In Volume 1, we met Kouga, a new recruit to the Fukuoka branch of the Special Hazardous Waste Disposal team – an elite force that fights Dynamis, inhuman beings that poison human minds and drive people mad. Kouga is taken under the wing of Sawada, a jaded veteran with a mysterious (to us) past. SHWD (シュード), Volume 2 begins with our two large, muscular women, training…hard. When they take a break, we can see the beginnings of something building between them.

But the bulk of the book follows our cover couple – team leader Nonaka and the American transfer, Leone. Leo and Nonaka have worked together before and understand each other’s weaknesses and strengths. When Leo breaks down, Nonaka is there to stop her from causing herself a harm, and when Nonaka allows the Dynamis influence in her to get too strong, Leo offers her her body to consume while she’s taken into custody. We get Nonaka’s tragic backstory. The two of them have a deep relationship that, by the end of the volume, they tentatively allow to become something more.  They obviously understand one another.

The volume then turns back to Kouga and Sawada. Sawada mentions that different levels of access are given different colors in SHWD. But Kouga notices that Sawada is given a security clearance color that isn’t on the list. When Sawada returns from a disposal, Kouga is sure that she sees a Dynamis draped over Sawada’s head…but a second later, it’s gone and Sawada looks the same as usual. Who…or what…is Sawada?

This a solid action series, with powerful backstories and a pretty thin plot so far. One hopes that it will be given time to develop, so we get a current timeline story along with the puzzle pieces of the backstories. I just hope it doesn’t devolve into break up the team/get the team back together/the end. Here’s hoping this series gets the time it needs to work itself through.

As I said in Volume 1, “this series is a love letter to huge, muscular woman. ” Kouga, Sawada and Leo are massive, muscular body types and Nonaka is – for story reasons, of course – an adult in a child’s body.  There is some very mild nudity, but the service is muscled arms, torsos and legs. Not to everyone’s taste, but I find it a refreshing change of pace from willowy women.

Ratings:

Art – 8 Honestly great, despite kind of being exaggerated in a bunch of different ways.
Story – 7 Solid action story storytelling
Characters – 8 Tragic backstories ahoy!
Service – 5 Anatomy is fun
Yuri – Both couples are taking tentative steps forward, one more tentative than the other

Overall – 8

Volume 1 is available in English from Seven Seas!