Shadow Star Volume 2: Darkness Visible

by Mohiro Kitoh

Teenagers Shiina and Akira have become fast friends, due in no small part to their bonds with two shape-shifting alien star-creatures. But their small friends are not the only visitors from beyond, nor are Shiina and Akira the only kids connected to them. Roaming the skies are powerful and dangerous Shadow Dragons, and one is linked with a schoolmate of the girls, a malevolent boy with murder in his heart - and a deadly, flying dragon at his command...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1569717400
• ISBN13: 9781569717400
• Release Date: April 2002
• Publisher: Dark Horse Manga
• Length: 152 Pages
• Weight: 0.54 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.9" x 8.4"
• Age Range: 16 years and up

Customer Reviews

Further adventures of the distressed heroes and villains

Shadow Star's sophomore volume, which takes a much darker and more serious tone than the first book but still not nearly as alarming as those to come, once again captivates readers with its unique plot and characters. These kids are no likely protagonists or antagonists. They have family problems, self-esteem problems, school problems, emotional problems, and, in the case of self-cutter Akira Sakura, even physical problems. Yet here they are, controlling huge aliens known as shadow dragons, two groups of dragon bearers caught in a dangerous war--one group wanting to expand the world, and the other wanting to destroy it and start all over again. Here, young teen heroines and fast friends Shiina and Akira, who possess young dragons yet are blissfully unaware of the conflict brewing, encounter a member of that latter group for the first time. Shiina remembers his razor-sharp sword dragon from an airborne fight in volume 1, and leaps straight in to destroy it. "Just because you fight with all your heart doesn't mean you can always win," she tells herself after getting mercilessly thrashed by the boy Komori's creature. Once again author and artist Mohiro Kitoh takes us into the depths of the human mind, also touching on modern society's unrepairable damage and complexity. Komori hates brave and perceptive Shiina, but asks shy and insecure Akira to join him in building his new empire. His bloody death by the hands (or fins, if you prefer) of Shiina's dragon Hoshimaru, as well as his own proclamation about others like he, is enough to let readers know that this isn't the last we'll see of evil dragons. Cue a meeting of three slightly older bearers: wise and distant Sudo Naozumi, silly jester Kazuyuki Takano, and haughty private schooler Satomi Ozawa. Not much is revealed about them in this one chapter, but more light is shed on the motives and thoughts of those with such demented ideals. Mohiro Kitoh's art style and storytelling are both top-notch, with expert pacing and gangly characters who act much tougher than they look. While at this place in the series there are bound to be many questions, the subtle exposition is enough to keep the pages turning for quite a while. As a whole this one is darker than its predecessor, but no worse in its technique, and anyone who has been convinced otherwise would fare well to give it some extra thought.