MANGA REVIEW | "Undead Unluck" - Volume Eleven
Describing Undead Unluck as “an emotional roller coaster” was never something I thought I'd utter. Yet here I am, finishing up with the eleventh volume of Yoshifumi Tozuka’s series, and that is the only phrase I can conjure up. Adrenaline, laughter, heart, sadness, and anger all find their way into this volume in ways that really took me by surprise. Then again, considering what the cover looks like (and if you zoom in to certain details), I really shouldn’t be surprised.
Fuuko is still in the midst of her three-round battle with Spring. The score is tied one-to-one, with Spring impressed with Fuuko’s mentality. Just when Spring is about to concede the fight, God takes over and forces Spring to become his final form. Cherry blossoms bloom everywhere, with more humans turning into trees than before.
Andy and the rest are about to fight back, but Spring then tells them that anyone who intentionally tries to harm him in his fight with Fuuko will automatically turn into a cherry blossom. That’s when Andy comes up with a wild plan: have everyone try to kill him, and he’ll just stay close enough to Spring to get some bystander damage. It’s a crazy idea, one that — to my knowledge — I haven’t seen done in manga before. But as Undead Unluck has shown, the craziest of plans somehow wind up being the most successful.
There are some heartfelt moments shared between the characters during this fight, but the moment between Tatiana and Billy stands out the most. It’s clear that Untouchable misses Billy in the Union, and would do anything to bring him back to the fold. Although Billy plans to stick around with Under, his words to Tatiana show that he doesn’t hate her and the Union. Quite the contrary, he’s proud of how much they’ve grown!
Going back to the final round between Fuuko and Spring, a flashback to the season’s past shows why he has acted the way he does. It’s a tale of tragedy, with him only wanting to play with the humans, but everyone being terrified by his presence. The flashback plays a crucial part to the end of this battle, with the words of a past friend echoing throughout his brain as the game commences. Although Fuuko sheds tears for the final battle, everyone — especially Andy — comforts her into knowing that she did a good job.
At this point, I was hoping for a good breather as the Union and Under await the next quest to defeat God. But no. Undead Unluck does something incredibly cruel. What should be a moment of celebration is instead transformed into another bloodbath. Andy is shaken by what occurs, and for good reason. In fact, it’s kind of hard to say here in this review without making you readers furious, as well!
But there’s something worse afoot, and that’s the endgame. Volume Eleven has the audacity to end right when the real turmoil is about to commence. Fortunately, this is Undead Unluck we are talking about, and knowing Tozuka, he’s got something up his sleeve to make his readers jump out of their seats. Let’s just hope, for the sake of Andy and Fuuko, that the next plan comes sooner rather than later.
FINAL GRADE:
Promotional consideration provided by Chantelle Sturt of VIZ Media.
