By Dustin Cabeal
The last few volumes of Twin Star Exorcists weren’t great. They were fairly average, but they seemed to mark a new direction in the story in which the battle would be more drawn out and move away from the fast pace storytelling that I had fallen in love with in the earlier volumes of the series. It made me a bit reluctant to return to the series which is why I’m only now getting around to reviewing the 10th volume.
Fuck me I shouldn’t have waited.
Volume 10, puts us on the island. Rokuro is somewhat of a celebrity, but it becomes clear quickly that some of the island is only interested in the chosen child being born and others feel he’s a waste of space because he comes from the mainland. As such, Rokuro ends up in front of the families of the twelve guardians. The creepy guy tells him to pick a family, and to that, one of the family instantly takes themselves out of consideration. Someone else in the family begins badmouthing Benio’s family, and Rokruo, of course, puts on a show. He’s then challenged himself a kid no older than himself, who is one of the most powerful families of the twelve.
They head into the Magano and Rokuro is mostly worthless, except for saving one of the other exorcists. The mean kid visits him in his dreams and reveals the hidden past behind the Kegare. It’s a remarkable story on its own, and in any other manga, this reveal probably would have been saved for another five years; which is why I like Twin Star, and I’m glad to see they’re back to quick reveals. Something else is revealed, and I could be wrong, but I’ll give you a spoiler warning anyway. When Rokuro learns about Abeno Seimei being trapped for thousands of years he cries and says, “Mother.” Remember, Rokuro was found in the Magano. They don’t know anything about him, but wouldn’t it make sense that he was the son of Seimei and the Kegare King? We’ll see and hopefully soon. The story does seem to set up another training/power building storyline, so we’ll see what happens.
The artwork has improved. There’s still too much chibi stuff going on, but it’s lessened. That and Rokuro’s rage isn’t so comical or over the top anymore. When they were badmouthing Benio’s family, the look he gave was murderous. It was different for him. Otherwise, the island has brought out a new level of battles and designs. It’s a unique setting for the story, and hopefully, they’ll explore and develop the island more. I doubt it’ll “feel like a character,” but here’s hoping since the Island has been talked about so much.
The great thing about this volume is that it instantly made me want to read more, which wasn’t necessarily true of the last volume. Perhaps it’s because I read the first few pages of the next volume without realizing I had skipped one volume and know that the story isn’t going to rest. Twin Star Exorcists is back to running at full speed, and I hope the next time it slows down it isn’t for two entire volumes. This volume, just for the background story, is worth the read. The rest of it is damn good too though.
Score: 5/5
Twin Star Exorcists vol. 10
Story & Art: Yoshiaki Sukeno
Publisher: Viz Media