Title: Dimension W Vol. 11
Author: Yuji Iwahara
Publisher: Yen Press
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 208
Genre: Sci-Fi, Action
Publication Date: August 21, 2018
The Story
Volume 11 of Dimension W beings with Elizabeth remembering how she was before she met Loser and then holding a funeral for him. Afterward, we switch to Kyouma who is on a coil collecting mission. He stops a couple of street punks who were using a low-grade illegal coil. After finding out where they got the coil from, he was attacked by a mysterious person who uses optical camouflage on his weapons. Kyouma manages to defeat him but in the process, Mira, who had been left behind to guard Kyouma’s car, ends up getting captured by a gang that we hadn’t seen since the very first chapter of the series.
Prior to getting kidnapped, Elizabeth stopped by and gave Mira the illegal coil she used in the previous volume. Her and Mira ended up having a discussion which made Elizabeth feel a bit conflicted when she noticed that Mira got kidnapped. Kyouma returned and struck a deal with Elizabeth for her to retrieve Mira in exchange for information about her. This leads Elizabeth to a building under construction where we’re introduced to Drake Horton, the Sword of Eudos, a cult-like group whose goal it is to make sure that the realm of technology doesn’t cross over and disturb the realm of religion. This group has been given another name which was revealed in the last volume: The Syndicate.
Drake is very interested in Mira as well as Dr. Yurizaki’s work. Elizabeth infiltrated the building and was listening in on Drake’s monologue about who he is and what his goals were when she is caught be a cyborg named Nove. Elizabeth barely escapes but Drake suddenly has a change of heart and decides that now is not the time to take Mira captive. Kyouma and Koorogi arrive but by the time they do, Drake, Nove, and the others had already decided to leave Mira behind and come back to claim her another day, thus ending the volume.
It wasn’t a cliffhanger ending but Drake’s sudden decision really piqued my curiosity in wanting to know more. Combined with the last volume’s hints, it’s all but confirmed that Dr. Yurizaki is still alive somewhere. If not, then the hints and indications are one hell of a misdirection. Drake even mentioned that they will be back to collect Mira on the day Dr. Yurizaki foretold as being Judgment Day. That, in and of itself, is another cryptic message that has yet to be explained.
There were also a few story elements in here that tied the Easter Island incident together with the rest of the story in a more logical way. I know I mentioned before that I felt Easter Island was a bit out of place given the way the story had unfolded but now it was apparent that it needed to happen to get a better sense of who Drake Horton really is.
Characters
Obviously, the biggest character in this volume is Drake Horton. The volume spends an entire chapter detailing his backstory. He is the Sword of Eudos and is part of the unlawful branch that carries out assassinations or other dirty jobs. In addition, he’s a double agent as he is also a special investigator for New Tesla. Eudos also has a lawful side of it which they try first before resorting to sending in Drake. As an example, during Dr. Yurizaki’s backstory, we know that he was asked to stop his research. This was Eudos stepping in with their lawful approach in order to stop Dr. Yurizaki from creating Genesis.
It worked but they didn’t account for an outlier in the form of Seameyer. Still, even though Dr. Yurizaki had lawfully stopped his research, Drake sensed that he was plotting something and Eudos picked up on it as well. Drake was then ordered to assassinate Dr. Yurizaki and his wife who was thought to be carrying on his research through “advice.” He was also ordered by New Tesla to seize all of Dr. Yurizaki’s research immediately. Drake disobeyed both of his orders and ended up killing Dr. Yurizaki’s wife and daughter which he saw as a necessary evil in order to let Dr. Yurizaki go free. Assumed dead, the case was closed but with the absence of a body, the case was re-opened and Dr. Yurizaki was labeled as MIA.
Drake wanted to know why Dr. Yurizaki hid his secrets within the androids he created and why Mira was a special case. Outside of wanting to know this knowledge, there isn’t much known about Drake’s true motives.
Drake is one hell of an interesting character! On one side, he just seems like a dog obeying every command Eudos and New Tesla throw at him but because he chose the third option to let Dr. Yurizaki go free, it shows that he has a mind of his own and it’s not for the greater good. He did it for a personal reason and it seems like he’s using both Eudos and New Tesla to further that personal desire. What that personal desire is isn’t exactly known right now but I’m really interested in finding out!
Outside of Drake, Elizabeth is still a little tsundere but one has to wonder what she’s going to do with the information Kyouma is going to give her about Mira. The fact that Mira is trying to befriend her is rather cute but Elizabeth is having none of it. She sees Kyouma as a rival collector and swears that she will be a better collector than him. She even swears off using illegal coils to make her rivalry as fair as possible. You know Elizabeth wants to be friends deep down but her stubbornness isn’t going to allow that to happen anytime soon. Still, this little rivalry could turn out to be something rather fun!
Final Thoughts
The last volume felt like a transitional volume from one big story arc to the next. This volume solidified that as this new story arc kicked off in a big way. Drake Horton is a really interesting character and I look forward to finding out more about him in future volumes. It seems we are also getting back into the mystery that is Dr. Yurizaki and I have a feeling all things will come to light once this arc comes to an end. They’ve teased way too much to just bait us and keep us guessing so I’d suspect that we’ll discover the true fate of Dr. Yurizaki in the next couple of volumes.
Liking the love/hate relationship between Kyouma/Mira and Elizabeth. The beginning of the manga was a rather sad way to kick off the volume but with that, Loser’s story is finally complete. I didn’t mention it above because with it being right at the beginning, I feel that it’s worth reading and completing his story on your own. It does answer the one question of how Loser survived the events of Easter Island and went on to become partnered with Elizabeth, though. I will say that much about it and it’s definitely worth reading!
Another great volume of Dimension W! I’m really loving this new story arc thus far and want to see more it!
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This item was provided for review by Yen Press
