In Volume 1 we met Shirakawa, top of her department in her office and Kuroda, a promising up-and-comer who threatens to take everything Shirakawa has built. They briefly team up, but in Volume 2, Kuroda makes a mistake that sets her back. Luckily for her, she’s got a mentor who pulls her out of the jam.

In 白と黒~Black & White~, Volume 3 Shirakawa is done playing nicely. She doesn’t care what she has to do, who she has to use or who gets hurt…she’s going to destroy Kuroda. With her own powerful patron within the company, she will ruin careers, physically and emotionally use and abuse others and she will get her way. There is no doubt that Shirakawa wins the battle…

…but does she win the war?

This was not the ending I wanted for this series, I’ll be honest. As I have long said, I like equals who go toe to toe. Choices are made here that are not fighting with a respected rival. As Shirakawa rises, I lost respect for her. Her decisions get ugly and the collateral damage grows. Now, the thing is…in the same position, would Kuroda have been any different? Without spoiling why, Kuroda has an outside chance to fight back…but doesn’t take it. In the end she walks away from the fight.

Having seen so many power struggles in the office  – this is not inaccurate. One cannot lose in a political struggle and still remain on top. So, while not what I wanted, this manga remains a kind-of-accurate version of a intra-office battle for power. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 10
Characters – 10
Service – 7 A lot of sex and violence, including rape
Yuri – 7 Above, and now, jealousy!

Overall – 10

I had called this series the Best manga since GUNJO for best worst couple, but Shirakawa lost me in this volume.