By Faust Editors
Del Rey, 432 pp.
Rating: Older Teen (16 +)

Faust returns with more offerings from some of Japan’s hottest writers. Otsuichi, NISIOISIN, Yuya Sato and more all return and contribute pieces to the second installment of this cutting-edge anthology. Several of the stories are new and original, but several also continue working in worlds and with characters introduced the first volume.

Remember when I said I didn’t like Kouhei Kadono’s “Outlandos d’Amour” in the first Faust? Wow, am I ever eating my words now. Arguably one of my favorite pieces in the second volume, “Jagdtiger (Porschelaufwerk)”, isn’t so much a sequel as a different look at the events depicted in “Outlandos d’Amour.” It takes everything you were presented with in that story and turns it on its head. The hesitancy and incapability of Koi is completely explained and her character is fleshed out wonderfully as we learn her true origins and history. At the same time, Kadono expands upon the world we first glimpsed in “Outlandos” and creates a web of intrigue which had me wanting more, not to mention cracking open the first volume to reread “Outlandos!”

That’s not the only piece that expands on things from the first volume. Otsuichi returns with Takeshi Obata for “Where the Wind Blows,” a story set in the same world as “F-Sensei’s Pocket” and focusing heavily on Kozue, the narrator from that story, the weird wind that blows strange objects into her bedroom, and a doomed relationship. Otsuichi does a good job at depicting an abusive relationship without actually depicting an abusive relationship. It’s a neat trick and the story has a very different tone from the comedic “F-Sensei’s Pocket.”

Never fear, though; not everything in volume two is based upon material from the previous volume. NISIOISIN’s “Magical Girl Risuka” is a completely new work, introducing readers to a world where magic exists and witches live within a walled city in Japan, rarely venturing outside of it. One of the exceptions to this is Risuka, who’s attempting to track down her father with the aid of a non-magical human by the name of Kizutaka. Kizutaka has plans of his own for Risuka and comes across as incredibly snotty and unlikable. Unfortunately, this really hurts the story’s enjoyability as Kizutaka is our POV character. His running commentary is full of such bitterness and hatred towards everyone that it taints the story and most of the time I found myself wishing he’d just shut up. On top of that, the story fizzles out and ends in a very unsatisfying and confusing manner. I’ve heard that this is merely the first part in a longer saga, so hopefully more of the series will turn up future volumes of Faust and give the ending a bit more context.

The manga included continue the trend of being more lyrical and emotional mood pieces rather than anything with a solid plot, though we get some of that in Ueda Hajime’s contribution. The piece that really jumped out at me was Katsuhiro Otomo and Katsuya Terada’s “Old Dudes.” It’s simply the two artists drawing old dudes they saw while in Italy, with the odd text bit accompanying the drawings and explaining why the old guy stood out to them. It’s so simple and straightforward it can’t help but be fun.

There are several other short stories and essays tossed in as well. This includes two “Advice” columns which don’t really offer much in the way of advice, but are entertaining in their own way; a short piece about otaku and their influence in the marketing of anime-related merchandise; and, my personal favorite, a roundtable with various writers from Faust and editor Katsushi Ota regarding the launch of the series in the US. All in all, I feel the second volume of Faust does a good a job at living up to the expectations of the first volume, despite lacking the colored manga of its predecessor.

Volume two of Faust is available now.