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Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

October 7, 2009 by MJ 6 Comments

Nightschool, Volume 2

Nightschool, Vol. 2
By Svetlana Chmakova
Published by Yen Press

nightschool 2
Buy This Book

Determined to find out what happened to her sister Sarah, young weirn Alex enrolls in the nightschool, though just getting inside proves to be more of a challenge than she could have expected. Her first “night” gets off to a rocky start as well, when Alex’s unusually advanced magical skills win her an enemy on the teaching staff. Fortunately, her abilities get her transferred into a class that may very well be the key to her search for Sarah, though Alex is undoubtedly in great danger there herself. Meanwhile, the Hunters are on a search of their own, desperate to find the silver-haired girl who stole life away from a number of their crew, though evidence suggests it may be too late to save them.

After the first volume’s whirlwind pace, Svetlana relaxes a bit in the second to provide some very rewarding moments of drama and playful characterization. The story’s momentum hasn’t subsided in the least, but this volume has a bit more ebb and flow to it, pausing gravely over the fate of the fallen Hunters, accenting some bits of humor involving the supporting characters, and offering up Alex’s somewhat bratty yet immensely satisfying triumph in astral training class.

Sarah’s disappearance (even from people’s memories) continues to be a mystery, though there is an interesting exchange between Alex and the leader of the main nightschool student clique, suggesting that Alex may not be the only one who remembers her sister. Alex’s true identity remains a mystery as well, and although a few small clues have been laid out, I find I honestly don’t yet want to know. Like all well-told stories, the true pleasure is in the journey and Nightschool‘s journey is so well-paced and deftly plotted, I’m more than content to take it as it comes.

Yen Press’ production is lovely, with a small swath of color pages provided several chapters in. The larger trim size is a nice treat as well and I’m really glad this series has been given such deluxe treatment.

The more I read, the more I enjoy Nightschool. Its intriguing characters, snappy dialogue, easy-flowing artwork, tight pacing, and wonderfully suspenseful plot make it a true gem in Yen Press’ OEL catalogue.

Full Disclosure: Review copy provided by the publisher. Also, I once sat next to Dee DuPuy at dinner.

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Filed Under: MANGA REVIEWS Tagged With: manga, nightschool, oel manga

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jan klump says

    October 8, 2009 at 6:46 am

    I love your full disclosure. hee hee.

    Reply
    • Melinda Beasi says

      October 8, 2009 at 1:08 pm

      Thanks. :D I couldn’t resist with all the recent “disclosure” hubbub.

      Reply
  2. moritheil says

    October 8, 2009 at 11:10 am

    Those are the best kinds of full disclosure.

    I’ve actually only looked at Nightschool 1, but I didn’t see enough to tell if it was going to turn out as a well-done series of interconnected personal dramas, or if it merely appeared promising. Now that I know, I’ll have to get back to it sometime.

    Reply
    • Melinda Beasi says

      October 8, 2009 at 1:09 pm

      I couldn’t resist. :D

      I hope you’ll like it! I was really surprised just how much it solidified for me with this volume.

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Tweets that mention Nightschool, Volume 2 | Manga Bookshelf — Topsy.com says:
    October 8, 2009 at 3:17 am

    […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by yenpress. yenpress said: First review of Nightschool #2 is up! Check it: @mbeasi New Blog Post: Nightschool, Volume 2 http://bit.ly/2ZH6aF […]

    Reply
  2. The Manga Critic » Blog Archive » Friday Procrastination Aides, 10/9/09 says:
    October 9, 2009 at 9:11 am

    […] ill-fated attempts to crack the superhero market… Melinda Beasi takes a look at volume two of Nightschool at her new site, Manga Bookshelf… Ken Haley gives The Summer of the Ubume high marks at Manga […]

    Reply


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