Title: Dimension W Vol. 3
Author: Yuji Iwahara
Publisher: Yen Press
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 208
Genre: Sci-Fi, Action
Publication Date: August 30, 2016
The Story
The third volume of Dimension W comes out of left field with its story. So far, we have been painted a picture of a coil collector dealing with the seedy underworld of illegal coils, but now Kyouma and Mira have been assigned their oddest task yet that seems like it was ripped out of an episode of Tales from the Crypt. Kyouma and Mira end up staying at a mansion overlooking Lake Yasogami where some supernatural activities have been reported. It all involves the death of a horror mystery writer named Shijuurou Sasaki. In fact, while driving there, as depicted in the volume’s opening color pages (which were gorgeous, by the way), Mira ends up seeing a ghost in the middle of the road, but Kyouma has no clue what Mira is talking about. In fact, they drive home the fact that the mansion is not only haunted, but there have been mysterious murders taking place there ever since an incident occurred during the construction of Lake Yasogami, which is revealed to be man-made.
The story goes from supernatural to a more sci-fi twist when Kyouma and Mira dig deep to unravel the mystery behind the sightings/murders. Mira discovers that the images in Sasaki’s books suspiciously overlap with Yasogami way too much. Mira begins to reconstruct the data she has collected so far and creates the world of Yasogami from twenty-one years ago. Meanwhile, Albert and Kyouma are having a discussion where we end up getting our first taste of the power of a Numbers coil. The Numbers were mentioned by Loser in the previous volume, but not much was known about them from their introduction. In fact, even after this volume, still not much is known, but we are given a glimpse into what they are possibly capable of. This raises even more questions such as “are the other numbers similar in their abilities?” or “With this kind of power, what was Loser’s motive for seeking them out?”
Speaking of Albert, it is even more suspicious that he decided to show up. Albert and Kyouma’s interactions further assert that the two of them have a history between them. Albert’s presence there should automatically tip off the reader that these phenomenon had to be coil related, otherwise, why would one of New Tesla’s top agents be staying at the mansion? Even with the information dump, the last chapter leaves us on, not only a cliffhanger, but a very confusing scenario. So the visions are a copy of the world and Shijuurou Sasaki from twenty-one years ago killed his present self? At least, that’s what I’m gathering from the information provided.
All in all, this was definitely not the kind of story I was expecting out of Dimension W given how the world was depicted to us thus far, but it doesn’t mean that it wasn’t enjoyable. It was a nice detraction from the norm and when you take into account the information we received about these powerful Numbers coils, it helped build a bigger foundation for the overall plot of the series. Volume 4 is going to have to do some serious explaining, though because that mystery, which was looking to be solved, just got deeper.
Characters
While we were introduced to many new characters; mainly the staff of the mansion, the main characters end up getting the most attention, especially Mira.
Mira had some pretty interesting moments during her investigation including, what can be perceived as, a direct interaction with the Numbers coil, causing her to interact with the Yasogami of the past. While she did reconstruct the images from past data, she seemingly ends up becoming a part of that world, or at least able to interact with a vision of that past world. Even through all of these odd experiences, Mira retains her innocent personality. She’s always worried about what Kyouma would think while she’s going about doing her investigating. Also, who didn’t feel a bit bad for her when she had to pretend to be an emotionless robot? Poor Mira.
Albert and Kyouma definitely have some history, but it’s still not stated as to what that history is. It is obvious, however, that the two of them have known each other for a long time, possibly even before Albert received his current position at New Tesla. The mention of Grendel in the last volume leads me to believe that Kyouma’s involvement with that group has some sort of tie-in to Albert, but I guess we will have to wait until future volumes to see if that is true or not.
Even though this is just a side character for the sake of this arc, Shijuurou Sasaki is a pretty interesting character given the ending of the volume. While he is a horror novel writer, everything that is happening at the mansion seems like something straight out of one of his books. Seeing the side by side comparison of him on the final page and the revelation that he could have been his own murderer is pretty mind-boggling. It makes you question what really happened and it provides a great hook for volume four.
Final Thoughts
Detracting from an already established world in order to depict a story which could very well suit an entirely new genre is a bold risk, but I think it paid off nicely here. In fact, I think this is the true essence of Dimension W and as we get further and further into what the coils are, we’re going to encounter some more of these odd scenarios. Doing so doesn’t really make you think about the scenarios themselves, but it gets you wondering as to what the Numbers coils truly are, how they came to be and why were such things even created in the first place?
Just based on the last volume of Dimension W, why is Loser searching for such power? He now seems more than just an overly theatrical criminal, but more like a man with a hidden agenda. Could Loser be the true threat of this series or is there something more behind all of this? The world of Dimension W is getting deeper, especially if you read between the lines of everything that has happened so far. As a result, this is really turning out to be quite the stellar series. Sci-fi fans are not going to want to pass this one up!
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This item was provided for review by Yen Press
