Kiichi VS

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Kiichi VS continues the story of Kiichi, a once rowdy kid, who learned to live independently, has now become the leader of the "Kiichi Company" which is divided into its Kamakura and Roppongi offices, Kai, his lifelong friend and associate, at the helm of the latter. After help is requested for a case concerning the agro-food industry fraud, wherein disguised imported meat was bought by the government with public money under the guise of buying back stocks of local beef affected by BSE (Mad Cow Disease), Kiichi will shake up the world once again.

For me, Kiichi has always been about how a child, as spontaneous ... as he may be, can see past the conventions of the world and see its bare form for what it is, a society that's rotten to its very core when it doesn't have to be. It is here in VS where Kiichi is held back once more as an adult that all of the pent-up frustrations come to the surface and make Kiichi carry out his more daring scheme to date all the while Kiichi who never had that good of a childhood, and an adolescence that's skipped for this sequel, is experiencing more complicated emotions. He's a charismatic character to follow, especially if you've been there since the original series as you've watched a boy hit with tragedy after tragedy become a man able to put a stop to the flow of the world. The commentary is still as poignant as ever, even though by now after reading Kiichi!! and TWIM I've come to notice the frequent use of crowd reactions. I think the "speeches" are full of powerful messages that admittedly could feel like soapboxing on the author's behalf but still manage to make the reader reflect. In a sense, they cover sentiments that are timeless such as making the public responsible for the fulfillment of promises made by public officials and the feeling of thinking you are at the mercy of a higher power (with the U.S. being a major player in the story of VS). The sequel basks in the irony of statements made by its characters and creates an interesting narrative that has that raw feeling TWIM and the original Kiichi had where the story felt like it could go anywhere at any time (though it's less frenetic than the former), what feels like a small footnote/character/arc can make up for some of the most riveting parts of VS.

That isn't to say every component of the story is as enthralling. Maybe because I've read TWIM I came to expect more on the side of the opposing forces at play in Kiichi VS, such as a more fleshed-out backstory, and it could be a conscious decision by the author to gain more sympathy and goodwill for the main character who's definitely less villainous than the protagonists of TWIM but I couldn't help but feel like it was more forgiving and a bit indulgent, coupled by how the antagonists are portrayed which asks the reader to side with Kiichi and justify his actions. Yet at the same time, I think it's deserved for this kind of series since many of the conflicts hinge upon the fact bad people don't care who they step on to get their fill, as one of the quotes in VS says: "if you think life is a free-for-all you are the ugliest!".

It reaches very high highs but some of the things that connect certain story points can get a bit tedious especially because of the introduction of a group of characters who become highly relevant to the narrative. I care for a portion of the interactions they share with Kiichi but when you sideline characters as important as Kai in favor of the many introduced and ask me to feel for all of them it's going to be a bit jarring. The story has a few convenient and unrealistic things which in fairness the other Arai series I mentioned had, but they have different contexts and different levels of tradeoff for the exciting moments brought on.

In conclusion, if you've read the original series this is a must-read to see how Kiichi's journey full of spontaneity ends, it reaches many of the topmost peaks of the entire Kiichi franchise and its art never disappoints. It's not without its flaws and chooses to introduce some characters over some of the ones we came to know from Kiichi!!, who themselves at times feel written out of the story which felt amiss, especially with how well-constructed its previous entry managed to insert them into the story. It's a worthwhile read with a clear intent to speak to the masses in the context of VS instead of how TWIM goes out of its way to punish a lot of innocent and good people within the story, it certainly tries to be more inspiring than shocking without losing its provocative edge.