Saiyuki Reload (Vol. 09) – Kazuya Minekura
Published by Tokyopop

I almost forgot Saiyuki Reload existed until the newest volume stared at me from the store shelve. It’s a shame the wait between volumes is so long but at least they’re still coming. Fortunately for all my interests in this series, this ninth volume delivered in spades.

In this book the highly foreshadowed darkly-dressed Sanzo, Ukoku, returns to take centre stage as he confronts Sanzo and Hazel. Unfortunately the two are mere child’s play in comparison to the dark Priest’s ability so the showdown quickly goes from confrontational to a dramatic game of life or death, with Ukoku’s unknown motivations pulling the strings.

A good portion of the book goes into the back-story of Hazel who we learn has connections to Ukoku from his childhood. It was a great chapter for building up this character who’s managed to remain a bit of an enigma, and now stripped to his most vulnerable, it’s impossible not to feel for him. As if I didn’t already like Hazel enough before, this book cinched it with nearly gut-wrenching suspense for the next volume.

An unrelated short story at the end of the book certainly has its humorous moments, and though I appreciate the attempt to balance out the books grimmer plots, it was a little annoying being pulled away from the main timeline when it’s just taken such a white-knuckled turn.

Review written February 20, 2009 by Lissa Pattillo
Book purchased in-store from Chapters

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About the Author: Lissa Pattillo

Lissa Pattillo is the owner and editor of Kuriousity.ca. Residing in Halifax, Nova Scotia she takes great joy in collecting all manners of manga genres, regretting that there's never enough time in the day to review or share them all. Along with reviews, Lissa is responsible for all the news postings to the website and works full time as a web and graphic designer.