Kei X Yaku: Bound by Law Volumes 9 and 10 Review

Spoilers!

Thanks to the timely arrival of Superintendent Taguchi, Ichiro and Shiro are hot on the trail of the mastermind behind the Tetra Building bombing, Lon Aterof. But both are wounded and Aterof takes advantage of this to take Shiro prisoner on a bridge over a swollen river, threatening to kill him if Ichiro doesn’t back down. Aterof taunts Ichiro – who is losing blood and struggling to stay conscious. “He’s your weakness, isn’t he?” Ichiro realizes that this is true and his hands gripping the gun shake. “I’ll kill him right before your eyes.” But Aterof hasn’t reckoned on Shiro, who suddenly grabs the knife-blade held at his throat, yelling at Ichiro to shoot –

Ichiro and Shiro regain consciousness in the ICU in the hospital; both have survived – just about. And as for Aterof? He was carried away by the swirling river water but… as yet… no body has been recovered.

Gangster Yamada confesses to his crimes and the truth about the Tetra Building bombers is at last revealed by Yukiko Azuma and her father to the media. After some well-earned leave, Ichiro returns to his job – where he has a keen young rookie, Masaki Ikkaku, to train – and Shiro returns to his role as lieutenant in the Minegami family. But not before Ichiro has invited Shiro, Rion and Chika (Ichiro’s childhood friend) to his family home (which he still keeps “as somewhere to go back to”) to celebrate their recovery. Shiro confides in his sister Rion that he’d really like to leave the yakuza but it’s not so easy to walk away; he’ll need to find a large sum of money to buy his way out.

It’s not long, though, before a new case needs investigating – and Superintendent Taguchi asks Ichiro if he’s willing to team up with Shiro and play lovers once more to infiltrate the Ikuya salon, an exclusive joint to find out about a certain Tetsuya Onuma. And following a suspicious fire at the Shindo Chemical Research Lab, one of their employees turns up at the Ikuya salon. Drinking heavily, he claims to be researching something called the ‘Green Seed’ but very soon afterwards, ends up as a fatality in road accident.

By Volume 10, the mysteries around Onuma and Shindo Chemical are multiplying. A couple of flamboyant killers, known as Toro and Uni, are eliminating people who seem to know too much about the ‘Green Seed’ – whatever that might be. And the Shio yakuza family are also involved. In an attempt to get closer to Seiichi Shindo, the president of Shindo Chemical, Ichiro and Shiro find themselves playing golf, just one hole away from the president and his friends. Is this a risky manoeuvre – or will it bring them closer to understanding what’s going on?

Fans of Kei X Yaku won’t want to miss the nail-biting conclusion to the Tetra Building Arc and Yoshie Kaoruhara doesn’t let her readers down, skilfully portraying the confrontation with Aterof in a breath-taking succession of panels. The ensuing chapters as Shiro and Ichiro recover from their injuries and take some time to just enjoy normal life bring respite from the action but also go into their backgrounds in greater depth. The mangaka also continues to delight us with the cute chibi bonus comics (and the occasional chibi panel) and some nice touches of affectionate humour such as when Superintendent Taguchi sets up a special meeting with Ichiro in a Shiba Inu Café (Ichiro adores these dogs). By the end of Volume 10, another mystery is unfolding, set against the Shindo Chemical ‘Green Seed’ case: that of Shiro’s parentage. Rion tells Ichiro that one of her very early memories was seeing a woman delivering a baby (Shiro) to the orphanage where they grew up together. The Boys’ Love element of this manga are still on the lighter than light side which might frustrate some readers but it is what it is.

Translation for Kodansha is, as before, by Kevin Steinbach with lettering by Dietrich Premier and both contribute to a page-turning read; each volume contains helpful translation notes. The volumes also have two pages of character profiles and ‘the story so far’ at the start which is a really useful addition at ten volumes into the series. Kodansha are maintaining the regular release schedule with Volume 11 due out in March (it’s up to fourteen volumes in Japan and ongoing). And a word of praise for the striking cover art again: Volume 9 stays with the crimson and grey of the earlier volumes but sets Ichiro and Shiro against a white background; however, the lighter spring-like colours for Volume 10 suggest a new direction.

This engaging thriller with its playful hints of BL and appealing, relatable protagonists knows when to turn up the heat and doesn’t shy away from portraying some brutal fight scenes. Yoshie Kaoruhara has got the balance just about right – and the new investigation into the ‘Green Seed’ promises to bring plenty of intriguing twists and turns!

Our review copies from Kodansha were provided by Diamond Book Distributors.