Yet another case of a 3.5 rather than a 3 star volume - but it's getting there, slowly but surely, to the 4 star mark. A lot of backstory for Sanzo in this volume, as well as a lot of team bonding and many hints of Hakkai's past that can only mean the next volume will be very Hakkai heavy.

The series seems to have taken a huge stepback from the 'yokai issue of the week' which had defined its first two volumes, which is probably for a better because there is only so much after school special lessons on yokai & human relations I can take before begging for some actual plot development. Mercifully, there is some, including actual fleshed-out scenes involing Kougaiji and the people he works with.

However, this volume unfortunately undercuts the serious lack of interesting female characters in the series so far; either women are inherently helpless and require the Sanzo gang's assistance, are 'evil' in the sense that they are working for the revival of Gyumaoh, or are both (see: Yaone in volume 2). The most important female figure so far in the series - Kougaiji's mother - is literally unable to move or speak or participate in the action. None of them are sensibly fleshed out so far, not even in comparison to the tons of story we've been getting about Sanzo and the gang. But of course, why introduce complex interesting female people that might distract from all the sexy young men running about with their quest and amazing physical abilities?

One might also question why the only yokai characters are either evil, berserk, or Sanzo's cohorts, but I'm pretty sure this issue is addressed in later volumes. Still, the portrayal of post-Minus Wave yokai as being all mindless violent killing machines and the ones who aren't being part human and on a mission from god is problematic to say the least. I think the odds of Sanzo getting a full-blooded yokai ally grows smaller and smaller with every passing chapter.

Well, at least the art is getting better, right? Right? Eh. ( )

In this book, we learn more of the past lives of the Sanzo party, especially Cho Hakkai. When Sanzo is severely wounded, Goku tries to take revenge, but instead his power limiter is destroyed. Sun Goku reverts to his youkai form and begins to mop up the floor with anyone that comes near him. It's going to take divine intervention to get out of this mess. ( )

I loved the interaction of the characters in all of this - the ways in which Minekura has Sanzo, Hakkai, Goku and Gojyo play off against each other, and also in the ways in which the opposing Sanzo and Kougaiji teas play against each other. All four of the main protagonists have such interesting backgrounds, and I really admire the ways in which Minekura is revealing them.

I'm finding the layout much easier to follow, even though there are still times when I find my eyes wandering from left-to-right, and even more times when I find the action scenes confusing. I really have to slow down and take my time reading these volumes at the moment; I think, though, that as I progress, my speed will improve.
( )