The Eminence in Shadow (Volume 8) – The True Aberration!!!
Claire and Mary continued to climb the Red Tower and soon found themselves fighting Juggernaut. They were no match for his sheer power. It looked like they were doomed until Shadow appeared, kicking Juggernaut out of his way!
The Eminence in Shadow (Volume 8) – The True Aberration!!!
What happened?
Juggernaut tossed Claire and Mary around as if they were toys to him. Then, when things looked dire, Mary kissed Claire… Well, she drank her blood and used that to power her attacks. However, it had been a long time since Mary last drank blood so it took too long for the effects to kick in. Juggernaut closed in for the kill, but then Shadow appeared and easily got rid of him. He warned them about the hour of the awakening and how there wasn’t much time. Then, he vanished. Mary told Claire all about Queen Elisabeth and how she was betrayed by Crimson as she tried to create a utopia. Meanwhile, Shadow climbed to the top of the tower and found Crimson giving some longwinded speech to himself so he killed him and waited for the final boss. When nothing happened, he assumed someone else had already done it, so he went back to the treasury to steal all their gold.
Mary and Claire arrived at the top of the tower soon after and found the body of a Dark Knight. Claire assumed it was Cid, but soon found out it was just some random guy. However, Crimson has placed Elisabeth’s heart into the sacrifice and it was just now regenerating. Elisabeth punched through Claire’s chest. She blacked out and found herself talking with a strange woman. She introduced herself as Aurora and revealed that Claire had two different types of blood inside her fighting for control. Aurora took control of Claire’s body and used it to fight against Elisabeth as members of Shadow Garden arrived to help. Once Aurora had spent her powers she sat back, knowing that she had bought them enough time. Shadow had arrived.
What did you think?
This volume wrapped up the Queen Elisabeth arc which was covered in episodes 21 to 23 of the anime, and it was just as good. There were some minor changes, but nothing too drastic. The biggest change was with Aurora and how she appeared to Claire. It was similar to how the anime handled the Sanctuary. In the anime, it felt like a more modern place whereas in the manga, it was like all the other ancient buildings in this world. Well, in the anime they showed the meeting between Claire and Aurora in a school nurse’s office with Aurora using a computer to show Claire things. The manga kept it more in tune with the rest of the story – old-fashioned with a medieval feel. I’m guessing the anime was shown this way with the knowledge of what was to come.
That doesn’t mean Daisuke Aizama didn’t know what was going to happen when they wrote the story. Maybe there were some details that weren’t fully formed at that stage. It definitely happens when you’re writing a story, especially something as grand as this. Anyhow, it was a lot of fun and we got to see a little more of Cid and Claire’s childhood at the end as they went bandit hunting. I’ve got the next volume reserved at the library although it’s probably going to be a while before that becomes available, and even then, it’s not going to take things beyond the end of the second season. If anything, it’ll probably only start the John Smith arc. Either way, I’m locked in on this series and will be reading it until the end. Love it!k
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