Tokyo Aliens Volume 7 Review

In Volume 6 of Tokyo Aliens, Akira got to know Raika Nadeshiko, a wanted criminal alien – except she might be entirely innocent. As it turned out, there was another alien who looked just like Raika running around causing chaos, so Akira and Sho ended up involved in a fight that’s now proving to be far more difficult than they could have ever anticipated. Will they be able to come out on top?

Volume 7 of the series picks up in the middle of this fight against Ririka (not to be mistaken with Raika), who has wasted no time trying to kill Sho. Of course, Sho (who’s not entirely human) isn’t at much risk of being killed off but Raika warns that she and Ririka were designed to be planet-destroying weapons. So, if Ririka gets desperate and decides to self-destruct that will be the end of the Earth. No big deal, right…?

With Sho struggling, Akira entirely out of his depth, and no sign of the fight coming to an end, our duo is left praying for backup to arrive. And even if they do manage to prevent Ririka from destroying the planet, it seems that she might not be the only threat as there appear to be two others working behind the scenes. Whatever happens, this fight is a new turning point in the series as the mystery deepens surrounding Akira’s true nature and those pulling the strings behind the curtain.

I won’t spoil how the fight concludes, but as you’ll have figured out by the fact that the series is still ongoing, the Earth isn’t destroyed. Once the battle wraps up halfway through Volume 7, we shift back to more mundane problems, such as the fact that Akira has managed to flunk some of his high school tests (who has time for school when you’re trying to prevent the destruction of the planet?).

So, Sho (somehow top of the class) and classmate Masato Kizaki (who’s an alien we met earlier in the series), come over to Akira’s house for a study session. There Akira learns some interesting information about his classmate and also gets to enjoy time simply being an average teenager as opposed to a member of the AMO fighting to protect humanity.

While there’s a certain amount of tonal whiplash coming out of the life-or-death battle with the fate of the Earth hanging in the balance straight to normal slice-of-life antics, I think it was the right move on the part of Naoe.

Having these moments allows the author to humanise the cast more and ensure they remain relatable for the reader. After all, Akira is supposed to have been a normal teenager before he became involved with the AMO and despite being seven volumes in now, not that much time has passed since the story began. It would be stranger if Akira didn’t occasionally face problems like failing his tests. And it’s nice to get to know Masato better who – although he doesn’t seem likely to end up a major player in the main story – is still a support network of sorts for Akira.

And it’s not just Masato Kizaki who’s in the spotlight, as the last couple of chapters focus on Natsuki,  Amamiya’s servant/partner at the AMO. Natsuki is a character who is present a lot throughout the earlier volumes, but usually as someone for Amamiya to monologue to or to act as backup, so we don’t know a great deal about his personal life. Still, he’s always seemed like an interesting character and that assumption is proving correct now we’ve been given the opportunity to see more of what makes him tick. I’m looking forward to discovering what this storyline has in store for him in the next volume.

Tokyo Aliens Volume 7 comes to the West thanks to Square Enix Manga where it continues to be translated by Andria McKnight with lettering by Bianca Pistillo. As always the release reads well with no problems on the localisation front, however, my copy of the release has the colour page inserted upside down! Not a big issue as the image is landscape-style anyway, but it does make the chapter list hard to read until you realise you need to turn the book over.

Since we’ve more or less caught up to Japan now, these English releases are slowing down considerably so despite this instalment coming out in September we’re not due #8 until April and #9 (the latest in Japan) isn’t yet scheduled. Still, this is, of course, more than worth the wait.

Overall, Tokyo Aliens Volume 7 successfully ends the battle with Ririka and heads in the direction of some smaller but still entirely worthwhile arcs. It’s good to take a moment to step back, relax and focus on characters who aren’t our main duo for a change which will no doubt pay off once we enter the next major storyline. This continues to be an excellent sci-fi manga!

Our review copy from Square Enix Manga was supplied by Turnaround Comics (Turnaround Publisher Services).

A free preview of the volume can be read on the Square Enix Manga website.