4.0

Oooh, volume 2 is much better than the previous one. For one thing, the protagonist gets extracted from his useless gang of slum dogs and placed into the black market, thus giving him better company and ways to improve himself. Not that Riki manages to grow up much anyway, refinement and personal improvement seem to glide off this mongrel like water off a duck's back.

The real treat for me was the appearance of Katze and Raoul, though we are yet to see all that much about them so far. Together with Iason, they form my sacred and most beloved trio and every time they are on the page I am happy. Speaking of sacred and most beloved... Holy Gods Iason Mink! He was so alluring and captivating in the animated version, but frak me, he is a million times better in the novel. This version of Iason is tremendous, he is like the center of the earth, like the gravity pulling everyone and everything to him. He's a fucking god, in all his cruel, cold, manipulative, disdainful, perfection personified glory. Because I know where he is going, seeing him like this in the early stages is an absolute treat and it just heightens the drama.