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Title: Phantom Dream Vol 2 & 3

Author: Natsuki Takaya

Publisher: Tokyopop

ISBN: 9781427810908 & 9781427810915

May Contain Spoilers

This series goes after a few of my weaknesses, and even though it feels rushed and not fully fleshed out, I can’t help but like it.  It’s got a love that lasts over the span of a thousand years, feuds between two powerful families, and the fate of the entire human race at stake.  Natsuki Takaya blends magic and romance in this engaging fantasy, but several times in my journey through these volumes, I felt lost and confused.  These were in key moments, too, so the impact of the some of the action was lost because I found myself having to go backwards and re-read sections while trying to make sense to them.

Tamaki is the shugoshi for the Otoya family, and it’s his duty to battle against Eiji,  the jahoutsukai of the Gekka family.  The two young magicians inherited their battle through countless generations, with the Gekka family attempting to create a new utopia of jaki, or demons, and the Otoya family fighting to rid the jaki of their negative energy.  Both Eiji and Tamaki have thankless jobs, because both of their families harbor scorn and suspicion against them.  When Tamaki’s lover, Asahi, defects and joins sides with the Gekka family, he’s devastated.  Asahi was his strength, and without her, he despairs at ever defeating the Gekka family.  Then, his family’s ancient enemy, Hira, is awakened.  How can Tamaki hope to put an end to the feud with the powerful Hira as his opponent?

I felt really bad for Tamaki.  In addition to losing his girlfriend, his mother was also a casualty in the war against the Gekka family.  Tamaki also learns that everything he believed about himself was a lie.  The rest of the Otoya family knew of this secret, but they kept it from Tamaki, choosing instead to watch carefully over him and to never fully trust him.  It was like they were setting him up to fail, so they could remove him as the shugoshi.  His is certainly not a nurturing family, so it’s no surprise that he is reluctant to fully develop his powers.  Doubts and fears hold him back and constantly interfere in the battle with the Gekka.

His family problems pale when Hira awakens.  Hira was the founder of the Gekka family, and he is the one who originally started the feud between the families.  Even though Hira despises humanity, it’s hard to hate him.  His heart was twisted by the actions of frightened, ignorant people, and it’s turned him against the people he once worked tirelessly to  save.  Now he only wants the total destruction of humankind.   Saga, once Hira’s friend and the founder of the Otoya family, took up the mantle of the protector of humans.  Though Hira is in a weakened condition when he first awakens, he is quickly more than a match for the young Tamaki.

I didn’t feel that the epic battle between the families was given time to properly brew, and the associations of all of the characters was very confusing.  It may be due in part because there are a lot of characters, and they are introduced at a dizzying rate.  It took until the third volume to understand some of the relationships, and reading the volume introduction in volume three helped to clear up a lot of questions that I had.  The terms used in the book were also confusing, and they were also cleared up with the glossary in the same volume.  I just wish I hadn’t read the character introductions, because there is a big spoiler in there, and it ruined a big revelation in the story. 

Despite some flaws, Phantom Dream is chock full of many of the conventions that I love about manga.  There’s a timeless love, magic, demons, blood feuds, and a nice guy who is caught up in events much larger than himself.  Tamaki is only trying to do the right thing, but he is struggling to figure out what the right thing is.  He has also been cast adrift at the loss of his lover, and he is finding it very, very difficult to carry on without her.  Asahi was his pillar; she gave him strength and courage, and now that she’s gone, there is a gaping void in his soul.  More than anything else, I hope that Tamaki finds his path and becomes whole again, and I’ll keep reading with anticipation until he does just that.

Grade: B

Review copies provided by Tokyopop