Chances are if you’ve followed Takahiro’s other series, the cover tells you all you need to know about what happens here. Because happiness never lasts long in the Akame ga KILL! universe!
Hisame’s wedding to his beloved Princess Rinzu is to be held in a month, but the celebration is being overshadowed by Tenrou’s advances on Soukai. Locations fall one by one, including Shiranui Fortress, Soukai’s supposedly invincible citadel. To be fair, it may have been able to withstand any outside attack, but we’ll never know since it falls to an inside job. This allows Moegi, her unit, and various other members of Tenrou — including the king — to find ways to march to Soukai’s capital.
As for Hinowa and the rest, they do what they can, but their movements are often restricted by their superiors’ orders and the large number of Tenrou forces closing in. Even Akame has to back off an assassination attempt because she couldn’t find an opening. But the Village Elder swings by with a medicine to temporarily ward off her curse, and with the way things are going, she’s surely going to have to take one soon.
In case it wasn’t clear, this is a volume where things just get worse and worse and worse for Soukai. So much so that it feels like there’s not a whole lot that can be done to turn things around. Perhaps the key is the Elder, who is somehow connected to Tenrou. Still, he didn’t seem to bring any new weapons or anything, so I’m not sure how Hinowa (and perhaps some of her friends) are going to quash this invasion. Soukai is suffering from heavy casualties while Tenrou still has members of the Ten Stars and Zuou, the king.
Unfortunately, Hinowa ga CRUSH! continues to suffer from the same “too much narration” syndrome as its predecessors for both important things like what Hinowa’s team is up to and random factoids that are suddenly relevant like a Soukai commander having the same tastes as Shion.
But hey, good news for those like me who have been traumatized: no more sex with fishes! (Oh, excuse me, stingrays, octopuses, and squids.) However, Tenrou’s victories lead to a lot of bloodshed and rape, so the manga isn’t going to be stopped being shrinkwrapped anytime soon.
Anyway, I know the series is going to continue for a bit, but volume 6 feels like the “darkest before the dawn” lowpoint in preparation for the climactic battle. But knowing the author, he’s going to throw several more of those in before the ending. For now, this is a blood-filled volume that does show the heroes’ incredible talents, but it is moreso a reminder of the incredible odds they face — and not everyone is going to make it through. And you don’t get any points for guessing who doesn’t.