Murcielago vol. 10

I’ve always wondered what “Murcielago” would look like when it finally shed its constant desire to shock, titillate, or disturb the reader.  With vol. 10, I finally have my answer. More than that since it also sheds any attempts at (ridiculous) over-the-top action like we saw in the previous volume.  It all starts when Kuroko, Hinako, and some of their girlfriends make a trip to the local aquarium.  Hinako really wants to see the new tiger shark there, but Kuroko winds up seeing it first and witnesses the shark barfing out a lot of blood and a severed human arm.  One autopsy later and it’s revealed that the arm wasn’t bitten off by the shark, it was severed by some kind of blade. That leads Kuroko and Hinako on a trip to the rural harbor town where the shark was caught to fish up some answers.

If I’m being completely honest, I kind of miss “Murcielago’s” wilder, trashier side.  It managed to effectively trade on shock value for a lot longer than I was expecting it to so this murder mystery does feel somewhat dull by the title’s standards.  I mean, the previous volume involved a city-destroying mecha battle. Having Kuroko and Hinako follow that up by digging into a missing persons case in a harbor town with no action at all feels like an attempt by mangaka Yoshimurakana to troll her readers by being deliberately boring.

Even so, the core mystery in this volume unspools well enough and the fact that the local Christian Church is involved suggests that the mangaka might be saving the really disturbing stuff for next time.  Given Japan’s history with that religion I’d be extremely surprised if Yoshimurakana didn’t have something incredibly bloody and/or horrific to show off involving its practitioners. Anticipation for vol. 11, however, doesn’t quite make up for finding out that straightforward “Murcielago” isn’t as interesting as wild and crazy “Murcielago.”