Dai Dark vol. 7

The last time we saw Zaha Sanko… HE WAS PRETTY MUCH FUCKED!  Not only was he at the mercy of Big Sparkle and his old school bully Hinata Boggo, but the former even managed to get one of his bones.  Which means that Big Sparkle can now have any wish he wants granted.  But where is he supposed to take this bone now that he has it?  And even though he has it, what’s to say some combination of betrayal, a special sale by Misetani Box and/or Zaha getting his act together won’t help turn the tide.  To the point where our protagonists now have to deal with some even more esoteric threats:  A couple of pagan scientists recruited by the Photosphere Corporation, and Damemaru’s growing realization that he doesn’t want to hang out with his comrades any more.  Dying horribly and coming back from it painfully (and repeatedly) will do that to a man, I guess.

Vol. 6, cliffhanger and all, made it seem like “Dai Dark” was finally getting its act together and the story was going to have real direction and momentum from here on out.  It’s probably unfair to hold vol. 7 to that same standard as its back two-thirds are deliberately positioned as a coming-down from the highs of the previous volume’s story.  Fortunately there’s a lot of interesting weirdness on hand to keep the reader interested.  Be it the awakening of Katastrophos, the introduction of Inapika Viper and Taytor Hassoku, or the fact that mangaka Q Hayashida keeps killing Damemaru in new and interesting ways, there’s a lot of stuff in this volume that I didn’t expect to see the day I woke up and read it.  Which is why even if the outcome of the current storyline about Damemaru wanting to leave the group feels like a foregone conclusion, I still feel good about following where this series is going.