Drifting Dragons vols. 6 & 7

Mika and Cujo’s face-off against Sahaquiel makes for an invigorating start to vol. 6.  The former even manages to inspire fear in the latter with his reckless dragon-slaying technique.  Unfortunately, things fall into an all-too-familiar groove for the rest of the volume as Cujo convinces Mika to help him take out the dragon that took his leg, and is still hanging around the outskirts of this coastal town.  It should not surprise anyone that this involves scenes where the two of them evade the local authorities, where Cujo’s daughter comes after  him because she’s upset at how reckless he’s being, and where the old draker confesses that he just can’t quit the sky.  The execution is as solid as you’d expect from mangaka Taku Kuwabara, as he’s shown in the past that he can at least make familiar stories look good.  It’s just that this “old professional comes back for the one that got away” story isn’t any different from the ones that have come before.

Vol. 7 is a much different beast as it starts off by telling us what’s up with some of the background characters, as well as manager/clerk Lee.  He turns out to have a background that’s particularly relevant to the story at hand as the Quin Zaza heads to the town of Majuro to pay off the loan acting captain Crocco took out to reconstruct the ship years ago.  Mika and Takita also cross paths with a crew of slayers — drakers who are out to kill dragons rather than harvest them for their bounty.  The volume ends as both parties unknowingly wind up on a collision course:  The slayers are out to map the mountains to the north to find a pass through them, while the crew of the Quin Zaza is looking to harvest the meat of a legendary dragon for an equally legendary meal.  Though I appreciated the glimpses we got into the backstories of the supporting cast, my gut tells me that this next storyline will involve the two crews meeting, fighting, teaming up to achieve their goals, and then parting with a mutual yet grudging respect.  I’m sure it will all be fine and even enjoyable.  I am, however, not expecting to use the word “surprising” when I get around to writing about vol. 8