EROMANGA
HALL OF FAME

A story that opens a wide door is finally judged by the way it lets its readers out. Shinkyoku no Grimoire: PANDRA saga 2nd story 3 (special edition with booklet) stands in the hall as the final volume that carried the second part to its close.

It gathers the last nine chapters of the second part, still set at the school of magic. Miya, the former knight commander, is swallowed by a grimoire and turns against the school; Unico, the horned girl, rescues her and is trapped in her place. In subject matter it is an adult school fantasy of corruption, the turn to evil that Japanese readers call aku-ochi, and of sexual violence that includes tentacles and gang assault, with gender transformation also in play.

Readers agree above all on the skill with which a sprawling plot is drawn together. Unico's true nature and the secret of the grimoires come to light, and the lead role returns to her. A review at the time of publication credited a world that refuses a simple division into good and evil with arriving at an ending that looks forward while leaving a bitter trace. If the first volume was the entrance, this one is the exit, meant for those who have read the whole way through.

In the afterword the artist writes of having tried to use the grimoires to show the inner conflicts of the characters. The special edition appeared in print in February 2016 as Erect Sawaru's ninth book, with a 64-page booklet of contributions from 25 fellow artists. The standard edition followed a year and eight months later, on the same day as the first volume of the third part.

In the half-year of its release it entered the rankings of two specialist shops in Akihabara. Among the hall's commercial works it stands 179th.