MPD Psycho, Vol. 3
Story by Eiji Otsuka, Art by Shou-U Tajima
Dark Horse, 184 pp.
Rating: Mature (18 +)
Editor’s note: If you haven’t read the previous volumes of MPD Psycho, you may find Erin F’s review of volume one a helpful place to start.
Most of volume three is dedicated to a story about Akio Umemiya, a serial killer with links to one of Kazuhiko Amamiya’s personalities. After his apparent execution, Umemiya resurfaces in Tokyo leaving a trail of carnage in his wake. The high body count attracts the attention of Kitou, a special investigator who has been assigned to investigate the connection between the high number of serial killings and the Eye Bank. Strangely enough, Kitou was appointed to this task by the new Justice Minister–the same man that ordered Umemiya’s death.
MPD Psycho is becoming positively labyrinthine and I like it. For every hint or answer Otsuka offers, he counters with a twist or introduces a new element. No plot line or detail seems too bizarre for him to use: vaguely sci-fi technology, cults, conspiracies, romantic relationships, gory serial killers. You simply never know what Otsuka will throw your way, yet somehow it works.
It’s a little hard to tell from the galley copy I received, but Shou-U’s artwork looks as slick as ever. This time around, we even get a few action sequences in the form of a car chase and shootout. Both seem to be handled fairly well, though some of the finer line work seems to have disappeared. That’s probably due to the quality of the galley copy and I doubt it will be an issue with the official release. Though famous for its scenes of over-the-top violence, this volume seems light on the brutal and gory images that made the series so infamous. There are a few detailed closeups of gun shot wounds (entrance and exit), but they aren’t nearly as jaw-droppingly graphic as the fetishized torture and mutilation scenes from volume one.
Personally, I’m loving this series: the twisted storylines, the occasional bits of gore, the paranoia that infects the entire story line. The plot just gets progressively more tangled by the volume, but never to the point where you feel lost or completely adrift. Three volumes in, and I’m still hooked.
Volume three of MPD Psycho will be released on December 5, 2007.
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