Dragon Half (1992)

[ドラゴンハーフ]

Volume 4

Author/Artist: Ryusuke Mita
Publisher: Fujimi Fantasia Comics

Synopsis:
Mink battles with Earth, the first of Dead Lai's Four Generals.

Story/Characters:
While we had a glimpse of the other generals before, they are featured more prominently here. Petitflor in particular stands out with her cute-but-psychopathic schtick. Mig emerges more prominently as an antagonist (and he's a little more competent than Dug was). Our main trio's parents get a little plot relevance. You know how I said Rouce doesn't have many redeeming qualities? Well, he demonstrates a bit of that (and, true to form, a lot more of what makes him a total creepo). Lastly, quite unusual for the series, we close on quite the cliffhanger.

Art:
You could start to see the progression a little in the previous volume, but here you can really see a shift in the art style, particularly with respect to the eyes. We will see further changes, but that's for another time. Things still look good at present and that's the main thing.

Other:
At the end of this volume, we have a gag side story "High School Detective Mink", which continues into the next volume.

Conclusion:
The Dead Lai arc ends well and now that we've gotten the Holy Gourd, we can move forward with the primary objective of putting an end to Azatodeth. There's good progression here which should be more than enough to satisfy fans. Give it a read.

Rating:
Read It