There will be no Yuri here today. I’m sorry…I wish there was. (Hoo boy do I wish there was…) but there isn’t.

What there is today is a group of women known as the AMP – women who kick ass, each in their own way; women who have been gathered together for the express purpose of kicking the ass out of otherworldly creatures known as the Lucifer Hawk.

In time honored tradition, in Volume 2 of Silent Mobius, we’re resolving backstory issues we didn’t know the characters had, because otherwise we might not care about them enough going forward. In Volume 1 we established Nami’s onmyoudo cred, which allows us to accept her place among the AMP. In the second back/current story, we get the exact opposite. Kiddy Phenil is the most visibly strong character. In her backstory resolution, we learn about her softer, more human side – even as we learn the truth behind her strength.

Then, finally, we turn our attention towards the protagonist of the series – Katsumi Liquer. The breadcrumbs of story that are dropped here in Volume 2 will lead us further and further along the trail in search of the story behind the story. We are introduced to Katsumi’s heirloom, the sword Grospeliner – a sapient weapon with a pretty silly sense of humor. Reading Grospeliner snarking at Katsumi I realized that I am inordinately fond of sapient/sentient weaponry. ^_^

But it’s a quick swipe at Katsumi’s story and we’re on to Yuki. Yuki, our youngest character (and who would be drawn today to look 4 years old, no doubt) is quite possible the most problematic character for the reading audience. She seems so weak, so sweet, so entirely out of place. And right away, her arc deals with her feelings about that very thing. Her story won’t be resolved until next volume, but do we really have any doubt that hyper-competent Rally Cheyenne would choose a weakling for her team?

Which bring us to the always fascinating Rally. For a second time we see that her power is greater than a mid-level Lucifer Hawk. I can’t speak for anyone else, but the panel of Rally standing in front of her team, not even a hair out of place after that Lucifer Hawk attack is still one of my favorite images of the series.

Udon has provided a nicely reproduced edition, with color art in the beginning (but not that undercover art I longed for.) The translation is once again excellent until those rare moments when it jars. In this case, the jarring was caused entirely by personal preference, so I don’t hold it against them.

As I said, there is no Yuri. Katsumi has Roy and Kiddy gets Ralph and they are exceedingly cute at one another. But the AMP is indubitably a team of strong, competent women fighting at the peak of their unique skills against a grotesque, yet oddly elegant, enemy.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 9
Characters – 8
Service – 2
Yuri – 0

It’s definitely worth revisiting this series. It still holds together as a great action-occult-scifi masterpiece – with adult women who talk to each other about something other than romance.