Shadows House Volume 7 Review
Warning: Spoilers!
“We have a traitor in our midst.” Edward.
Enterprising young noble Shadow Kate and her fearless living doll Emilico have discovered that it was Mary-Rose and her ‘face’ Rosemary who dared to rebel against the cruel system underlying Shadows House. But then Mary-Rose reveals the horrifying truth hidden from the young Shadows and dolls of the house, the truth about ‘integration’ that’s kept a secret from the children. “In order to give a Shadow a face… a human life is snuffed out!! The doll’s mind vanishes and the Shadow takes over their body!!” The two young women are devoted to one another and are determined to do anything to escape this cruel future. But as Volume 7 opens, they have been delivered to the Star Bearers – and thence to the Administrator Edward to be punished for daring to rebel. In a bitter confrontation with Edward, they defy him and before anyone can stop them, throw themselves from the Corridor of Honor which leads across an abyss to Grandfather’s side of the mansion.
This revelation only increases Kate’s determination to break the system – but she and Emilico must strive hard to cover their traces and appear to be agreeable and biddable to avoid provoking suspicions. After they witness Mary-Rose and Rosemary’s final – and possibly fatal – bid for freedom, they are shocked to find a hooded phantom awaiting them in Kate’s room. The phantom reveals itself to be none other than Anthony, Christopher’s living doll, still alive after charismatic Christopher refused integration and committed suicide. He has been aiding Mary-Rose and Rosemary behind the scenes and tells Kate, “If you’ll be my ‘student’… a time will come when you can lead the Children’s Building and oppose the Mansion.” And then he is gone, only leaving Kate and Emilico with more questions than before. All they can do is continue to try to quietly win over the others in the Children’s House to their side – which is not easy to accomplish, given the various factions. And the Shadow twins, Isabelle and Mirabelle, seem determined to be especially difficult and rebellious.
This striking gothic tale continues to intrigue and chill in equal measure. Somato’s art is intricately detailed and brings out the contrast between the darkness of the noble Shadows and their magical soot skills and the living dolls, the human children that have been ‘given’ to Shadows House by the village faraway down the valley. The living dolls, brainwashed by the special coffee that they are supposed to drink weekly, have forgotten that they’re human – but thanks to Kate’s intervention (aided by Emilico) the special coffee has been ruined and the children have begun to wake from their drugged state. Emilico has even begun to dream of her old life outside the manor’s confines; the stark contrast with the light-filled dream and her waking to darkness in the box she’s forced to sleep in makes a powerful dramatic point. There are two fascinating flashback chapters in which we see Barbie and Barbara, alongside Rosemary and Mary-Rose, as they pass their debut and come under the sway of the charismatic Christopher and Anthony pair (and Edward and his living doll), the Star Bearers of the time. It was the greatest generation… and everyone was happy. But then Christopher and Anthony are summoned for integration and everything will never be the same.
Volume 7 is packed with incidents, revelations, and growing tensions for Emilico and Kate but this only strengthens the pair’s resolve to set free the living dolls and end Grandfather’s tyranny. But Edward suspects them and they have to be on their guard at all times not to arouse his suspicions further. At any moment, the withdrawal of the special coffee could be discovered and the Star Bearers punished for covering it up. It’s fascinating in the flashback to see Ed and Edward before they are integrated into the ambitious, ruthless Edward we’ve seen up to this point. We also get to learn why Barbie is such a harsh taskmistress as the younger Barbie we’re shown is very different from the scowling, suspicious young woman Emilico and Kate have had to confront (the cover image shows us these earlier Star Bearers before Christopher’s summoning).
We’ve almost reached the end of the chapters brought to life in the two seasons of the excellent TV anime adaptation (still available on Crunchyroll) and by Volume 8 (due out in January 2025 from Yen Press) the story will enter new territory that hasn’t been adapted to anime (the ongoing manga has reached 18 volumes in Japan). The translation by Taylor Engel continues, as before, to make for an engaging read, enhanced by Lys Blakeslee’s excellent and clear range of lettering. The Yen Press edition again has the benefit of beautiful colour pages and the really helpful character pages at front and back; these volumes are attractively produced and suit the fairy tale/nineteenth century atmosphere of the story really well.
Our review copy from Yen Press was supplied by Diamond Book Distributors UK.
