Die Wergelder vol. 3
Nearly three years passed between the release of volumes two and three of this series, and I can still remember sections of vol. 2 like I had just read them. Particularly the opening fight between Shinobu and her friends, and the villains who moved into her house on Ishikunagijima island. It wasn’t just proof that mangaka Hiroaki Samura hadn’t lost his skill at depicting incredible action scenes, but could still produce ones that stood toe-to-toe with those from his masterpiece “Blade of the Immortal.” In short, if you’re going to take years between delivering volumes of your series, be it by your own actions or your publisher’s, then your comic has to be as good as “Die Wergelder” vol. 2 to hold my interest.
Which sets the expectations for vol. 3 somewhat high, don’t you think? I’m glad to say that the wait has been worth it and Samura has delivered another satisfying volume that broadens the scope of the series while delivering on the kind of quality action we’ve come to expect from the mangaka. There is that general feeling of “Where is he going with all this?” that pops up from his rambling narrative from time to time, but the journey has been so interesting so far that I’m willing to let the man keep indulging himself as he goes on.
Vol. 2 ended with the introduction of a Marlene Deitrich-looking assassin who goes by the name of Mei Mao. While her fashion sense is distinctive enough, her weapon of choice is even more so as it’s an electrified rope dart. She’s been tasked with taking out the officer of the Hill-Myna Corporation who’s about to spill his guts to Haiyan, Eisuke, and Solil. This leads into the volume’s biggest fight scene as nearly all of the major characters in the series tear into each other for a vicious, fast-paced back-alley brawl.
The worst thing I can say about this fight is that it’s not as good as the one in the house from vol. 2. It’s still an impeccably choreographed ballet of violence that draws you in not just because of its intensity, but for the constantly changing stakes within it. Samura understands that it’s no fun seeing one side wail on the other until the tables turn and the other side starts fighting back. No, there has to be a constant push/pull of struggle between both sides and that’s exactly what we get here. Even when you think it’s over, the other side still has one more ace up its sleeve to pull.
Afterwards the story breaks off in a lot of different directions. One character finds themselves within the heart of Hill-Myna alongside an old lover who has become a monster that wants to get back together with them. Another finds themselves having doubts about their chosen vocation and winds up being brought further into the organization as a means of testing their loyalties. Others find themselves having to navigate a lockdown on the island and resorting to creative means in order to secure help from outside. At least one is featured in the volume’s opening chapter… and never heard from again (sorry, Azuma).
There is a lot going on here and it’s to Samura’s credit that he’s able to keep all of these different storylines straight without the narrative losing focus. It helps that the Hill-Myna Corporation and its henchmen are the clear villains in this story and their influence is felt throughout every part of the story. We get to learn more about how they’ve been manufacturing their anti-cancer drugs and it really feels like the final form of Big Pharma. There’s even a speech by one of their execs about the rightness of what they’re doing that would be impressive if it didn’t involve a lot of dead kids and fetuses. As well as additional means of keeping everyone silent that warrant an in-story comparison to Not-Jeffrey Epstein in ways both expected and not.
Don’t take this to mean that the overall story has become needlessly dark, though. Samura’s trademark irreverence is still present on nearly every page and its tone isn’t too far removed from his current series, “Wave: Listen to Me!” It just involves a lot more violence and murder.
One example involves Mei Mao meeting up with terminal goofball Ro while chasing after someone and having an internal debate with herself about whether or not to kill him while he babbles on. Another has Shinobu sticking up for former antagonist (and child assassin) Alim and being brutally shut down by Solil – verbally, I should say. Then you’ve got the scene where Shinobu has to improvise in order to convince someone on the phone that she’s legit while deceiving the person trying to lip-read her. I could go on, but all of the comedy and comedic digressions help lighten the tone and keep it from getting too oppressive over the course of this volume.
If there’s one thing that could threaten to derail this series in the long run, it could be the sprawl that accompanies its narrative in this volume. In addition to learning more about Hill-Myna and its operations, we’re introduced to even more new characters here. There’s that evil scientist who’s also a former lover I mentioned above. An old friend of Trane’s is introduced at the end. A couple chapters are also given over to a rather self-obsessed detective as well.
Samura invests enough detail in their introductions to not make them feel like they’re throwaway fodder, even though it does wind up crowding out certain other characters. (Again, sorry Azuma.) Some of the character threads, while fun to follow, also had me wondering where they were going and if they were ever going to converge. In fact, the volume ends with the cast more fractured than ever and only the barest hint that Samura is going to start bringing them together again.
It all leaves me wondering when he’s going to start engineering the endgame for this series as well. Much as I’m enjoying “Die Wergelder” now, it doesn’t feel like the kind of title that’s meant to go on forever. The Hill-Myna Corporation has to fall sometime and the longer the mangaka draws it out the more he risks sapping this series of the vitality its action and irreverence possess. I don’t think that’s an immediate problem, as vol. 3 shows that this series can still deliver the goods even when (almost) three years pass between volumes. So bring on vol. 4… whenever Samura feels like he can deliver it!