World Trigger Vol. 5

Begun, the Rank Wars have! 

By Urian Brown May 06, 2015

CoverYuma Kuga, Osamu Mikumo and Chika Amatori are the new recruits in Border's Tamakoma Branch. And they have a lot to prove if they want to make a name for themselves and rise up in the ranks. Not content with just earning points from training courses, Yuma decides to level up by participating in the Rank Wars.

The Rank Wars are a series of simulated matches held in Border's headquarters in which agents compete against each other for points. Yuma's skills in battle have attracted high-ranked agents to spar with him and while most of them end up being fodder, an A Rank agent named Midorikawa gives him a challenge. Osamu, on the other hand, has shot up to B Rank and has his work cut out for him dueling Kazama, an A Rank agent who is leagues better with combat. However, Osamu has a trick up his sleeve when reminded of his opponent's limitations. 

World002

After the mock battles comes a detailed explanation of the neighboring Neighbors by Replica. This is a great bit of exposition and gives the readers a much broader understanding of the various alien threats surrounding the world. It also shows off Ashihara Sensei's impressive knack for drawing technology as Replica puts on a cool-looking holographic presentation that would make Steve Jobs jealous.

World003

Overall, the artwork in this volume is very streamlined, with crisp, clear lines and lots of details. The narrative is like a video game, with slick weapons and impressive one-on-one battles. If you're into action-packed fights with futuristic weapons technology and a huge cast of characters using said technology to fight all sorts of weird and hostile aliens, then you owe it to yourself to check out World Trigger.

See how the first Rank Wars play out in World Trigger volume 5!

by Ray n.