Title: Boy’s Abyss Vol. 9
Author: Ryo Minenami
Publisher: Viz Media
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 215
Genre: Slice-of-Life, Drama
Publication Date: April 22, 2025
The Story
We pick up with Chako and Reiji stopping by Ms. Shiba’s apartment, only to discover that Gen is in there. After they each tell their stories as to why they are there, Ms. Shiba returns and licks her lips as she got Reiji to return to her of his own free will. As she’s savoring the small victory, Chako, who had been resting due to weakness resulting from her rapid weight loss, wakes up, and Ms. Shiba becomes terrified that she’s there. After some quick thinking, she plays it cool and leaves. Gen kicks Reiji out; however, Chako wants to stay the night despite the possible consequences with her parents.
Ms. Shiba hatches a plan to get rid of Chako; however, Reiji intervenes and promises that he can get her to leave and go back to her parents’ house, where they will, most likely, lock her up in her room again. Letting her obsession with Reiji cloud her judgment, she agrees to let Reiji handle things, believing that she can kill two birds with one stone this way; however, Reiji has a plan.
After Reiji enacts his plan, Ms. Shiba believes that she’s been had; however, that blind faith and obsession with Reiji make her wait to see if he can produce the results that he promised. Meanwhile, Reiji, Chako, and Gen embark on Reiji’s plan; however, despite having a nagging feeling, a monkey wrench gets thrown into things and it leaves all three of them alone and feeling powerless.
Characters
Once again, there is a ton of character development to be had.
First, Ms. Shiba hasn’t changed at all; however, I found it hilarious that she has become so obsessed with Reiji that she just put her blind faith in him. Even when she realizes that Reiji may have double-crossed her, she still opts to believe in him. If there is any indication that she is beyond gone and cannot be saved, this is it.
Chako, of all people, was the voice of reason in this volume. Despite her obsession with Reiji and her declaration that she wants to marry him, Chako also sees through Ms. Shiba and lays out her intentions to Gen. Despite this, she also makes a suggestion to Reiji and Gen, which starts Reiji’s plan to deceive Ms. Shiba and embark on their little adventure. I won’t go any further due to spoilers, but to say that Chako had ulterior motives of her own would be a gross understatement.
As for Gen, while on their little adventure, Reiji and Gen get into a heated conversation where Reiji pressures him with a very personal and all-important question. It digs deep into the reasons Gen wanted to “protect” Reiji and what it meant by him “liking” Reiji. It opened up and answered a lot of questions at the same time; however, when Gen realized that Reiji spoke the truth, he was stunned into silence. It was as if his entire world came crumbling down, which can only mean that a major character shift is coming for him, or he’s going to double down on his efforts to keep Reiji all to himself!
Final Thoughts
I feel like a broken record, but I don’t care… I’m going to keep saying it: Another incredible volume!
Seeing Ms. Shiba get the wool pulled over her eyes was satisfying; however, we all know that things are far from over. Reiji reached out to a certain someone, and then seeing that certain someone was also quite the shock; however, when they embarked on their little adventure, it was only a matter of time before we saw a certain character again. Still, it hasn’t been that long since seeing them in this new way is rather shocking.
Chako’s development has been phenomenal as she’s becoming more and more unhinged with every volume, but despite her unhinging, she seems as if she’s calm and in control… either that or she’s fooling herself to ease the shock that she’s spiraling out of control without realizing it. When the subject of her weight loss comes up, she begins to see the bigger picture, which led me to believe that she was, indeed, fooling herself. Either that, or she was so focused on making Reiji hers that she couldn’t even see what she was doing to herself. No matter what the case may be, it’s nice to see how she’s progressing into the insane asylum with the rest of the cast.
Based on what happened with Reiji and Gen, Gen may be the next person to go insane. This is such a common theme in this series, though. Everyone is going insane, but they are doing it bit by bit, by their own unique circumstances. In a way, it’s rather fun to watch, and the fact that Reiji is the direct and indirect cause of it all makes you feel sorry for the kid. Gen said it best… Reiji is the type of person who will do anything for anyone as long as it makes them happy, and that willingness to just bend over and take it for someone else’s happiness has made him the catalyst for so many of the cast’s descent into madness… including his own.
That’s what’s great about this series. Reiji isn’t even trying to twist these people, but he’s twisting them by just trying to be accommodating despite how much it kills him on the inside. It’s a never-ending spiral, and we’re all just along for the ride… and what a great ride it has continued to be!
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This item was provided for review by Viz Media
