Manga Review: Muhyo & Roji's Bureau of Supernatural Investigation volume 15

Whether it's an unwanted friend from beyond the grave or a spirit who has made your home his new haunt, there's only one place to go - and that is Muhyo and Roji's Consultation Office! Working for the Bureau of Supernatural Investigation is tough work, from casting out spirits via exorcism and harnessing the powers of the dead to expelling demons, and there's no days off either. But none of the run-of-the-mill spirits they've run into before can even compare to the powers of Teeki and Goryo, traitors against Magic Law Association who are out for Muhyo's head! With the entire backing of the BSI's agents behind them, it's up to Muhyo and Roji to once again save the day for the entire magical world. When Teeki launches an all-out attack on headquarters, everyone is on the defensive and no one's future is safe.

Highlights:

In the opening pages of volume fifteen, Chief Investigator Page has gone looking for Yoichi's team in the sewers - but finds Goryo instead, who uses forbidden magic to summon the phantasmal dimension of Elysium. Page is forced to battle his way through a bevy of creatures to get to Goryo with only Ginji to help him. That is, until Page uses his magic to summon Demon-Hart Maiden, Q-La. Back at the home front, Roji and allies have to protect a vulnerable Muhyo from Teeki, even if it means using Envoy Possession - a technique that goes against the rules of Magic Law and is very risky in nature. Teeki tries everything he can to stop Muhyo from fusing his Book of Magic with the Writ of Passage, driving an already exhausted Busujima to artificially push herself beyond her own limits so she can still fight.

Back in Elysium, Page is finding it difficult to keep tempering Q-La and at the worst time possible - Goryo appears in front of him, itching to do battle yet again. Page still has the energy to tell Goryo why Muhyo was always more qualified to be an Executor than him, right before collapsing. Desperate, Ginji makes a deal with Q-La to protect Page and ensnare Goryo, no matter what. Q-La takes him on his word - reminding him that he said he would do anything - before knocking out Goryo with her very bite. Meanwhile, back in the battle between Magic Law and the Ark, a suspicious man named Julio - Leoni Julionil - arrives on the scene, ordered to kill everyone except for Muhyo. He appears next to Roji and appears interested in Lili and Maril; he is explained to be a student of "perverse forbidden magic law" who disappeared years ago to further pursue the dark magical arts. Julio seems innocent enough, until he runs out of sweets to eat - and starts transmitting a terrifying curse from his body and into everyone in the room.

In the heat of despair, both Roji and Muhyo reveal some magical talents they have been keeping hidden (unknowingly on Roji's part) to combat Julio and Teeki's magic, and Muhyo ends up summoning a most legendary creature to aid in their cause. When Q-Lo and her carriage break out of Elysium and back into the real world, the final battle between the two supernatural detectives and Goryo begins, and the fight ends in a dramatic and emotionally revealing way that no one is expecting - least of all Muhyo or Roji.

Overview:

This volume of Muhyo & Roji brings a conclusion to the Goryo story arc, complete with explosive magic, shocking revelations and fantastical action galore. As usual, the series' colorful cast of characters and fusion of humor and drama makes it a unique read in an otherwise stereotype-filled shonen genre. There are no hackneyed declarations to become stronger by the main characters; any and all wishes to become more than the average person are as meaningful as the series allows without overshadowing the bigger picture.

The art is still a strong point for the whole series. You can plainly see that the manga-ka Nishi had his fun in creating the imaginative settings and creatures that make up the BSI world. The appearance of new characters like Q-La and Julio are done so that you instantly get a feel for their personalities through the artwork and the tone of the scene. The more spectacular uses of magic are allowed larger panels and sometimes even whole pages, as do the flashbacks into the characters' pasts. The smaller panels are saved for the more humorous scenes, which can at times become a slight detriment to the story's pacing - it is only once the Goryo arc concludes that such comedic breaks seem more natural and better received as breaths of fresh air during an emotional "afterward" chapter.

Is the conclusion to the rather long and involving Goryo arc a decent one? Yes, although the plot twist behind certain characters' intentions may be a little too much for parts of the reading audience. But it ties up all the loose ends and answers many if not all the questions that had been raised during the duration of Goryo's story. The volume ends with no real teaser for the upcoming story arc, so readers are rather left in the dark even with Viz's patented mini "in the next volume" byte. Without the usual cliffhanger found at the end of many shonen manga - Muhyo & Roji included - volume fifteen ends on an odd note, with all right with the world and no real imminent danger for Muhyo and Roji and company. That should not stop anyone, however, from looking forward to the release of the next book in this madcap fantasy series in the least bit.


ComicsOnline gives Muhyo & Roji's Bureau of Supernatural Investigation volume fifteen 3.5 out of 5 acts of forbidden magic.