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selfwinding's review against another edition
3.0
ILLYRIA!
I have some feels about the demon smurf, so seeing her show up in this storyline and literally hijack Buffy is pretty fantastic. I'm really enjoying all the magical fallout and seeing how other mystical beings are coping with the lack of magic in the land. "The Council" being associated with something other than "Watchers" was also a nice change of pace. (Though why Buffy didn't make a joke about how demons are totally unoriginal in their naming conventions, I don't know.)
I do have one question: How did it take this long for anyone to put together that Dawn is made of magic? I mean, as soon as Buffy smashed the seed, I thought about Dawn. I'm just saying!
And with that… I really did not appreciate the way Xander's storyline turned. Like, a lot. I did not appreciate it a lot.
I have some feels about the demon smurf, so seeing her show up in this storyline and literally hijack Buffy is pretty fantastic. I'm really enjoying all the magical fallout and seeing how other mystical beings are coping with the lack of magic in the land. "The Council" being associated with something other than "Watchers" was also a nice change of pace. (Though why Buffy didn't make a joke about how demons are totally unoriginal in their naming conventions, I don't know.)
I do have one question: How did it take this long for anyone to put together that Dawn is made of magic? I mean, as soon as Buffy smashed the seed, I thought about Dawn. I'm just saying!
And with that… I really did not appreciate the way Xander's storyline turned. Like, a lot. I did not appreciate it a lot.
jessicarrr1990's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
vylotte's review against another edition
4.0
Cutting the world off from magic might not have been Buffy's finest moment, but I think it did wonders for the series, bringing it back to a girl, her friends and a bunch of vampires. And a sentient red balloon. Happy to see Illyria and a couple of other familiar faces. This seemed a transitional volume, looking forward to what comes next.
graylodge_library's review against another edition
3.0
The inclusion of Illyria seemed forced, the whole "let's hate Buffy" -thing doesn't seem convincing (like they needed this to make the ending work, but they didn't quite nail it), and I still hate Simone. Other than that, there's lots of promise and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next. The last frame was a bit of a shock, so I'm curious what they'll do with it.
numinaluna's review against another edition
3.0
The storyline is fine, and the dialogue hints of the Whedon-speak that I love so dearly, but this is filler and not all that compelling to me. Also, I don't like the cartoony artwork. I want the realism. I want to feel like I'm watching my favorite show again. This chapter left me feeling like too much was missing, especially after 9.3 was such a strong showing.
historyofjess's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Okay...so there's some stuff in here that's fun...mainly, Illyria. Illyria is always fun, even if her portion of the story feels abruptly cut off. Truthfully, with this being the penultimate volume of the season, everything feels cliffhangery and unsatisfying. I like the "surprise" an extra Slayer has been hanging around this entire time. I like that Willow's back even if it isn't for very much time and she doesn't get to do very much. Really, most of the stuff with Buffy in the first few issues isn't that bad...except there's a lot of other stuff going on at the same time that takes away from it.
But then, there's everything to do with Xander. As a die hard Buffy fan that's also very much a feminist, Xander is one of those characters that it's very hard to stomach on re-watches and re-reads. He has some good moments, but it's hard to overlook his very bad ones and that's even more true now knowing what a cad the person that created him is. And this whole storyline in this season of comics where Xander keeps lashing out violently is very, very not good and I do not like it at all. And here, we finally get a bit of an explanation for it...and it only makes it worse. And then, it just keeps getting worse. I guess Xander is one of the few Scoobies that never went on the "betrayal" arc and so it's his turn, but yikes on bikes, does this just follow all of the worst storytelling instincts for this character and I want none of it. I think it betrays the best bits of his character, all resting on his love for Dawn, which I still have heeby-jeebies about. So yeah, I don't like it. I don't want it. And I need Xander to stop being a rageaholic piss baby that thinks he can save the world be fixing everything he doesn't like about it.
But then, there's everything to do with Xander. As a die hard Buffy fan that's also very much a feminist, Xander is one of those characters that it's very hard to stomach on re-watches and re-reads. He has some good moments, but it's hard to overlook his very bad ones and that's even more true now knowing what a cad the person that created him is. And this whole storyline in this season of comics where Xander keeps lashing out violently is very, very not good and I do not like it at all. And here, we finally get a bit of an explanation for it...and it only makes it worse. And then, it just keeps getting worse. I guess Xander is one of the few Scoobies that never went on the "betrayal" arc and so it's his turn, but yikes on bikes, does this just follow all of the worst storytelling instincts for this character and I want none of it. I think it betrays the best bits of his character, all resting on his love for Dawn, which I still have heeby-jeebies about. So yeah, I don't like it. I don't want it. And I need Xander to stop being a rageaholic piss baby that thinks he can save the world be fixing everything he doesn't like about it.