Jiu Jiu Volume 3

“The family you come from isn’t as important as the family you’re going to have.” – Ring Lardner

While the second volume for this shojo manga was a bit quiet, the third volume witnesses a lot more action, with new characters introduced and big plots being uncovered.

The series continues to follow demon hunter Takamichi Hachioji and her pet “Jiu Jiu” (shape-shifting wolves) Snow and Night. In this volume, she and her family are hosting a gathering of the clan, something she is not totally keen on doing, but as key figure in the family, she is forced to.

Before the meeting, however, the trio have a run-in with two people. One is Mika Mekozane, who used to be Takamichi’s fiance and whose familiar is a fox-weasel hybrid called White (despite being a red-head); and the other is Seijuro Shiratori, Takamichi’s current fiance, who is followed by Ripple, a female crow familiar.

Most of the volume follows the conflict and relationships between Takamichi, Mika and Seijuro, as well as other close members of their respective families. We find out that certain members of the clan want to be rid of the familiars like Snow and Night. Also, Takamichi has to fight off advances from the others, and we discover the person who is possibly responsible for a terrible crime that Takamichi wants to get to the bottom of.

In this volume it is the writing that is the big attraction. Here the plot is delved into. We learn more about the clan system Takamichi works in, sometimes in a lot of detail, as well as her relationships with other members. While in the first two volumes it was Snow and Night who were the main attraction, it is Takamichi who takes centre stage here.

To make things more interesting, we now have a new nemesis for Takamichi to deal with, who appears at the end of the volume. This manga appears to be picking up the pace in terms of drama, but how it deals with it is key.