Volume 13: Welcome to India
At the end of Volume 12, Kyouma, Mira and Ela swap sterile steel and glass Japan for India. On the spot, they are noticed by a policeman named Hans Cawell, who suspects them of involvement in the murder of the collector. The victim was his colleague, and the last person to see him alive is Hans’s sister, now reported missing. So the matter is personal to him. We learn that the woman was conducting research on a crop failure in the fields surrounding a certain mountain. Nearby is the seat of the sect, which does not recognize the use of cells and does not allow any strangers. Worried because of lack of time, Hans sends the aforementioned collector’s friend to his sister, and soon loses contact with them. Time, then, to take on the members of the sect and its leader.
As we can guess, the sect leader is a very bad man, using his followers for his own benefit, which Mira is extremely displeasing. We are also moving to the seat of the Syndicate – Drake’s organization presenting its version of the Games for Collectors. Things are going badly, and the unaware heroes get into new troubles far from home. The chances of winning against the Syndicate seem slower, but Mabuchi is one of the types of people who don’t give up so easily. Kyouma, Mira and Ela seem to form a really well-knit team in which everyone trusts each other and cares about the fate of others. The thirteenth volume is full of twists and sometimes even hard to keep up with what is happening.
Volume 14: Time is running out
In the fourteenth volume, we move to the laboratory where, among others, Albert, Prince Salva and his brother try to solve the mysteries of other androids built on the model of Mira. Unfortunately, Drake and his organization are also looking for robots. The lab is attacked by the Syndicate. Despite the prince’s preparation for a possible attack, it becomes clear that not everyone will get away from him. Kyouma’s team, with the exception of imprisoned Mira, ends up in a labyrinth where they are forced to fight for survival with other collectors. A glimmer of hope appears because Ela knows exactly where the heroes have ended up. Will her knowledge allow them to survive and find Mira? These questions are likely to be answered in the next volume.
The story is moving forward and it seems that the heroes have less and less time to deal with the crisis. Getting into more and more trouble, unfortunately, does not help them at all. We are watching the deaths of some of the heroes, which I hope will not transfer to our main three. Yuji Iwahara seems to suggest the reader even more in the next installments, and at this point in the story, I don’t see any reason not to trust him.
Volume 15: It’s not good
Ela tells about her life in the training center and her escape. Continuing their journey through the labyrinth, the heroes encounter Ela’s former companions – Nova and Venta. A difficult duel awaits them, as Nova feels betrayed by her old acquaintance, and Mabuchi’s victory against Vdi seems to be the only hope of finding Mira. On the surface, things don’t look good either. The world is plagued by numerous disasters, and New Tesla Energy has been silent in the air. Earth is on the brink of another ice age and it may turn out that the key to solving all mysteries lies in none other than Mira.
Oh, it doesn’t look good. I do not mean of course the quality of the fifteenth volume, it is about the situation that our heroes have to face. I also feel like someone important might be going to waste soon. Apart from our main three, I am also worried about supporting characters with Albert and Prince Salva, who are barely alive.
Volume 16: The Ark
The Syndicate Leader embarks on a plan called “The Ark.” After almost complete destruction of the planet, he takes, in his opinion, the worthy on a ship that is to leave Earth. It would be a new chapter in the history of the human species. The success of the project depends on Mira and her seven sisters. Combined together, they constitute an ideal link. As a result of the merger, Mira loses her people’s reflexes and becomes a puppet under the control of the head of a bad organization. Kyouma, still in the maze, meets a New Tesla Energy agent who urges him to go to the company’s president who has a plan to stop the Syndicate. There is one problem, however: Mabuchi would have to abandon his comrades. I think his answer seems obvious at this stage. Unfortunately, the situation is changing quite dynamically. Mira successfully teleports the ark with all passengers, which somehow forces Mabuchi to cooperate with an NTE agent. The final battle with the head of the Syndicate takes place, and the fate of the planet and all its inhabitants depends on its outcome.
In the last volume, we learn about the entire plan that the creator of the project, i.e. Dr. Yurizaki, had for humanity. Despite the drastic methods, we can see that he did everything for the good of the public. The Syndicate leader who is portrayed as “the main bad guy” in the end turns out to be only a pawn in the hands of the more important ones, and he is not fully aware of it. Much of the content of this much thicker volume than the previous volume is to penetrate the mind of Mira, who is obviously not just a mindless robot, and to watch Mabuchi in battle. The finale of the story turned out to be very satisfying, and I was relieved to know that the main characters had survived the final clash. I am also glad that the author did not reach for the already worn-out theme of a lady in trouble, in which Kyouma would save Mira. Both heroes had their share of the final victory. During the finale, there were no supporting characters, but it does not significantly affect my assessment of the ending.
The same tune and the same old story
The very high level of both the Polish edition and the author’s drawings is maintained until the very end. Yuji Iwahara finally prepared an afterword in which he describes his idea of the principles governing the world of Dimension W and what inspired him to create it. I did not notice any errors in the translation.
Summary
Dimension W turned out to be a gripping manga from start to finish with full-blooded characters and a very interesting world. Events are able to keep the reader’s attention all the time, a lot is happening (sometimes it’s hard to keep up), but everything is explained not only meaningfully, but most importantly – in a satisfying way. I recommend it with a clear conscience.
