Murcielago vol. 19

Vol. 18 was one of the better volumes in this series in a while, but it also wasn’t the first time this series had delivered a solid start to its latest arc only whiff the finish.  “Punishing Love” delivered the goods early on by giving us a genuinely creepy villain, a serial killer whose daughter had been killed by one of the villains of a previous arc and who had just kidnapped Rinko’s friend Noel.  He was doing this as part of his latest effort to replace his daughter and there was this sublime tension to be had in waiting for the moment when he’d eventually snap and do the deed.

That continues in vol. 19, but not quite in the way that I was expecting it to.  The dad continues to remain a genuinely menacing figure, but there are actually some surprisingly successful efforts made to humanize him over the course of the story.  He’s still a monster, but he can at least be recognized as a tragic one by the end of the arc.  Mangaka Yoshimurakana also manages to defuse the potential drama between Rinko and Noel at the finale in a way that, even if it doesn’t feel original, at least comes off as sufficiently heartfelt.

All of this isn’t to say that “Murcielago” has gone completely soft with this volume.  There’s a tense standoff at the arc’s climax that becomes as bloody as you’d expect for this title.  Kuroko also stays true to character as she’s busy both cracking the mysteries at the heart of this case and consoling a distraught ex-wife and a widow in the way that she does best.  While I wouldn’t object to seeing Yoshimurakana take this series back to its crazy, over-the-top self from the early volumes, it appears that her storytelling chops have improved to the point where she doesn’t need to do that.  Which bodes well for the next arc as Kuroko and company head out to an inn in the countryside, get involved with some family drama, and meet up with some old “friends” along the way.