Where last we left off in Volume 2, Shannon had been clued into Maria’s non-human nature, Dorothy came across colder than ever in her intentions with Maria, and the insane Doctor J vowed to take Maria’s power while leaving the latter a clue of her sister’s well-being—then the volume left us with an image foreshadowing that Maria may well not like the official answer.
After the typical monster-of-the-week formula of the first two volumes, things are finally ramping up to something serious—against the church, the town, and even other members of the grotesque. Standing front and center of the building apocalyptic chaos is none other than Noelle, the beloved sister Maria had devoted all her time and being into searching for. All personal relationships are put to the test, for it is no longer a simple battle between good and evil which, in retrospect, it certainly never has been. Shannon’s loyalty to Dorothy—and cartoonishly obsessive infatuation (they made Dorothy dolls as a hobby)— has amounted to no payoff as they recognize the bond between her and Maria, and their desperate resorts afterwards only puts them at odds with Dorothy and make them question whether they can continue as a Holy Knight. And Dorothy, the same deviant nun who we came to know as confident and cleverly manipulative of the people around her, has discovered she herself had been manipulated her whole life. Conspiracy gets unearthed of the Church’s true relationship with the vampires, and their actual objective in maintaining balance/power with the town, shaking her world and putting her at a loss for once in her life. The ultimate question becomes whether our protagonists can pull together, individually as well as a team, in time to fight for what matters most, and especially figure out just what that is.
Reading Mariko S.’s review of the first volume intrigued me enough to check it out, while at the same time remain cautious in whether or not this was the kind of series I would continue reading. I was left curious enough to check out the next volume—before I knew it I consumed all four and found it to be a strangely pleasant surprise. The best way to describe GunburedXSisters to give newbie readers an accurate idea of what they are in for is like a cross between Chrono Crusade and Murcielago. It has the religious-themed fantasy action entertainment of the former, while spiced with the borderline deviant humor/morality of the latter—not to mention the hardcore ugly lesbian sex.
This series had just the right amount of crass humor and profane language that fit the characters as well as the story’s tone, making it feel it could work as hard R-rated entertainment if it were ever adapted. For that much I give kudos to the translator for bringing a natural-sounding art to the voices. Where I would knock one point back in the translation is Shannon’s pronoun reference. Shannon is made out to be non-binary as I came to understand, but especially in Vol. 3 the same characters seem to bounce between referring to Shannon as a “she” and “they” in the same few pages, which at least I found confusing.
If you were starting to think the whole Yuri focus of this series would center on Dorothy and Maria with Shannon on the side, you are in for a treat as the story’s second half broadens its scope to Shannon and a love-at-first-scent werewolf girl named Kiki, who knowingly places herself as Shannon’s rebound girl without shame/apology. And with the escalating crisis, two veteran Crimson Sister nuns named Helen and Miranda are called into action, a duo that the author himself admitted was inspired by a certain Sailor Moon couple. It can be enough to make readers think back on Helen and Miranda and realize, “Ah yes, I see it now.” Even with all the additions it is of course the star couple of this series that shine more than ever. Dorothy, who right out of the gate came across like a sadistic sociopath, we find out that she—still technically is, but does have a heart in her own way regardless. And Dorothy and Maria’s relationship is able to evolve from the slave dynamic to that of true partners on every level, in a way that made sense for both them and their story, while contributing to the evolution of Maria’s powers.
Everything culminates to a fitting climax, if not so much a definitive conclusion. While the story does finish on a closed loop, the open end still leaves room for a continuation if the author ever feels like returning to this title—an idea he entertains in the afterword, and something I certainly wouldn’t mind happening when all is said and done.
Ratings:
Art—10 It’s as good as it should be for a series like this, with facial expressions especially top notch
Story—8½ This was pretty much a story about how only outcasts and people of otherness are able to bring needed change to a set system—a prevalent theme without going deep and deterring from the mindless action/sexual romp that the series was still meant to be
Characters—9 Everyone comes into their own before the end, and all new characters like Kiki were able to easily jump in without throwing anything out of place
Yuri—9 Chloe is the only odd girl out in a series that ended up otherwise packed out in Yuri-friendliness
Service—10 Yep, enough said
Overall—9 For everything it was supposed to be and set out to do, I believe it did it well enough—the only problem being that there could’ve been more to it, which there may or may not be in the future.
Thanks for picking up the gauntlet and finishing up this series! It’s something I’ve occasionally thought wistfully about doing before another 12-hour days sinks my motivation. ><;
One thing that might be important for context is that sometime during or toward the end of the third volume, Mitogawa-sensei developed a severe injury to his wrist and was unable to draw. He went on a long hiatus for treatment, rest, and rehab and it was unknown whether he'd be able to come back and finish. So that at least partly contributed to the abrupt wrap-up when he was able to return, as well as the very obviously reduced quality of the art in the fourth volume.
From my vantage, I'd say we got a better wrap up than we could have expected given the circumstances, and given how shabbily other interesting manga are treated when cancelled. But it certainly was a far cry from the obviously vast and intricate tendrils of plot that were set in motion in the first two volumes. I'll always think "what might have been."
It might be worth a note that the first true NSFW images we get in the series are not, in fact, sexy times between Dorothy and Maria, but some images of VERY graphic violence. Be warned if you are squeamish in this area.
Never fear, though, if you were holding out for that Dorothy x Maria sex scene, you won't go away empty handed (although again this is a time when the artist's newly limited capacity really shows).
Re: Shannon's gender, I wonder if this was actually done in consult with the artist? Japanese doesn't really have pronouns, and to the best of my recollection Shannon never talks about this. I wonder if it's purely an editorial decision on the US publisher's part?
Crass and fun and unique… I will miss this series and hope that maybe one day Mitogawa-sensei will be able to return to it and do the story he wanted to tell justice.
Thanks again for the review!
Thank you for the additional notes and kind words!