Hey so this was supposed to come out 10 years ago and I thought it did except I never saw copies in the bookstore, so I planned on buying online when I had the chance.

Turns out Tokyopop never managed to publish Vol. 5 before they went under, so I bought the Japanese copy instead. I think this has also been translated in German, but anyway in case someone out there is still interested and wants to know what happened, here's a brief summary:

Turns out Gold and Ushitora didn't fully die because of Masato's blood (I mean there was blood everywhere and I guess they absorbed some of that). Hinako gathers the last of her strength to fly away with Masato while Yamamoto tries (and fails) to keep Gold and his men occupied. Saiga brings Masato to a hospital where a friend does his best to treat Masato's wounds. Not an easy task, seeing as how Masato's not human.

Saiga admits he's been looking for Ushitora personally because Ushitora killed another friend of his. Saiga feels guilty about betraying Yamamoto and Masato, however. Masato wakes up and asks him where Gold is. Saiga laughs and tells him it's too late and this is where things get super shaky.

So I guess this series never cared about genres--as far as I know, it's published by Wings comics as a shoujo manga. It has horror elements with oni and assassins killing and eating each other like there's no tomorrow. There's also BL elements with Ushitora being very frank about what he wants to do with Masato. We're still in horror/xxxholic type situation when it's revealed that Gold has been looking for doors to the world of the gods in order to gain godly strength, but as if all this wasn't enough it turns out he's teamed up with scientists in order to study other... planets. Dimensions? What even is that?

Which okay, we're reading a manga where demons eat the sons of gods in order to become stronger. I can buy it, I guess.

Gold summons a bunch of samurai (from another dimension?) to wreak havoc on earth. Ushitora tries to bring down as many samurai as he can with the help of Inugami--in passing I'm pretty pleased with how Inugami is treated. Ushitora doesn't hate him, even if he was the one who killed Ushitora in the first place. I guess it's better to have one living subordinate? Lmaoo.

Onibi dies trying to protect Nao, who jumps from the top of the building because she's had enough. Ushitora tries to save her, but arrives too late. At least Nao gets to see him before she died ;_;

Now Masato enters one of the doors to another dimension and meets a girl who seems to be the only human in that planet. This girl has a bit of bond with Gold, who it turns out is not born of oni parents. His mum is human and treated him like shit + tried to kill him because of uh social pressure and the constant threat of being eaten by other oni. Like Gold, the girl also has no bonds with other people.

Anyway Gold comes in and tries to eat Masato again, but is stopped by the girl. She tells Masato to run away and destroy her 'mother' which I guess is the core that keeps the world they are in stable. He does that and the world starts to fall apart around them. She tells him to leave, but the ground crumbles around Masato and he falls down, only to be saved by Ushitora.

I loved this part. They look at each other and Ushitora is all 'I forgot to tell you a couple things so I came back. Always brush your teeth before you go to sleep.

And also I love you.'

Masato says he loves Ushitora too. And then Gold comes in again. Why can't this guy just chill. In a deus ex machina move, some of the crumbling landscape falls on top of him and he finally dies. Ushitora pushes Masato off to the abyss while the girl (somehow still alive even though Gold has eaten her entire lower half) tells Ushitora to leave as well, find a door and leave that dimension. Ushitora does and comes back to the very beginning, when he's about to kill Masato's sister.

He doesn't. He tells her to send his regards to Masato and leaves with his subordinates. Then proceeds to kill and eat Gold, thereby making him the new leader of the Ishikawa family (which Kagerou accepts and formalises).

Everyone is alive in this reality, except no one knows each other. Masato bumps against Ushitora once and Ushitora leaves.

So do you ever read something and then swear to be fluent in Japanese just so you can tell the mangaka how they have destroyed you??

This ended better than the Demon Ororon (I mean, at least everyone's alive?), but still packs that punch of Sad that's pretty much Mizuki Hakase's specialty. Kinda gets weird towards the end and I feel this frenetic energy in it; it feels a bit less controlled pacing-wise than Ororon was. Did it make me hella sad? Yes. Was I satisfied with the ending? We went through some weird twists to get there but I am actually. Very cathartic in a melancholy way, that quiet happiness in seeing everyone alive, Masato whole and smiling, and Ushitora walking away from Masato's warmth and salvation.

I feel sad. Fucking hell, Mizuki.