The Eminence in Shadow (2019)

[陰の実力者になりたくて!]

Volume 2

Author: Daisuke Aizawa
Illustrator: Tozai
Publisher: Enterbrain

Synopsis:
Cid and Princess Rose travel to Lindwurm for the Bushin Festival, an event that seems ideal for a shadowy power player.

Impressions:
There are two main events this volume. The first is the Goddess' Trial and Shadow Garden's infiltration of the Sanctuary to try to uncover the secrets of the Cult of Diablos and the second is Cid infiltrating the Bushin Festival while Rose is on the run due to the conspiracy in Oriana headed by her fiancé. Both parts have their merits, but, for me, the best stuff is in the first half. Most important is the introduction of Aurora, the Witch of Calamity. I love her dynamic with Cid, the closest thing he has to an equal in the series thus far. (Sorry, Alpha.) While Cid is playing with Miss Violet (Aurora), Alpha and the other girls are busy with their investigation and battling one of the Cult's heavy-hitters. We get to see Delta and Epsilon in action, which is nice. I particularly like the insight into Epsilon we get with her POV chapter. (And as a general rule in the series, more Delta is always a good thing.)

The "conspiracy" formed among Alexia, Rose and Natsume-sensei (Beta's alter ego) serves as a bridge to connect the two parts. Babysitting Alexia proves to be quite a handful for Beta and I appreciate how she has to take a page from Cid and play the part of the weakling around Alexia so as not to blow her cover. For the Bushin Festival, Cid takes on the persona of Jimina Seinen (Mundane Mann in English) and it's fun to see how he sets up his little scenario as the dark horse competitor, only for the unexpected big climax at the end. (His match with Iris is particularly well-done.) Rose goes through the wringer in all this and it really makes me wish I clicked with her character more because her arc is actually rather well-made. I also want to give a hat-tip to the War Goddess Beatrix. I hope to see more of her in the future.

This volume nicely ramps things up from the previous entry. Some of my favorite characters in the series get introduced here and there are plenty of twists and turns along the way, some nice action set pieces, and the series' usual wry sense of humor. I enjoyed it quite a lot and happily recommend it for your collection.

Rating:
Own It