, it could be taken as an exceedingly cruel way to demonstrate his explanation at how werewolf regeneration works, but in the end, he's just enjoying cutting up his brother before ultimately killing him in an extremely cruel fashion. Needless to say, it's going to be very good catharsis to see him get his presumably next chapter. Velou's horror at this act of fratricide is another way we're shown how much his world view clashes with that of Grimm's. While Velou's outlook is somewhat treated as that of a child's, one who hasn't killed before and doesn't know how warped the world outside his little hamlet likely is, I can't help but feel myself drawn a little more to his way of thinking than I am Grimm's. What Dodou did is fundamentally cruel, regardless of if they were planning on killing both werewolves themselves or not. That said, Grimm does make some good points herself, such as needing to focus rather than let anger take control of you when in a battle situation such as the one they're now in. I'm hoping that, as the Velou character grows, he manages to take some of those aspects of her methodology into himself, but hopefully without losing what makes him him. We get a brief explanation as to how the gas shells Grimm uses work, and I think the author might just be a fan of Usopp's plant-based weaponry post-timeskip in One Piece. It's going to be interesting to see what other kinds of tools the Red Hood guild has at their disposal. Now with all of the weight of the fight placed squarely on Velou's shoulders, I'm looking forward to seeing exactly what sort of plan he has in mind to take Dodou down. Grimm does offer her help for him to pull off whatever plan he has, but I wonder if he won't take her up on it, at least initially, so as to prove a point about protecting the village all on his own. Guess I'll find out soon enough. Until next time! Favorite Panel: Next Time: Chapter 4
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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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