In Volume 1 and Volume 2, we meet Kouga Airi, a new recruit to the Special Hazardous Waste Disposal Unit, under Sawada Shino, a hard-boiled veteran. Both these women are huge, muscled and strong, a prerequisite in the fight against Dynamis, the inhuman creatures that attack people’s minds.
In Volume 3 of SHWD (シュード), by sono. N, we learn the truth behind Dynamis, and behind Sawada’s ability to resist them and both are as horrible as we might imagine. In a major battle with two Dynamis at once, Sawada loses part of her arm, and her subsequent weakness forces her to rely on Kouga’s generosity. Luckily for her Kouga has fallen in love with Sawada and wants nothing more than to be there for her. This is very much complicated by the aforementioned horrible backstory, but the two of them manage to find a way.
This would have been a very good ending to this series but for one thing…and I absolutely hate to complain about it but… something happened to the art. One of the defining characteristics of the women in this series is their huge, bulging muscles. In Volume 3, Sawada is a typical thin-limbed manga action figure. Kouga remains large, but her muscles, too, have nearly disappeared compared to previous volumes. It’s impossible to not notice, especially as so much of the story previously had been given over to their impressive musculature. And it makes the climax of the story a little less believable, which is a shame.
Setting the change in art style aside, the story itself is quite, dare I say it, cute? Kouga has been all kinds of adorable since the beginning and when Sawada finally notices, it feels right. It’ll take someone like Kouga to heal the many emotional wounds Sawada’s been ignoring. And together they will work to fix the problems other people have created.
While I don’t know for sure, my guess is that the series was killed by either the magazine or the creator, because the other couple is non-existent. Nonaka is not in this volume at all and Leo only pops in towards the end to offer a word of advice.
Ratings:
Art – 8
Story – 7
Characters – 8 Even more tragic backstories!
Service – 3
Yuri – 8
Overall – 8
SHWD Volume 1 is out in English from Seven Seas and Volume 2 is on the way in October. There does not appear to be a release date for Volume 3.
It’s nice to hear that this series had a satisfying “conclusion” (?), though it is super frustrating to hear that the leads lost their muscles because I also really loved seeing visibly muscular female leads in a manga. I also wonder if this series was quietly cancelled by the magazine since, according to sono.N’s Twitter, she is working on an adult doujin featuring the main couple.
Also, not to nitpick, but technically volume 2 isn’t out in English yet; it will be released this October. The two-year-long gap between the English releases of volumes 1 & 2 is just one more mystery about this manga, I suppose.
My mistake on the V2 timing, I’ll edit.
No worries! Like I said, it has been an abnormally long wait for volume 2’s English release.