Adabana Volume 2 Review

When Dark Horse debuted Adabana late last year, it quickly proved itself a compelling mystery story that had me eagerly awaiting more. Now the second volume of NON’s series is here, but will it continue to impress? Let’s find out!

Rather than return us to protagonist Mizuki, Volume 2 instead tells the story through the eyes of Mako from six months before her murder and up to the events that took place in her uncle’s restaurant in Volume 1. Here we learn about Mako’s difficult home life. After her mother passed away in a car accident when she was ten and her father lost his job, she’s been responsible for looking after the household and earning what she can working with her uncle.

Of course, as we saw in Volume 1, it doesn’t take long for the relationship with her uncle to turn toxic as he begins blackmailing Mako into letting him take sexual photos of her. But then she meets Yuki, a former student of her high school, and she quickly becomes smitten with him. This seems odd to us readers as Mako had described him as a stalker, but nevertheless, to begin with, he seems perfectly sweet…

Volume 2 of Adabana is a slow descent into hell for Mako. Between her uncle, her living situation and Yuki, who soon shows his true colours, she clings to her Mizuki as a source of stability. I don’t think we’re any closer to finding out how and why Mako was murdered, but if Mizuki is the culprit, it’s at least clear now why Mako may have been driven to ask her best friend to bring it all to an end.

In many ways, the fact that we’ve made no progress in unravelling the bigger mystery is a problem when there’s only a single volume of the series left. Will that be enough to bring it all to a satisfying conclusion? As much as I appreciated getting to spend more time with Mako, I couldn’t help but wish we’d returned to the present day sooner. There’s still so much to deal with and so little time to do so.

While the first instalment was already a very dark story, it feels as though NON stepped it up a few notches here with the amount of sexual, physical and emotional abuse presented throughout. I praised NON for how the tense moments were depicted before, but I feel here the careful balance was lost, and it feels like there’s a lot more in the way of shock factor than there is value in it for the cast or story.

Or perhaps the story was simply more interesting with Mizuki as the focus. One of the things I had enjoyed most before was the fact that Mizuki was a false narrator, and you never truly knew what to believe. But the story told from Mako’s perspective is much more straightforward, leaving little to the imagination. It’s lost a lot of the mystery element, which is a shame. Of course, the third and final volume could prove a real return to form, and I have my fingers crossed that’s the case. However, I also wouldn’t be able to blame anyone who jumped ship here, given how uncomfortable a read it can be.

As mentioned, Adabana Volume 2 comes to the West thanks to Dark Horse and continues to be translated by Caleb Cook with lettering by Brendon Hull. Like the first book, this one reads well. There are no translation notes and no colour pages this time around, so nothing to speak of in terms of extras. The overall design is better this time around, as the title is easier to read on the cover, not so much on the spine, unfortunately.

The third and final volume is currently scheduled for a release in June, so quite a way off until we can finish this one. Hopefully, it will be worth the wait.

Overall, Adabana Volume 2 is a significant downgrade compared to the series first outing. Set entirely in the past and from the perspective of Mako, we’ve lost a lot of the elements that made it interesting in the first place. But with one volume left, I’m hopeful for a satisfying conclusion. We shall see!

Our review copy from Dark Horse was supplied by Turnaround Comics (Turnaround Publisher Services)