Manga Review: Mao Volumes 3, 4 & 5 by Rumiko Takahashi
Quick recap: When Nanoka Kiba was a little girl, her parents were killed in a freak car accident. Since then she’s been raised by her kindly grandfather and his odd housekeeper Uozumi. Now, in her third year of middle school, Nanoka hears strange voices calling from a shopping street. Investigating, Nanoka finds herself in the Taisho Era (1920s) and being attacked by unfriendly ayakashi (monsters). She’s rescued by the mysterious Mao, who is both a medical doctor and an onmyoji (priest-wizard) who was born in the Heian Era about 900 years earlier. It seems they have a hidden connection.
SPOILER WARNING: Some details of the plot of these volumes are spoilery–advance at your own risk.
Volume Three opens in the aftermath of the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923. Tokyo is on fire, and Mao is battling his ancient enemy, Byoki the seven-tailed ayakashi cat. Or rather Byoki’s head, as it turns out one of the results of their past encounters is that the majority of Byoki’s body has merged with Mao. Byoki needs to fully take over Mao’s body to become fully immortal, and Mao is having none of that, even calling on his ability to shift form to be more catlike. Byoki lets slip that Mao’s memory of the events of the past may be flawed, and that Nanoka also has a connection with him.
One of the mysteries is complicated when Nanoka’s past self also shows up in the Taisho Era. Could it be that this is the part of her childhood accident she doesn’t remember? Nanoka suddenly remembers where she and her parents were headed that day, but that would suggest…
Returning to the present, Nanoka runs into Shiraha, her male classmate and researcher, who she does not realize has a massive crush on her. She also gets confirmation that the person she knows who doesn’t quite look human is in fact a shikigami servant of Mao’s, sent to protect her.
Back in the Taisho Era, Mao is mostly recovered, and learns that there’s been multiple sightings of flaming skulls flying about the ruined city. This recalls an incident from his youth.
Sure enough, the one behind the skulls is Mao’s former fellow apprentice, Hyakka. Somehow he too is still alive, though his immortality works differently than Mao’s and he has a mad-on against his former colleague as Hyakka believes that Mao was the one who betrayed their master and killed Princess Sana,
We then learn that Mao was the master’s heir apparent, and engaged to Sana as a result, as well as receiving the cursed sword Hagunsei as a symbol of the succession. But this was a deception. Five of the other apprentices were summoned to a secret meeting with the master and informed that in order to become the true successor they must slay not only Mao, but all of the other candidates as well. Due to the construction of the meeting place, none of the disciples knew at that time who the other candidates were.
Hyakka’s willing to put aside killing Mao for now, though he keeps his motivations for doing so murky.
Meanwhile, across town, pretty young women have been vanishing in the vicinity of Ibaraki Manor. Rumor has it that one of the sons is a serial rapist and murderer, but that the family’s wealth and connections have successful kept the authorities from being able to prove anything. The rumor is correct.
Shiraha explains some terminology to Nanoka, including the nature of the forbidden knowledge that Mao’s master supposedly guarded. Of course, no one in the 21st Century really believes in that stuff, right?
Back in time, Ibaraki literally runs into Tenko, a pretty ayakashi friend of Mao’s–with his car. She survives, and Ibaraki decides to have “fun” with her. She turns out to bite back, but is then attacked by Ibaraki’s mysterious manservant Kuchinawa. Can Mao arrive in time to save her?
The result of the Kuchinawa battle is somewhat anticlimactic, as he decides that the best way to deal with Ibaraki’s mess is to eliminate the one who caused it. So much for the faithful servant act! He turns out to be another former apprentice in the succession battle, Kamon, whose element is wood.
A few miles from Tokyo, Hyakka is planning on vacating the area, until he realizes some of the people heading the other way are frog shikigami who must have been created by another onmyoji and heads back to team up with Mao for protection.
This leads into a difficult battle with a squad of frog-men, some of whom are unwillingly transformed humans and therefore must not be killed. The concept of elemental weaknesses comes into play as Hyakka’s fire is weak against water creatures, but Nanoka is basically an Earth person, who’s strong against them, even if she’d rather not be a combatant.
Nanoka heads home to rest, while Mao and Hyakka set a trap for their unknown enemy. Who turns out to be a giant made of water? It’s a tough battle, but this isn’t the true enemy! We also get a bit more of Byoki’s backstory.
Meanwhile, Kamon’s been investigating rumors that an onmyoji claiming to be of the famous Goko family has been performing miracle cures. Except they’re not the miracles advertised,
Mao is summoned to the bedside of a dying boy, but it’s actually a trap to steal his kodoku poison pot which he needs to sustain his immortality so that he will have to submit to capture. He defeats the serpent-using shikigami, but his lifeline is smashed! Can Nanoka find a way to save him?
Volume Five opens with a flashback to Masago, the most skilled of the water-based apprentices during the Heian period, and one of the few female apprentices. She’s a logical suspect for the new opponent, but our protagonists have guessed wrong.
The new enemy is Shiranui, who was known for being a loser in the old days, though he’s gained considerable power since then. And apparently, he’s now immune to kneecapping.
In the present day, Byoki approaches Nanoka. Scary, but before he’s driven off, the cat seems to be warning Nanoka rather than threatening her.
In the Taisho Era, a sickly young man named Yoshifusa becomes paranoid about the “relatives” who have moved into his house in the absence of his parents. And we soon see that he has reason to be.
At a gathering of the elite, they’re surprised to see a metal-masked man, Captain Shirasu, enter. Allegedly he’s worn that mask since being disfigured during the Russian War. He’s there to meet a well-born young lady named Yurako, who knows about his past and vice-versa.
Mao and Kamon try to set up their own meeting with Yurako, but she flees, displaying weird vocal powers when Nanoka tries to stand in her way. It turns out Yurako has a familiar face, one Mao thought he’d never see again!
Our heroes are attacked by a metal shikigami in the shape of a fancy cannon, and Mao is captured. Now in the hands of the vengeful Shiranui, how will our hero survive?
This series has much more of a through line for the main plot than Takahashi’s previous series, with very little of the usual wandering off into unrelated events. The humor is also much subdued here, giving it a more serious feel.
Interestingly, while Nanoka’s abilities would make her an action heroine if she wanted, she’d much rather be the protected damsel, and doesn’t like when Mao pragmatically uses her to advantage in combat. Which is not to say she isn’t effective when Nanoka forgets about her trepidation in the heat of the moment. It’s still not feeling set in stone that she’ll wind up with Mao at the end.
The major theme here is immortality and the various characters’ attitudes towards it and how even a taste of prolonged life has changed them. The Heien Era survivors all have white streaks in their black hair, and different methods of longevity. It’s not infallible, either–several of them have scars or missing parts. True Immortality seems just out of reach.
Takahashi’s art and writing remain strong.
Content note: Lots of violence, often bloody and sometimes fatal. Rape (off-camera) and attempted rape (on-camera.) Brief nudity. Animal abuse in Byoki’s backstory. This is aimed at junior high kids in Japan.
Overall: Unlike Rin-Ne, this series doesn’t yet have volumes you can skip. Recommended to fans of time-travel fantasy.
