The opening was a little disappointingly typical of common anime tropes. It lacked a little bit of the deeply twisted potential for plotting by the badguys in this story arc, and the whole "evolution" thing was a bit reminiscent of overused well-trodden plot devices in other manga.

Some of the later plot turns in this volume struck me at the time as a bit on the facile side, too, but the quality storytelling, quality art, and some other plot management all made up for the downsides with plenty of upside to spare. I debated with myself whether to grant this three or four stars, and ultimately went with four. It might be the least good volume of the series so far, and followed immediately after an excellent installment in the series, but it was still quite good in its own right. If it was not embedded in such a good series, the less positive aspects of book six might not have stood out as much for me. ( )