The war against the Hundred Stories Clan continues in Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan as Encho's insidious game of "tag" between humans and the Nura clan enters its final stage. Humans still believe that the only way for them to survive is to kill Rikuo, and as the clock ticks down to Sanmoto's revival, Fear and panic spread even further across the city. If the Nura Clan is going to survive the night and make sure that Tokyo doesn't get destroyed in the crossfire, they'll have to deal with the rest of the Hundred Stories... and fast!

Rikuo's victory over Kyosai marked a serious loss to the Hundred Stories Clan, but Encho's rumors still have the human populous brainwashed. This is in no way helped by the Mad Actor Tamasaburo, who uses his power (derived from Sanmoto's facial skin) to create perfect disguises. Now, having felled Kejoro in a previous fight, Tamasaburo has allowed some of his lesser underlings to impersonate her and infiltrate the Nura clan!

Meanwhile, Tamasaburo himself uses another Kejoro disguise to enter the Nura Clan's main house. His target for assassination is Wakana, as the loss of his mother would drive Rikuo to despair and make his clan's victory that much easier. Things don't exactly go according to plan, however, when Kubinashi catches him seconds before he can act. Ditching his voluptuous disguise, Tamasaburo undergoes another transformation, becoming a full-on Kabuki figure and creating a magical stage to serve as their arena.

Back in Tokyo, Kiyotsugu continues to post videos online so that humans might start realizing that that Rikuo is fighting for them, and that maybe trying to off him in self-defense would not be their best idea. Yet, even hard proof of Rikuo's innocence is no match for Encho's power. With his ability to infuse Fear into his words, Encho can enforce control over vast amounts of people, overriding their common sense even beyond the normal sense of panic. The newest word on the block is that a “savior” will come to save them from Rikuo before the dawn breaks. A ridiculous lie? You betcha. Yet with the Fear of an entire city empowering it, even a ridiculous lie might become something more…

The art of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan has always been one of its strongest points, and this volume has some of the best so far. There’s intense fight-scene after intense fight-scene, but don't think for a moment that it's just written sound effects and speed lines. After a lot of building and development, many overarching plot-threads come together at last, especially with regards to the Hundred Stories Clan, which has remained one of the series' most persistent foes. Not to mention the awesome climax! And talk about setting the stage for the final battle...

This is also a good volume for the supporting characters as well. Maybe it's because I'm a human myself (along with most of my best friends) but having non-supernatural people keep pace in a cast of supernatural characters is a big draw for me. Wakana might not be up to fighting Tamasaburo by herself, but she gets in a few good shots before the day is out. And maybe he can't reverse the mind-control that Encho uses, but Kiyotsugu still strikes a blow against Sanmoto and Encho with the power of the Internet. And that’s pretty awesome, I gotta say. So many things happen that it'll make your head spin. And if your name's Sanmoto, quite a few of your other bits will spin as well!

Definitely one of the more intense volumes of the series, Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan Vol. 21 is a must-buy for fans of the series, and it's available here!

by Chris Turner