Synopsis: Velou marvels at the size of the camp fortress, the Ironworks, and is immediately greeted by Debonair Diamond, a tall, muscular woman who serves as the conductor/instructor for the Ironworks. Grimm catches Debonair's attention and says she has three camp hopefuls if they can handle them, and Debonair says there's no passenger limit at all. She recognizes Tylty and Mylty as people who have failed the exam before, but invites them aboard anyway, shaking hands with Velou and warning everyone that they depart at noon. As she rushes off, Velou notes that her hands felt abnormally hot. It's explained that the camp fortress Ironworks is a mobile training center whose only passengers are those hoping to join the Hunters Guild. Candidates board at Borderport, the only station on the travel line, and then make a three month trip back to the guild headquarters – if they pass the training program over the next three months. Only those who pass Debonair's regimen are allowed to reach the guild, and she spends the three months making everyone build their bodies and minds, all while teaching them the basic skills they'll need as hunters. At noon, a final status of the Ironworks is checked before they start their voyage, and Debonair speaks to all of the passengers, reminding them that their destination is Site Citadel, the location of the Hunters Guild HQ and an island that's not on any map. There are no stops along the way, and anyone that wishes to leave may do so at any time, but while they'll be given a boat, they'll have to row all the way back themselves in shame. In the first training room, Velou asks Tylty and Mylty about the training since they've been through it once before, but their talk is interrupted by a large man with an iron jaw, Bikjoe Bonkers. Bikjoe harasses the twins about not having tried the last time, thinking they'd have given up after failing before that. Tylty retorts that they were scouted for a job, but Bikjoe scoffs and asks if Velou is their little brother. Bikjoe introduces himself to Velou and says this is his fifth shot at camp, which makes him Velou's senior, but Velou quickly realizes that means Bikjoe's already failed four times in that case. Bikjoe gets annoyed and says scrawny people like them don't have a chance in the first place, and if they want to get an edge, they need to bulk up like he has. He then turns and gives the same advice to an old man, and ridicules him for even trying at his age. Velou asks what age has to do with it, and the old man named Bremen reveals that his family was taken by a werewolf, so he wants to become a hunter to get revenge for them. While Bikjoe laughs and walks off, Velou introduces himself to Bremen and tells him that they've got that goal in common and that age doesn't matter, and the two shake hands with Bremen wishing him luck. Debonair speaks to the crowd and keeps her words short, telling them that the regimen at the camp is a simple one: they're going to train their bodies, minds, and hearts to their peaks. A montage is shown of various training methods – pull-ups, weapon assembly, tightrope walking, pulling carts, cooking, and cleaning – while she reminds them that she's not going to baby them, and will knock them down as much as possible with the expectation that they pick themselves back up. She encourages them to leave if they need to – a sight that Velou notes some taking advantage of as time passes – but says that if they give their training their all, then over the next three months they'll turn their squishy bodies into steel. And indeed, Velou notices his body starting to gain musculature in the mirror. A week into the training, Velou is exhausted and almost unable to eat, even though Debonair tells him he's doing good and offers up her own special meal regimen for him. Velou forces himself to eat, but much as Tylty and Bikjoe cautioned him, he ends up throwing it back up, with Velou cursing himself for wasting food and the life of the fish themselves. Hearing a splash, Velou looks out the window to see another boat leaving the Ironworks – this time it's the old man Bremen, and the two exchange saddened looks as Bremen begins to row away. Back in the mess hall, Bikjoe too notices that he hasn't seen Bremen around lately, and says he knew he wouldn't last. Velou returns however and takes his seat, wolfing down all of the food that Debonair gave him, thinking that he doesn't have time to feel down, resolutely reminding himself that he's going to become a Hunter. On a small island a short distance away, three beings watch the Ironworks pass by. The witch Cinderella, sitting atop a massive werewolf's head, asks the unseen third being if they think Velou will get stronger. She cautions them not to get their hopes up, as Velou is merely a stand in that doesn't have what it takes to be a star, no matter how much they set the stage for him. Everything is riding on him regardless though she thinks, and she turns to the third person, revealed to be the thought-dead mayor of Velou's Kasoka village, telling him that he'd worked so hard to raise him too. Review: Well THAT certainly ended on a bombshell, didn't it? While this chapter doesn't have quite the same level of questions being asked as a certain previous chapter, nor does it have the same level of lore dropping, it's solid enough in it's own right and still gives us quite a bit to chew on. Let's start off with something I'm not a fan of with this chapter though, that being Kawaguchi's paneling in regards to showing what's going on around Velou. They've been pretty good about this sort of thing so far, and maybe it's just me, but this time around there were a couple of times that I didn't realize something due to how it was explained or shown to me. The main case is with the Ironworks itself, where I for some reason was under the impression that it was more-or-less a ship – a gigantic, box shaped ship, but a ship regardless. That said, as it turns out, it moves along a gigantic railway system that goes over the water, rather than it actually sailing. While neat, this wasn't really explained very well in my opinion prior to it being shown, and it also kind of hurts the idea of the guild headquarters being on an island that can't be found. Seems like it'd be a simple matter of following the rail if you ask me... Secondly, there's the giant werewolf (which I'll come back to later on) and the island at the end of the chapter. The way the werewolf's head is positioned, I had to do a double take at first to see if the island was an island at all or if it was just part of the werewolf's body, but based on it's shape I don't think that could be the case at all. There's also a panel where we see what appears to be toes poking out of the water far ahead of it's head, so I guess the werewolf is just lounging in the water and resting it's head against the island, or something? Again, maybe I'm just not processing what my eyes are showing me right here or something, but it's the first time I've had that problem with this manga, so it felt like it bears mentioning. Other than that though, the rest of the chapter was straight-forward and fun, especially with the introduction of Debonair, a character that probably settles the author's preference in women: he likes them big, and he likes them strong. Respect. It's through meeting Debonair that we start to get more of a picture of what the Hunter's Guild is like. To gain entrance to the guild you have to prove yourself strong first and foremost, and it seems like beyond that there's no real criteria to meet for the first test other than making your way to Borderport. Anyone may apply, be they male or female, young or old, and you can seemingly apply as many times as it takes until you pass or eventually give up. While this makes it seem easy on the surface, it's made clear quickly that this training is quite tough, and very few people pass. I mean, we already saw what the twins were capable of last chapter, and they failed last time – it's clear that this isn't a test that just anyone can pass. Debonair seems like she's going to be a fun character though, and I hope she ends up sticking around even once they reach the guild. As stern as she is about the training's toughness, she seems to really want everyone to pass if they can muster it based on her remembering those who tried and failed before, and how she seems to be fairly supportive of Velou. There's a bit of a mystery to her as well, with Velou noting her hands being abnormally hot – a hint of her power, or perhaps of something going on with her body like with Grimm's small stature? - so whether she sticks around much longer or not, there's definitely more to her than meets the eye. There are also a number of other unnamed Ironworks staff briefly shown in this chapter, and while they all have unique designs from one to the next, none of them jump out at me as characters we're going to be focusing on, so for now they're just something to keep in the back of our minds lest they do turn out to be important somehow. No, the other two characters introduced in this chapter that merit some discussion are Bikjoe and Bremen. Bikjoe is the character that's likely to be sticking around for a bit longer if I had to guess, as he seems to be filling the 'big, dumb oaf' role that any shonen worth it's salt is bound to have somewhere in it's roster. He certainly seems like the kind of character with way more bark than bite anyway, though it's going to be interesting to see just what he is capable of if he does end up making the cut this time. That iron jaw – if it really is his bottom jaw and not just part of his clothing – almost definitely has some sort of story behind it, I'd wager. Bremen however is a bit of a mystery, as I can't help but wonder if there's more to him than what we get in this chapter. He's introduced as a seemingly kind enough old man who has a thirst for vengeance due to his family being taken by werewolves. At the absolute least, he serves as an analogue for Velou, showing that people of all ages might have reason for wanting to become a Hunter, as well as being someone else who knows loss at the hands of these monsters. We don't really know what Tylty and Mylty's backstories are, to say nothing of the brash Bikjoe, so having someone with so much in common with Velou, someone that he makes a connection albeit briefly with, along for the ride makes sense. But then, he doesn't make the cut. He's unable to keep up with the harsh training of the Ironworks, and leaves of his own accord. This makes a great emotional throughline with how much Velou is going to have to grow and change to overcome this challenge. ...But is that all Bremen is? I could end up barking entirely up the wrong tree here, but I have a theory – not one I'm completely on board with myself, but one that does seem worth mentioning – that I'll be getting into in just a moment, so bear with me folks. At the end of the chapter, just as Velou's resolve is renewed, we get the scene with Cinderella, a giant werewolf, and of all people, the Mayor, watching the Ironworks go by. What in the holy hell are THESE three characters doing just lounging around so close to Velou's current location? The giant wolf doesn't appear to be Lycaon that I can tell – if he is, he's curiously rather silent this time around – so there's at least one other werewolf of somewhat comparable size out there. Cinderella appears to be playing some sort of board game that looks like a weird mix of chess and tic-tac-toe against nobody in particular, and the Mayor seems to be writing a letter. What. In. The. World. IS. This? Don't mistake my words for anger either, because I am absolutely loving this wild turn of events so far, and I can't wait to see what's going on. Now, this is where my theory comes in – what if Bremen was the Mayor in disguise? Hear me out. The pair don't really look that much alike outside of both being old men, their facial hair, outfits, and even their noses don't seem to match one another's. But this is a series that's already established itself as taking place in a world with magic, not to mention the Mayor is now seen being buddy-buddy with Cinderella – it's not that far out of left field to assume that such a disguise would be pretty easy to achieve with magic. And seeing as how it would have been a fairly innocent spell with no ill intention behind it, it may not have been picked up by Grimm or Debonair or anyone else at the Ironworks, even if they had the capability to detect magic. There's also a few other curious points of evidence for this theory. First, Bremen says a werewolf 'took' his family. He doesn't say that one killed them, just 'took'. This curious word choice could be alluding to how his wife was actually turned into a werewolf, and how the events that resulted from that caused him to lose his village, as well as Velou who is now charting his own course in life. Both that statement and his statement asking Velou and himself to both give their best are seemingly bolded for emphasis as well. Finally, the reveal that the mayor is even alive at all only comes after we see Bremen leave. This could just be how the chapter played out, but it's also possible that the reveal was only possible once “Bremen” was out of the picture, the disguised Mayor having made sure Velou was going to do his best and that he was going to be okay for the time being. Again, I'm not 100% on board with this theory myself, since even with the evidence presented, it makes an awful lot of assumptions about what's being provided to us here. I could be on to something, or I could be so completely off base that it's not even funny. Only time will tell, I suppose, as the only thing we do know for sure is that the Mayor is alive, and there has to be something more going on than what we've even seen so far. Until next time! Favorite Panel: Next Time: Chapter 8
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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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