Title: Dimension W Vol. 5
Author: Yuji Iwahara
Publisher: Yen Press
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 208
Genre: Sci-Fi, Action
Publication Date: February 21, 2017
The Story
The fifth volume of Dimension W opened up with an entertaining side story in which Mira was keeping a journal of her observations. The object that she chose to observe was Kyouma. Her observations painted Kyouma in a very low-brow light and that was pretty hilarious. The chapter ended with a brief coil collection mission where they had to stop a half-cyborg named Chamberman after he went on a bit of a rampage.
After this mini arc, we are treated to the main story of volume five. Salva Tibesti, the Wind of Africa and the COO of Tesla Central 60, visits Japan to meet up with Claire Skyhart, COO of Tesla Central 47. While Salva is busy preparing for his meeting, his little brother Lwai runs off to explore Japan, only to be disappointed because it’s not how he imagined it would be. After Salva’s servant Lasithi retrieves Lwai after his little escapade, Salva talks with Claire about how he will be causing a disturbance in Central 47.
That disturbance is Lwai entering Mary’s compound and destroying Four. Four’s strength is known throughout the world and Mary says that it is common knowledge that crossing her in such a way is certain suicide. Salva orchestrated this attack to send a message to all collectors stating that if you’re strong enough then they need to gather. The goal is to infiltrate Easter Island and if the mission is accomplished, the collector that succeeds will be rewarded an undisclosed amount from Salva’s personal funds. Hearing about this mission triggers a flashback for Kyouma. The flashback makes him decide that he, too, will join the other collectors to Easter Island and this is where the volume comes to a close.
The main story of this volume of Dimension W is pretty intriguing. We got a brief cameo from Loser which provided us with more information on why he is seeking The Numbers. The explanation behind Easter Island being labeled as a “nothingness of possibility” is rather interesting. A coil incident took place there many years ago and even life ceases to exist because of how Dimension W has warped the space-time of the island. Salva found evidence of coil usage on the island and the fact that Loser is there means that there is probably a Numbers at the root of this phenomenon. Loser mentions that he needs five Numbers to open a gate, but what that gate could be is not yet known.
Needless to say, this volume offered a lot of information and even raised some questions, but the character development was also pretty top notch for Kyouma!
Characters
Before I touch upon Kyouma, we are introduced to Salva and Lwai Tibesti. Salva is a mixed bag of emotions. In the beginning of his introduction, he seemed like a stuck up African prince that didn’t really care about anyone or anything. He had this ruthless air about him, but as the volume progressed, he dwindled away from his first impressions into a calculated man with a purpose. While he was still stern and seemingly manipulative, he showed signs of respect when speaking in front of the president of New Tesla. Something on Easter Island interested him and because as such, his personality changed to that of almost an accommodating host. It’s really hard to try and pin Salva’s true personality, but I’m sure as the volumes come out, we’ll get more backstory on his character and things will begin to make more sense.
Lwai has a child-like personality to match his appearance and his curiosity is innocent, which makes him a lovable character right out of the gate. You could say his excitement is rather infectious! After Lwai rips Kyouma’s happi, which has steel fibers interwoven, Kyouma becomes suspicious. Lwai has to be an android. It wasn’t flat out stated, but there were just way too many obvious hints. The biggest of all is when we see the scene were Lwai flat out destroys Four. No human could do that so it’s pretty obvious that Lwai is an android running on a coil that surpasses the strength of military grade. I’d like to see them explain this one as this would be pretty interesting.
Mira got a little development as well as Koorogi was trying to determine what she was actually built for. It’s stated that Mira’s body is comprised of nanomachines and every part of her was made to interchange with a human body in case a transplant was needed. What was more fascinating was her brain. The nanomachines constantly evolve and form chains similar to circuits constantly rearranging into new patterns and constructing/repairing themselves. Koorogi states that her brain was developed organically and it would take years just to understand what one single nanomachine was for. The only person who knew for sure was Dr. Yurizaki, who died back in volume one.
Finally, we get to Kyouma and what an emotional backstory he had! I won’t spoil it for those who wish to read the volume, but we now understand why Kyouma absolutely hates coils as well as what his role was with Grendel, how he came to join the group and the aftermath of Grendel’s mission to Easter Island. Everything in Kyouma’s backstory explains so much about his character and does so in such a way where you really feel emotionally attached to him. You get a real sense of who he is and you gain an understanding of all the things that have happened in the series up until now involving him. This last couple chapters developed Kyouma into very solid main character and I can’t wait to see what happens when Kyouma returns to the one place that has been the cause of so much of his pain!
Final Thoughts
From top to bottom, volume five of Dimension W was simply amazing and is, hands down, the best volume to have come out so far in this series. There is a perfect balance of comedy, action, character development, and story advancement that is rarely seen in most volumes of manga. Volume five felt like a total and complete package and it just reaffirms why I’m liking this series so much. What I didn’t mention in the characters section were all of the collectors that answered Salva’s call, but it’s way too early to tell just what these characters are like outside of their little introduction boxes.
Everything from Mira’s cute little expedition of logging Kyouma’s life habits, to the introduction of new characters, the advancement of the story that raises a ton of questions, to Kyouma’s emotional backstory just set the stage for bigger and better things in volume six. Everything here in volume five has me pumped and wanting to read more!
Simply put, this was a phenomenal volume that solidifies Dimension W as one of the best sci-fi stories to have come out in recent times!
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This item was provided for review by Yen Press
