The plotlines in Jormungand have never been really tight. In Volume 5 the plots are thin red strings that hold all the characters’ fates together.

Without these barely-there threads, the characters give the impression that they’d fly right out of their orbits around Koko. And it is Koko that holds all these strings. This is a team that exists entirely because of Koko. Because she can smile, they can smile. Because she likes practical jokes, they joke with each other. Because she treats Jonah like a son, they can all take responsibility for him.

In this volume we get a little bit of background for Lehm, the artillery expert, there’s a few chapters of fighting and, at the end, we see Valmet attempting to sneak away on her own.

Nothing in this volume is much different than in the previous four volumes, so if you are not already enamored of reading a story about people having fun killing other people, then you’re not going to be convinced to keep reading.

But for those of us who do like the series, this is more of the same – and has the added benefit of the team taking turns seeing who can throw Jonah the farthest, which made me laugh out loud.

Valmet is still Team Yuri as she proclaims her breasts only for her own and Koko’s use. I’m interested to see the spotlight turned on her next volume. I bet she’ll knife fight and people will shoot things, but that’s just me projecting. And I’m 80% convinced that Schokolade is besotted with Koko as well.

There’s a short omake with Koko’s female harem that tickled my funnybone. But overall, this ain’t high art. It’s just a dumb manga that I really like.

Ratings:

Art – 3
Story – 5
Characters – 8
Yuri – 4
Service – 5

Overall – In reality, this manga is a 4, but I like it 8