Another volume of my favourite manga! Moving through, I sometimes wonder if volume by volume reviews are the right way to approach manga, because I don’t always feel like I have so much to say. Nonetheless, this was another fantastic instalment, and a step up from the 12th volume, I think (which was great anyway).
Starting out, it gives us a conclusion to the Grim Reaper storyline. As always, I’m not going to spoil what happens, but it’s good, high-stakes drama that gives fantastic moments for Karasuma, Jelavich, and Koro-Sensei. While the island storyline is probably my favourite part of the manga so far, this arc comes very close.
After all that more Shonen-esque drama, you also get a storyline about Nagisa’s mother trying to take him out of school. I like that the assassination-hijinks are contrasted against the much more down-to-Earth drama of Nagisa’s family life. His mother is a little over the top, but I thought this was a really good addition to his character, giving an explanation for why he behaves in certain ways.
In this volume, you also get a sense of things starting to come to a close – like the noose is slowly tightening around Koro-Sensei’s neck. The government are growing unhappy with the fact that Koro-Sensei is still at large, and so starts to consider more drastic measures. Though it ends with a more chilled out storyline about a school festival, it leaves a general sense of foreboding at the end of the volume – which, of course, left me hungry for more.
Rating: 9.3/10
