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Title: Nora: The Last Chronicle of Devildom Vol 6 & 7

Author: Kazunari Kakei

Publisher: Viz

ISBN: 9781421519005 & 9781421519012

May Contain Spoilers

Nora is a surprisingly entertaining action series, chockfull of all of those shounen manga conventions that I find so entertaining.  There are two leads who both need to attend a seminar on playing along well with others, a bad-ass bad guy, scads of high-energy battles, and even some magic thrown in to boot.  Nothing here is groundbreaking or revolutionary, but it’s all delivered in a fast, frenzied fashion that entertains and also tosses in some humor and some really corny one-liners.  I just can’t help myself – I am a sucker for this formula.

Kazuma and Nora learn the heartbreaking truth about the fate of the last Cerberus, as well as the origins of the Dark Liege.  They also discover the awful realization of Nora’s true purpose in the fate of the Demon and Human worlds.  It’s not so that he can get stronger and live happily ever after.  No, it’s so he can channel the power of the Dark Liege to her replacement, who is currently slated to be Kazuma.  To say that neither of them is very thrilled that the path of their lives has been neatly laid out without any consultation from them is the understatement of the century.  When the leader of the Resistance decides it’s time to make a move and grab control of the Demon world, the two finally set aside their petty bickering in order to put a stop to him.  Can they change the course of destiny?

Ah, who doesn’t love a battle against fate, and the hopeless quest to change the course of destiny?  I like when characters dig in their heels and refuse to bow to even the most impossible of challenges.  For thousands of years, the mantle of power has changed the same way for the Dark Liege, but now Kazuma and Nora both refuse to just go along flow.  Perhaps that’s what’s needed to change to  stream of fate.  The current Dark Liege wasn’t happy to learn how power was transferred from one Dark Liege to the next, but she couldn’t come up with a way to alter the course of events.  She thinks that the overly confident Kazuma and Nora will succeed where she failed, and considering how brash they both are, she just might be right.

These two volumes delve into the back story of Cerberus and the Dark Liege.  The Resistance also makes their move, launching a full out battle to gain control of the Demon world.  Their leader, Fall, couldn’t care less about keeping the status quo, and is much more interested in a new world where only the strongest survive.  His group of dedicated fighters mean that Nora and the Dark Liege army are going to be mighty busy fending off their massive assault.  There are many fast and furious battles occurring between several groups of combatants, and while some of action sequences seem stiff and awkward, there are also some fantastic full page illustrations to capture attention.  The art overall, though, is a mixed bag of fluid action in some panels, and unconvincing motion in others.

There are better action manga out there than Nora, but it still delivers solid entertainment.  Despite many clichés, I do look forward to new volumes of this series.

Grade: B-

Review copies provided by Viz