86: Eighty-Six Volume 13 Review

“Them was such an ambiguous word. It could let anyone discard other people, brand them as evil, hostile, and harmful, all for having the one trait that everyone other than oneself had – the fact that they were different.” – 86 Volume 13

With a reasonably slow release schedule even on the Japanese side, we’re only treated to one volume of 86: Eighty-Six a year now. But the end is in sight for this series, which begins its final arc in Volume 14, due out in English later this year. But before we get there, we have the events of #13 to talk about!

As the war against the Legion continues, we open this book to find tensions among the population mounting. Fed up with the refugees from other countries who have had to leave their homes behind as the Legion gains territory and looking to blame anyone they can, people start fighting among themselves. This is only made worse when a group of young girls explode, having been experimented on in the Eighty-Sixth sector and turned into human bombs. Thankfully, it’s only a small group, and they’re trying to make their way home and away from civilisation, but they’re ticking time bombs with only a vague sense of when their lives will end, so some casualties are unavoidable despite trying their best.

Of course, these events cause mass panic, and the population spreads rumours that people become human bombs due to a virus and that anyone foreign must secretly be an enemy trying to bring them down rather than fight off the Legion. This includes those in the military, who also end up unable to trust one another and start deserting their posts, which only makes it easier for the Legion to gain ground.

Having been ‘othered’ by the Republic before, Shin and the Strike Package aren’t particularly surprised by the events that unfold, but they’re not happy about it either. Anju and Dustin are struggling, as Dustin’s childhood friend is among the group of girls destined to die, and he wants nothing more than to see her one more time but can’t exactly leave the battlefield. Lena and Annette have been detained and aren’t allowed to remain by the side of the Strike Package ‘for their own safety’, which frustrates Shin to no end as they really need Lena’s expertise to guide them (and of course he’s none too happy to not be able to see his beloved girlfriend). And as the world falls apart, we’re only getting further away from being able to defeat the Legion once and for all, a fact that none of these enraged people who are fighting the imaginary enemy can see.

I opened with that quote at the top of the review because it sums up this entire volume extremely well. This is not an easy read at any point, not least because the events unfolding here aren’t too dissimilar to the reality of our current political climate (especially in certain other countries). 86 has always had discrimination as one of its leading themes, so it was no surprise that this storyline unfolded like this, but you can’t help but sigh as these human characters act exactly like some people do in our reality too. I was left with a bitter taste by the end, which isn’t necessarily the book’s fault because, if anything, that means it did its job right, but it’s not something I can say I enjoyed reading either.

And that’s not to say it’s badly written; if anything, this is one of the best volumes of the series for following through on the main themes of the story. I struggled to follow along in the beginning since there were a lot of changing perspectives and scenes without a good indicator of such, but Asato Asato often has this problem when juggling several groups of characters and events. As the book went on, it became much less of an issue. By the end of the book, it felt like we’d come full circle back to the beginning of the series in terms of its messaging, which prepares us well for the final arc. Will people be able to look past their differences and work together for a brighter future? 86 is not a series that offers that kind of hopeful optimism generally, but we readers certainly want to see a better outcome for our cast against all odds.

86: Eighty-Six Volume 13 comes to the West thanks to Yen Press under the Yen On imprint. It continues to be translated by Roman Lempert, who does an excellent job with it. Extras include colour fold-out pages at the beginning, as well as a list of characters (also good to have for such a long-running series).

Volume 14 is currently scheduled for an English release in December, which is also the most recent volume in Japan at the time of writing. Although Asato Asato has been busy with a new series Yaebuki Kikan: Senmanjoutou Touharoku (ヤエブキ機関 千万丈塔踏破録), which I hope will find its way over to the West in due course.

Overall, this volume of 86: Eighty-Six is a difficult read, but it does pave the way for the final arc well. It’s not Asato Asato’s fault that as the years have gone on, our world is starting to reflect the problems of her fictional one, but that certainly does put a damper on it for those of us looking for a bit of escapism.

Our review copy was provided by the publisher Yen Press.