As mentioned a few days ago, stand by for a forceful demonstration of the limitations of day-by-day serialization of a book intended to be read 200 pages at a time. With the previous, duct-tapey Ocelot story, some unenthused readers had to suffer through multiple weeks of Emp getting distressed; this time around, prepare for a drawn-out daily experience that will be distressing in an entirely different manner. (Come to think of it, the climactic story in this volume will deliver a reading experience protractedly distressing in yet another fashion.)

Panel 5: Thugboy misnames the clan “Ayanami” as in Rei Ayanami from Neon Genesis Evangelion, of course. Not an inappropriate renaming for those departed shinobi, though, given that they eventually appeared even more battered-looking than bandaged-up Rei did at the beginning of Evangelion.

-Adam Warren