“07-Ghost” is becoming more exciting and deeper as the story progresses. While we see Teito trying to become stronger and putting his trust into the church, can members of the church be trusted as well? It’ll be interesting to see how things progress and look forward to volume 3! “07-Ghost” is becoming a manga series worth recommending!
Image courtesy of © 07-Ghost. All Rights Reserved.
MANGA TITLE: 07-Ghost Vol. 2
STORY AND ART BY: Yuki Amemiya and Yukino Ichihara
FIRST PUBLISHED IN JAPAN: ICHIJINSHA, INC.
PUBLISHED IN USA BY: VIZ Media, LLC/Shonen Jump Manga
RATED: T for Teen
RELEASE DATE: January 8, 2013
One evil god, two rival empires, three unlikely bishops, and seven brave ghosts make for one fantastic adventure!
All Teito Klein wants is to forget his murky past as an orphan and slave and to graduate from Barsburg’s military academy with his best friend Mikage. But when an overheard state secret triggers treasonous memories, he’s forced to flee from the very empire he once sought to defend!
Teito has regained his memories of hosting the Eye of Mikhail, a powerful artifact that has helped the Seven Ghosts keep the evil god Verloren at bay for thousands of years. To claim that power for themselves, the Barsburg Empire sends Teito a gift with bloody strings attached: Mikage.
It was revealed tat Teito Klein is the host of the Eye of Mikhail and now the Barsburg Military Academy will do all they can to retrieve Teito. And to do that, they used his best friend Mikage to get to him.
In “07-Ghost” volume 2, Mikage sacrificed his life to save his good friend but it is also revealed that Barsburg will do what they can to infiltrate the Church to get Teito.
Meanwhile, Teito is introduced to his new roommate, Hakuren Oak and both must undergo training to protect themselves against the KOR’s.
Find out what happens in volume 2 of “07-Ghost”!
What is “07-Ghost”?
In 2005, Yuki Amemiya and Yukino Ichihara created a fantasy manga titled “07-Ghost”. Serialized in “Monthly Comic Zero” published by Ichijinsha, the manga is currently on it’s 14th volume and won a double-first prize in the third Zero-Sum Comics Grand-Prix which was chosen first place by readers and editors, a rare feat.
In 2009, the manga series received an anime and drama CD adaptation and while the manga was licensed by Go! Comi (an imprint of American manga publishing company, Go! Media Entertainment, LLC.) in 2009 but in 2010, the company’s website expired and the license to the series was picked up by Viz Media.
“07-Ghost” is set in the Barsburg Empire which is divided into seven districts. The series introduces us to the upcoming graduates of the Barsburg Empire Military Academy and the main protagonist Teito Klein.
Teito is a person that no one at the Academy talks to or appreciates. For one, they consider him sort of like a teacher’s pet, because he doesn’t have to do certain things that the other students must go through. Also, he is a former slave of the Raggs Kingdom. But he does have one friend and that’s Mikage.
Teito tends to have frightening dreams, about his father dying and trying to give him a message. Seeing a pool of blood.
One day, Teito was going to turn in his report to Mr. Shigure until he overhears the heads of the academy talking about him. How he has exceptional abilities and is a candidate for the Eye of Mikael. It is revealed that the Barsburg Military dissected the entire royal family of Raggs in order to find the stone which belonged to the King of Raggss.
Immediately, memories start to come back to Teito and memories of the military leader Ayanami killing his father. As Teito surges towards him, he is held back and imprisoned.
Mikage frees Teito and not wanting to get Mikage in trouble, Teito pretends that he had taken Mikage hostage. As Teito escapes, Ayanami tries to stop Teito but Teito barely escapes with a shield.
As Teito escapes from the Academy, he ends up landing on a perverted bishop named Frau who takes him into the church. Because he is in District 7, anyone who escapes to that area is protected by the church and the Barsburg Military are unable to interfere. So, for now, Teito is in good hands as he tries to recuperate from his injuries.
While at the church, he learns about the guardians of the church and is told about the legend about the God of Death, Verloren, committing a heinous crime in Heaven and fleeing to Earth. He invaded people’s hearts and terrorized them. So, the overseer of Heaven sent Seven Rays of Light to punish Verloren. They were known as the Seven Ghosts and have sealed the evil Verloren. And the church has seven statues that protect the land.
Meanwhile, the military of Barsburg are intent in capturing Teito from the church and General Wakaba wants his military to use anything necessary to bring Teito back. Even if it means blackmailing Mikage to get to Teito.
But other dark entities working for the evil Verloren, known as the KOR are interested in Teito as well.
In volume 2, after threatening to kill his family, Mikage is possessed and sent to retrieve Teito. But for his love for his Teito who he thinks of his family, Teito immediately sacrifices himself to save his dear friend. The tragedy makes Teito despite the Barsburg Academy even more, but Frau knowing the hurt in Teito, finds the reincarnation of Mikage in a small dragon, who instantly bonds with Teito.
Wanting revenge against Barsburg Academy, the Church realizes that Teito is the Mikael Stone that they are after, but also know that he is a target and tells him that he must be trained to protect himself or else the KOR’s will get him.
Also, Teito has a new roommate, a cocky individual from a royal family, Hakuren Oak who joins the church.
Will Teito accept the training that the church will have him endure? Meanwhile, the Barsburg Academy lays out plans to find a way to infiltrate the church and retrieve Teito.
The main characters of 07-Ghost are:
- Teito Klein – The main protagonist and a former slave of Raggs. He has been having nightmares of something terrible, but for Teito he is starting to realize that the nightmares are memories and that his father entrusted him with something special before he was killed by the Barsburg military. He is not friends with many people at the Barsburg Military Academy because he receives special treatment, but in truth, Teito has exceptional fighting/magic skills. His only good friend is Mikage. But when Teito finds out that members of the Barsburg Military were responsible for his father’s death, Teito escapes from the military and is a wanted individual.
- Frau – A perverted Bishop who saved Teito after his escape from the Barsburg Military Academy. He is a member of the 07-Ghosts (Zehel) and is often teasing Teito.
- Castor – A bishop who watches over Teito and a member of 07-Ghosts.
- Labrador – A bishop who loves to garden and brew herbs for medicine. He watches over Teito by giving him things to protect him.
- Mikage – Teito’s good friend and both have promised that they will die together as best of friends. Barsburg Military Academy tried to blackmail him by threatening to kill his family if he did not bring back Teito, but since he considers Teito as family, Mikage has sacrificed himself to save his dear friend. But to later be reincarnated into a small dragon.
- Ayanami – The antagonist and Teito remembers him as the person responsible for his father’s murder.
- Haruken Oak – New at the Church and becomes Teito’s roommate. Part of royalty but has his reasons of becoming part of the church.
Teito experiences a tragic death of his best friend, used by the Academy in order to retrieve him.
With the stakes high in acquiring Teito, being revealed as the host body for the Mikael Stone, it’s no surprise that the Barsburg Military Academy want that power, but for the church,  And now the Academy is more intent of trying to infiltrate the church to retrieve Teito.
Meanwhile, there are new revelations in regards to Frau and his powers but for now, the main goal for the bishops is for Teito to be trained as a Bishop and participate in a Bishop Examination. One reason is to protect him from seeking revenge for Mikage’s death, but also, to protect him as darkness of the KOR are after him.
As Teito prepares for his examinations, he meets a new roommate named Hakuren Oak, who bares the similar look as Shuri Oak (a person that teased and bullied Teito at the Academy).
New developments are in store in “07-Ghost” vol. 2. While not as complex or confusing as what was introduced in volume 1, there is still quite a bit for readers to take in at first. But the storyline is a bit more accessible this time around.
The character designs features quite a bit of closeups and some of the artwork for the action sequences do get a bit confusing at times and at times, I felt as I was lost and had to go back and read a certain area and find out who is who as the artwork tends to use a lot of line, less shading on characters (some designs are just all white and gray while blacks are utilized primarily for clothes, hair and line art). But it’s a style of the series that got used to.
Overall, “07-Ghost” is becoming more exciting and deeper as the story progresses. While we see Teito trying to become stronger and putting his trust into the church, can members of the church be trusted as well? It’ll be interesting to see how things progress and look forward to volume 3!
“07-Ghost” is becoming a manga series worth recommending!