Book Reviews: Destroy All Humans Vols. 3 and 4 by K. Ise et al.

Destroy All Humans: They Can't Be Regenerated Volume 3 story by Katsura Ise and art by Takuma Yokota

Hajime continues his obsession with Magic: The Gathering which includes sneaking out of town to a shop where they have tournaments on the weekend. He's been going with Emi, a girl from school who is keeping her Magic playing on the down low. They slowly begin to realize they have feelings for each other, especially when they go on a school field trip and wind up going around the park with other people, still keeping an eye on each other (the green eye of jealousy, perhaps?). A new set of cards is released, called Urza's Saga, which provides more card-play excitement.

The series turning into a soap opera but is still charming enough to keep me going. High school romances are a dime a dozen but the addition of the collectible card game and a background worry about the world ending gives this something extra.

Mildly recommended.

Destroy All Humans: They Can't Be Regenerated Volume 4 story by Katsura Ise and art by Takuma Yokota

Hajime picks a bunch of Magic fights and has an argument with Emi. They stop talking for a while, making the romantic drama all the more awkward as they both consider apologizing but don't know how to pull it off. They can't avoid each other since they are in the same school and share the game hobby. The book ends with the end of 1998, so winter break oddly enough enables a thaw in the relationship just as they prepare for a big national competition in Tokyo. The Nostradamus-predicted end of the world looms for Hajime and Emi as well.

This book keeps up a lot of Magic playing while advancing the interpersonal plots, so it is a pretty satisfying read if you are into one or both.

Mildly recommended.