Immortal Rain: Volume 7

Kaori Ozaki, Immortal Rain, vol. 7 (Tokyopop, 2005) Despite the fact that the rondezvous at the water park seemed to be a trap set up by Calvaria, Rain does actually appear, and starts a stampede of mercenaries and assassins. Machika can't catch up with him, but keeps being accosted by an odd character in a walrus costume who wants to give her balloons. Folk is trying to capture everyone, Machika and Kiki ride the rollercoaster, and Ys finds a weapons satellite to play with. What's not to love? The best thing about this volume: Kiki comes into her own as a fully fleshed-out character. Are aliens edible? Do you mind if I eat them? ****

I truly loved this volume. The character development, the sweet reunion scenes, the background story, the action... everything is nicely done, with a certain poetic undertone that very few mangas are able to achieve. This manga just keep getting better with each volume, I can't wait to see how this will end. Greatly reccommended for people tired of the stereotypical action/romance stories, you can't go wrong with this series!

Immortal Rain is one of the lesser known manga series I read. But, admittedly, one of the best. This volume is no exception, and I loved the sweet parts in it, as there are in every volume. The thing about this manga that sets it above the others is it's characters; they're so unbelievably real you can't help but loving them immediately! Especially the sweet Rain! But then, I'm a fangirl at heart, so maybe I'm overreacting. The plot can sometimes get a little slow, but read it! It's important to the over all story. Anyways, my point is that this series rocks, you need to read it. Seriously. But I don't know when the next volume is planned to come out... Aw.

Finally book seven, in a long overdue wait has arrived to bookstores worldwide. The story evolves into more of a romance but still has the same action packed escapes from the characters journey to put an end to Rain's immortality. A war that ended in the past is now revolving due to Rain's friend from the past by helping instigating the war with knowledge of location of hidden weapons. Secret space bases and ruins shipyards and being discovered and are unlocking weapons of the past. My favorite parts of the book are the third parties prospective, more like a voice that the author writes in as if you are reading the other people inner fears and hopes. Now I just cannot wait for the next installment.

Ah, Immortal Rain. I started reading the books based on the hook on cover. About volume 3 or so, it had gone off in a direction I wasn't expecting. Frankly, if I had known that it was going to be a story like that (space-age-ish, mafia-like, sci-fi war machine creation) I wouldn't have started the series. Every now and then, I ask myself why I'm still reading the series. Well, the answer, the reason I gave it 5 stars, and the reason why I waited so long for the 7th volume to finally come out: I love the characters. They've made the connection with me and I'm sympathetic towards them. It should be the goal of every storyteller to make the reader feel for the characters and Kaori Ozaki has done just that. The expressions in Rain's eyes show the emotions going on in his head and heart. Okay, plus there's the impossible romance storyline which I'm eager to see how it's handled. Now, my only hope is that I don't have to wait another year for volume 8!