Pandora in the Crimson Shell: Ghost Urn vol. 21

With Phobos back on the side of the angels, it’s time for her and Clarion to finally put a wrench in Labrys’ plans.  Until Phobos gets hit with an upgraded version of the BYDO virus and then has to make an awful choice in order to save those closest to her.  Meanwhile, Project 2501 finds itself up against the villain herself as it tries to use what it has learned from Nene in order to fight back.  It may be one of the most sophisticated and powerful AIs out there, but even it has its limits.  Especially when it’s up against someone who’s determined to sink the entire island of Cenacle just to spite the one scientist who was better at things than she was.

This is an odd volume as I had this nagging feeling that its chapters likely read better in individual installments where their developments had some time to let what happened in them sink in.  It’s not enough to get me to give up my trade-waiting ways, but there’s no denying that Phobos’ journey here loses a bit of its impact when you can find out what happens next just by turning a few pages as opposed to waiting a month or more.  That’s not to say writer Koshi Rikudo and artist Rin Hitotose don’t give it their all to make what happens hit you right in the feels and they deserve credit for that.

There’s also a moment towards the end of the volume that raises a plot point that I’d completely forgotten about from the beginning of the series.  That would be how Nene has been under the impression that Clarion is another full-body cyborg like she is.  It’s brought up again here to add some drama as the two of them find each other in a (literal) dark place and Clarion now has to break the bad news to her friend and admit she’s effectively been lying to her this whole time.

This… doesn’t quite work from a dramatic perspective because I think anyone who has followed the series up to this point knows how it’s going to go.  While Clarion’s fears are understandable, she’s worried about admitting them to the nicest, most positive, and trusting character in the entire series.  So I think that the resolution to this issue won’t amount to much next time.  Which is unlike the final page reveal in this volume, which portends that Labrys may be in for some trouble (which I’ll be able to let sink in as I wait for vol. 22 to arrive in July).