This series still has me intrigued. In this volume, Nina learns more about the Star People’s lore. 

While some of the Sett redemption is iffy, I’m enjoying his growth. And we get the context behind Azure’s stoicness and plans for world domination. Honestly, very on brand for his character. 

The Sett – Azure team up and heart-to-heart conversation was surprisingly mature though a little silly due to the timing. I really think this is the first love triangle I’ve read where it could really go either way. 

Alisha is going off the rails. At first, I thought she was a neutral party, but it’s clear she’s the new big bad antagonist. 

Curious to see where things go 

SN: the characters look so cool and those overcoats and cloaks and scarves and ahhhhh. They really look GQ. Royalty all in the threads. 

The Frieren series excels so well at the un-humanness (no, I don’t mean inhumane) of demons. She don’t play no games with them. IT’S ON SIGHT! 

There is an instance where it is acknowledged that Macht, and one other demon who will utterly surprise you, have genuinely wished for demons and humans to exist. But Frieren is very pragmatic that don’t nobody got time to wait for them to learn empathy LOL. Demons never stop being interesting here. I wonder if we will ever see one that gets it in this series. 

More seriously, I enjoyed getting the last of Denken’s backstory these past few chapters and the last volume. At first, I was just happy to have an overpowered old man character who wasn’t a pervert, but I came to like his stoic calmness. And his connection to Macht too! The inevitable fight between them is surprisingly bittersweet. 

Overall, I enjoyed reading this volume. The author knows how to pace fights between two highly skilled and evenly-matched characters and keep them entertaining. 

That cliffhanger was EVIL! Present-day Frieren meeting Himmel in a way that doesn’t break the canon? AHHHHHHHHH 

Loved it! Beautiful artwork and Diana’s narrative voice here is stellar. I love how emotions are shown in the eyes simply with white dots. Diana is a young teenager here, learning her mother isn’t infallible but a complex person. She also reckons with everyone’s pressure for her to become a great queen when she’s still finding herself. What if she doesn’t want to rule? What if she wants to explore?

The author sets the foundation and seedlings of how Diana will become Wonder Woman; her core beliefs and need for freedom are established here. There are also good nuggets about leadership qualities that any reader can learn from.

One thing the story acknowledges is not sweeping under a dark past/history. We must tell the full story. If things were done wrongly in the past or shameful things happened, then we must correct and acknowledge it in the present. 

The sister relationship between Hippolyta and Antiope was so good. They are constantly at a contrast in lifestyles and personalities, but they care for each other at the core.

I was never well-versed in Diana/Wonder Woman’s story, Amazonian woman, or how it connects with the Greek gods, but I enjoyed this portrayal and could keep up. I would read more Wonder Woman stories from this duo.

 As always, something I love about the IDW franchise is that while it adds new characters, it never forgets the old ones. Here, Amy and Knuckles get an adventure on Angel Island. That’s new! Amy and Knuckles don’t interact much one-on-one, and I loved them just exploring the island together. 

And… 

Look at that growth! Knuckles has friends that he trusts! 

Please keep the Sonic comics (and franchise, really) in the hands of the IDW writers. They know how to make Sonic goofy without being obnoxious, and how to tease cute moments without dipping into shipping wars. 

One-star deduction for the miscommunication trope. It is no fun to read a character be gaslit though I’m happy Whisper knew what was up. Realistically, it makes sense why no one believed him, but it’s so unsatisfying from a reader’s perspective. 

Ready to read more!

This was fun and quirky. They sneaked an environmental message in so covertly that I had to clap. Godzilla and Kaiju are the heroes here in a subversion 

 The story has its Romeo & Juliet vibes, but it makes it into something really cute. I love Morgana's parents; yes, to a married couple that still loves each other so wholly. And the huge intergenerational witch family in one household.

Oz is slowly defrosting, and I'm eager to see his and Morgana's connection grow.

The artwork is also really lovely. Everyone is beautiful here. 

 

One of the foundational slow-burns, I suppose. I’m sure Elizabeth’s ideals were very progressive at the time.

The writing is a product of its time, and I had to constantly adjust to the style and wade through the sheer filler and overstuffed redundancy. Get to the point! When I tried to skim the page, I’d miss an important detail in the bloated fluff and have to reread the passage.

Bruh.

Elizabeth “Lizzie “ had a good head on her shoulders. She was outspoken and not easily shut up. She indirectly made a man work on his social skills and become genuinely pleasant to those around him. He said he got to get right to get with her lol

Honestly, I thought the Elizabeth and Darcy romance was spread thin. I wanted more of them. Her other sisters took up the brunt of the story.

Because of my reading experience, I think watching the movie version(s) would give me a better grasp of the story. This is a firm 3 for me.

This was so touching! The characters felt so human. Like, when you're standing for righteousness, there is a tendency to think is it worth it -- to stand up to the opposition?

You may never know the butterfly effect of being kind to one another and standing up for what's right. The small magic of decency. 

And the checkout card on the back page! Okay, Ize Press. You did your big one lol!

Sailor Moon’s relevance will never die! I mean Pretty Princess Warrior Dragonetta’s.

I was floored by the super cute designs and the simple but effective story. All the characters here are fusions (cloud puppies, bear unicorns, deer rabbits, etc), and it adds to the story's quirky charm.
 
Kids interested in nerd culture (anime, comics, superheroes, jrpgs, etc) will especially relate to the adventures here. Cloud Puppy visits her first comic convention but has a falling out with her best friend because they both want to cosplay as Sailor Moon  Dragonetta. Unthinkable! 

Overall, this was so much fun to read. I would love to read more from this series or watch this become a cartoon.