Nora – The Last Chronicle of Devildom is about the forced compact between Nora, the Cerberus, a legendary demon also known as the vicious dog of disaster and Kazuma Magari, a demanding high school student. In order to give him some “training” in the human world, his master the Dark Liege entered him into a pact with Kazuma. Now Nora must ask for authorization when using his own magic, and Kazuma can restrain him by declaring "I forbid". This causes Nora's collar to choke the poor, troublemaking guy.
This odd couple is recruited to stop a band of rebel demons from shattering the peace between humanity and demons; created when the Dark Liege refused to allow contact between the two worlds. In the series, they do jobs for the Dark Liege, comedically argue with one another and eventually end up having to make tough decisions that impact the final fate of both worlds.
Nora – The Last Chronicle of Devildom : Vol 9: Null and Void, picks up soon after the final battle with Fall, the leader of the resistance. Life has seemingly returned to normal, but there's still the matter of the sacrifice the Cerberus traditionally makes to save both worlds; is the power given to him by Fall and the Dark Liege enough? Will Nora be able to control it? Yeah, this is the final volume guys, so be sure to buy the other ones first.
Highlights
It starts out feeling like a new arc is going to begin; Nora is back with the Dark Liege, everything is calm. Then when Kazuma gets a call that there's a problem with Nora, we get a story that sort of feels like a long (half the book) epilogue. There are some more appearances by some of my favorite characters (Anisu, the big chubby lizard, and Rivan the lazy general who is always saying "What a hassle", in particular) but the first half moves at a pretty casual pace.
It's when Kazuma finally releases the seal and Nora has to control the power on his own that I'd call the most exciting part of the volume; there's one last fight with everyone and a surprise villain from the past. I had personally been waiting for this guy to make his move the whole series, so it's a satisfying finale for me, despite the unusual twist ending.
People who have been less enthused with Nora so far might be disappointed to discover the other half of the book is omake, a pilot chapter for Nora (with some amusing differences, like a cell phone app that can detect demons for Kazuma) and a pilot for a manga that didn't happen called "Severer". In that story, the "Severer" is a hero who defeats criminals who infuse animal genes into their bodies for superpower. It's sort of got a high school setting, with a nerd as the hero and his high school crush, etc. Kaeki himself admits its rather primitive, but it has a few unique touches I enjoyed, like the hero's father being stuck in the body of a fly.
Overall
The emotional tone and deeper characters from the last few volumes are still there (and I'd swear putting Rivan, my favorite general, in the final encounter so much is nearly fanservice) that in theory I still enjoy the volume. However, it was a bit disappointing to discover that it was largely epilogue type material that only filled half the volume. The final battle with Fall last volume was a great capper on the series already, so if you want to save some cash you might skip this one. However, it is just 9 volumes.
The art is still clear and continues to be more interesting dynamically. There are a number of full or two page spreads on this final volume that are great. There's one with the surprise villain I'd like to make a poster out of myself..However, some of the side characters that aren't as eye-catching as Anisu are still a bit harder to remember. Even by the end of the series, the fights were a bit by-the-numbers, if visually entertaining.
It's a refreshing thing to read a series that starts and wraps up quickly from time to time between the juggernauts like Naruto and One Piece. I still feel like the world of Nora: The Last Chronicle of Devildom has a lot of potential, however, particularly because we still know very little about the other members of the Dark Liege army, or even Kazuma himself. What sort of person is he becoming? What sort of life will he lead now? The ending makes it a bit unclear as to the future of the world, which is why I really hope the sequel series, Surebrec, is going to be published stateside. Here's hoping; Nora: The last Chronicle of Devildom started out slow, but its enthusiasm and charm grew on me, making me have to recommend it to someone who wants a fun, not overly challenging read they can collect it all with. It didn't set the world on fire, but it wasn't a bad way to pass the time.
ComicsOnline gives Nora: The Last Chronicle of Devildom vol 9: Null and Void, 3 out of 5 lessons learned.
