Popular mangaka Aya Kanno made a welcome return to the Western market with the new seriesFruit of the Underworld. But does it continue to offer a compelling story? Let’s take a look at the second instalment!
When we left protagonist Seiji Minari, he had successfully infiltrated the underworld, where he’s hoping to save best friend Haru and the lives of his classmates who ended up here after a horrific accident on a school trip. And to make matters worse, he’s now found himself in the middle of a coup d’état with those who are trying to revive the King of the Underworld, Hades!
Having spotted Haru and desperate to reunite with him, Seiji faces off with the powerful Cerberus. But although Seiji has the power of the pomegranate he ingested and everyone wants, he hasn’t been able to figure out how to command it. And with the residents of the underworld desperate to get their hands on it, Seiji’s time is limited if he wants to succeed and not end up dead.
Unfortunately with his powers not listening to him, Cerberus lurking, and Hades partly revived, the odds are stacked against Seiji, and he ends up being dragged off by his companion Chief Justice Mogura, who has been trying to stop this revival. Along with D. Ash, a former idol who met an untimely end and has ended up here with the other newly departed souls, and also gets dragged along with Seiji.
A lot of this second volume is taken up by the fight with Cerberus and the chaos of Hades’ revival. Although the King of the Underworld is back in some form, he’s absolutely starving and refuses to do much of anything until someone brings him the pomegranate. That works out for Seiji and Mogura, who need time to come up with a new plan, but since Hades can still control souls of the dead even in his incomplete form, there are plenty of enemies lurking around every corner. Including all of Seiji’s former classmates (with the exception of Haru), who our protagonist is keen to avoid fighting if he can help it.
Generally I think this volume is less overwhelming than the first outing. It’s not slow, and there’s still a lot happening, but it feels easier for the reader to take in since we’re not both establishing Seiji as a character and also trying to explain all the workings of the underworld. It’s better balanced while still proving engaging. We even fit in some time to explore D. Ash’s story, which is welcome as his introduction makes him seem like a walking trope, but there’s more to his character than first meets the eye.
And of course, Kanno’s art continues to be a major selling point here. Especially for the tense action scenes that kickstart the book, and later when we get to meet Hades and explore a bit more of the underworld. Even if there have been times where the exposition feels like too much, the art has not faltered in really drawing us into the setting and making pages easy to follow.
Fruit of the Underworld Volume 2 comes to the West thanks to Kodansha under the Vertical imprint and continues to be translated by Kevin Steinbach with lettering by Carolina Hernández Mendoza. Sadly, nothing in the way of extras this time around as there are no colour pages and still no translation notes.
Volume 3 is currently the most recent volume available in Japan, having come out in July. Here in English, #3 is currently scheduled for release in May 2027, so it will be a bit under a year since the Japanese release, which is pretty good all things considered. I’ll certainly be looking forward to picking this back up then.
Overall, Fruit of the Underworld Volume 2 remains a compelling fantasy adventure while improving on elements that bogged down its first outing. While it’s a shame there’s such a long break between volumes now we’re only a volume behind Japan, I think this will be worth waiting for in the long run.
Our review copy from Kodansha (Vertical) was supplied by Turnaround Comics (Turnaround Publisher Services)
Demelza
When she’s not watching anime, reading manga or reviewing, Demelza can generally be found exploring some kind of fantasy world and chasing her dreams of being a hero.
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