Drug & Drop Volume 1
Drug & Drop is the long awaited continuation of Legal Drug, picking up with Kazahaya and Rikuo still working in the drugstore whilst picking up additional supernatural side jobs from owner Kakei for extra cash.
The blurb on the back of the first volume is largely focused on a CLAMP crossover with a special guest character from xxxHolic: Kimihiro Watanuki. This is not the first time that this series has made references to other CLAMP manga, with one chapter early on crossing over with Suki, but for a long-awaited return, it’s easy to take this the wrong way. If the whole focus of Drug & Drop’s return was just on the crossover, it could have been considered a cop-out, but thankfully the inclusion of Watanuki does not overwhelm everything else. For someone who isn’t familiar with xxxHolic, he makes a nice addition but he could have easily been replaced with another ‘magical’ character. That said, he does hint at several developments that happen in his own series so if you are reading xxxHolic, are a bit behind and wish to avoid any spoilers – proceed with caution.
The opening of the book displays the same carefree attitude as Legal Drug; Kazahaya and Rikuo have been together for just a year (ha ha – if only) and the women at the back of their minds are still missing from the picture and mysterious as ever. But that does not last long; Watanuki’s request for the boys and its repercussions is the jolt the series needed to kickstart it after the long break. This request leads them to a darker supernatural entity than seen previously, which then leads to the biggest hints so far as to where the series is going. Rikuo gets the first clues he’s been desperately searching for, and, from the hints being dropped, it seems that CLAMP are not planning on wrapping this series swiftly and easily. Drug & Drop could be building up to a brilliant resolution, or, if it goes on a long hiatus again, this could just be a horrible tease. In the final chapter, we also get a small glimpse as to what may await Kazahaya and his long-lost sister Kei, and again CLAMP do not hold back, it’s the most violent the series has gotten but not by any means as far as CLAMP has gone before. If the whole book was as lacking in high stakes as Legal Drug it would have been just as fun, but the jump in tension and plot stakes really makes this volume a page-turner and a fantastic continuation.
The relationship between Kazahaya and Rikuo is just as interesting as before. They continue to bicker, with Kazahaya being hilariously easy to tease, but the moment the job is on, they have each other’s back regardless of what’s been said before. The developing revelations later on threaten to tear them apart but Kazahaya’s determination to help Rikuo with his powers is sweet to see. It’s also fun to watch Kakei and Saiga continuously observing and hinting to the audience that they know where it’ll all end up; even Watanuki gets in on the action! CLAMP love to tease, and this volume is no different from many of their other works in this respect.
Despite an 8-year gap, the art is remarkably consistent. The characters are drawn is a slightly more animated way but the flow from the last chapter of Legal Drug to the first of Drug & Drop is seamless. Kimihiro Watanuki is from a series with very a different and striking artwork but it actually blends in nicely with the less-detailed cast of Drug & Drop. It’s a shame, however, that we’re missing out on some of the lovely colour pages that the Legal Drug omnibus had, there’s a few sensual images of the boys posing together in the chapter openings that could have really benefitted from it.
Drug & Drop has been worth the wait; a gentle opening chapter followed by a shot of adrenaline which brings the audience right back into the story and the hype of where it’s going to go next. Already looking forward to Book 2, which is due out from Dark Horse in May.
