The council of officials wearing animal masks discusses the betrayal of Kokusho and his Hasshoujin. They decide to call Daving.

Daving and Minami are also discussing Kokusho’s betrayal, and Daving says that even though he’s a military officer only three ranks from the top, he doesn’t wish to attend strategy meetings and wants to lead the fight from the front lines. He then realizes with Rui gone off to South America with Aoba, he doesn’t have anything to keep Minami in check, but she says his determination to fight Kokusho has convinced her to help him. Daving wonders if it’s his young-looking face that makes Minami not take him seriously, and Minami asks him how old he is. Daving answers that he’ll soon be 33.

Ryohei arrives in South America and is shocked to see that the Ancient Jinki have advanced all the way to the airport he just landed at. He is greeted by Shousei and Kousei, and Shousei explains to Ryohei that their forces are severely worn out due to the constant and fierce attacks by the Ancient Jinkis. Shousei tells Ryohei that Genta was with them until recently when he obtained some military information and rushed off, leaving them behind. Shousei gives Ryohei a damaged 72 to use to go after Genta, and Kousei asks Ryohei if Aoba is okay. Ryohei tells him to greet her with a smile when she arrives, and he heads off to find Genta.

In the jungle, Kawamoto and a mechanic carry a wounded Yamano as they run away from the Ancient Jinkis that destroyed their base. They run into more Ancient Jinkis, but are saved by Aoba and Rui in the Moribito Unit 2 and a 72.

At Tabledust, Kokusho waits with the Moribito Unit 1 and Akana’s clone. Genta arrives in Moribito Unit 0 and runs into Yao, and they reminisce about when they first met in World War II as they go down into Tabledust. Genta finds Akana’s clone, and Kokusho appears and asks him why he’s hiding his happiness at meeting Akana again. Genta says that Akana is dead. The two draw their swords and fight. Kokusho throws an energy wave at Genta with his Alpha, just barely missing him. Kokusho then strikes at Akana’s clone, but Genta protects her. Kokusho asks Genta why he’s protecting her if she’s not Akana, and Genta says it’s because her being a clone doesn’t change the fact that she’s a living being. Kokusho says that all Genta spouts is romanticism, and he hits Genta with an energy blast at point-blank range. Genta falls to his knees, and Kokusho gloats that Genta can’t stop him now. Kyomu is advancing towards Kalakasa that day, and the Hasshoujin will follow soon after. As Kokusho is about to deliver the final blow and says that Jinkis will free humanity and lead them to a world without deceit, Akana’s clone gets up and stands between Genta and Kokusho. Genta pulls Akana’s clone away from Kokusho, and Kokusho grins and lowers his sword to give a deep slash across Genta’s back. Genta and Akana’s clone make their escape, and Kokusho tells his soldiers to wait 10 minutes before going after them. He then tosses away his sword, which he no longer needs.

Genta and Akana’s clone make it to the Moribito Unit 0, and Genta tells Akana’s clone to run. She doesn’t want to leave him, but he tells her that she’s not Akana, and she must live a life of her own. Kokusho’s soldiers catch up to them, and Genta again tells Akana’s clone to run away. As he faces off against the soldiers, Genta wonders why he’s so happy to see Akana’s clone, even though he knows she’s not Akana.

Back at the base camp, Aoba and Rui arrive with Kawamoto and the mechanics. Everyone is overjoyed to see Aoba back, and Kousei makes his way through the crowd to see Aoba. Shousei pushes Kousei into Aoba, and Kousei blushes and backs off. Rui calls him pathetic as she watches from the 72’s cockpit. Elnie finds a Touja, and Kawamoto says that its design is incredible and wonders who designed it. Elnie tells him her grandfather did.

Shousei reports to Tomotsugu that Aoba just arrived and Tomotsugu tells him not to tell Aoba about Ryohei. Tomotsugu explains that there will probably be an order to retreat to Kalakas soon, where the military is gathering its forces to fight off Kyomu. Tomotsugu continues that if Aoba found out that Ryohei headed off to look for Genta already, she’d go off to find him.

Ryohei is forced to abandon his 72, but he is saved by Genta in the Moribito Unit 0. Genta gets out of the cockpit and finds Ryohei, and he collapses. Ryohei sees Genta’s wound and sees it’s from a sword. Genta says he’s happy to have seen his wife and son again before the end, and he tells Ryohei to take care of everything as he dies in Ryohei’s arms. Ryohei breaks through his grief and climbs into Unit 1’s cockpit, and he wipes out the next wave of Ancient Jinkis. Back at Tabledust, Shiba, Balkus, Karis, Hamad, Julie, and another member of the Hasshoujin meet with Kokusho before they head out.

Back at the base camp, Kousei brings Aoba a drink, and Aoba says she’s glad that everyone is okay and that they’re back on good terms with the soldiers. Kousei says that’s expected given the situation, and he’s also been piloting the Touja. Aoba says she’s glad, that way she can head off to Tabledust to find Ryohei without having to worry about everyone. Kousei is bothered by Aoba’s going off to Tabledust, but she says she has to go there, because that’s where Ryohei is.

The soldiers tell the mechanics about the order to fall back, and a military squad, lead by Arceid in a modified Touja, arrives to take everyone to Kalakas. The mechanics and soldiers tell Aoba what’s going on and that they have Moribito Unit 2 already prepared for her to go to Tabledust, but Kousei stops her. He tells her not to go, but Rui punches him and calls him an idiot. Rui tells him that he’s just jealous of Ryohei, but Aoba isn’t going just for Ryohei’s sake, but because she’d go to Tabledust for anyone, including Kousei. Kousei hugs Aoba before letting her take off, and Rui mumbles that Kousei would be a great guy if he were a bit stronger-willed.

Aoba is stopped by Arceid, but Aoba just turns and walks away. Arceid shoots at Aoba, but she just reflects the bullets into the ground with the Rebound Foll. Arceid attacks Aoba with the Touja’s knife, but Aoba just dodges the attack. Aoba tells Arceid that the piloting by the top and bottom pilots isn’t matched at all. Arceid tries to attack Aoba again, but Phillips refuses to operate the bottom controls. The other soldiers stop Arceid with their 72s and Arceid threatens to shoot them. Rui holds Arceid’s Touja down with her own 72 and Arceid tells Phillips to kick Rui off, but he instead deactivates the cockpit controls. Phillips says he’s a soldier and will shoot the enemy if ordered, but he won’t shoot allies. He tells Arceid that what she’s doing is merely murder. Arceid points her gun at Phillips and says the penalty for disobeying orders and insulting a superior officer is death. Elnie opens the Touja’s cockpit and Jirou knocks the gun out of Arceid’s hand. Phillips points his gun at Arceid and tells her to surrender, but she tries to elbow him, and so he knocks her out with a pistol whip to the gut. Rui tells Aoba that if she dawdles around, she’ll head off to find Ryohei first. Aoba then flies off to Tabledust in the fuly loaded Moribito Unit 2 as everyone watches her head off.

In Kalakas, Daving commands the dispersement of the new-model Assault Hasher Jinkis. He finds Minami reading the report on the Hasher, and sees the Hasher runs on jet fuel and electricity, instead of kekkairo like the 72, Touja, and Moribito models. Daving says the combat efficiency of the Hashers is on the level of the 72 and Touja and that positioning them in Kalakas covers the Hasher’s weakness of needing to resupply. Minami pulls out another of Daving’s reports, and she says it’s full of falsifications. Minami tells Daving that she found out that he sold out the Jinkis’ technology to America. She asks him what he got in return, and Daving asks Minami if she wants to have sex. ( :dots: ) In response, Minami smashes Daving’s head in the truck’s windshield.

Ryohei heads off to Tabledust in Unit 0 after burying Genta’s body and is spotted by the Hasshoujin, but Kokusho tells them to let him pass. Later, Aoba also arrives at Tabledust and is confronted by Balkus, Julie, Karis, Hamad, and a fifth member of the Hasshoujin. Karis attacks Aoba with his scythes, and Aoba asks them if they’re the Hasshoujin Minami told her about. Karis realizes Unit 2 is being piloted by a girl and goes crazy on Aoba, and the other Hasshoujin are also surprised that Unit 2’s pilot is a girl. Balkus tells Karis not to let his guard down, and Julie attacks Aoba with her heat rod wires. Julie stirs up the dirt on the ground with her wires, making a smokescreen. She uses her wires to launch a 2-stage attack on Aoba through the screen from opposite directions, but Aoba dodges the attack. Aoba fires at Julie with her arm gattling, but Hamad reflects the attack back at her with his Rebound Foll. Aoba dodges the rebound and is attacked by Balkus’ turbine weapon from above. Aoba defends with her rebound and at the same time gains distance from Balkus with the Rebound Foll, and the fifth Hasshoujin attacks Aoba with his grappling arms. She knocks away the arms with a kick and her sword, and Balkus says this battle is turning out to be quite interesting.

Aoba sees that each of the Hasshoujin has their own attack style, created specifically to fight against other Jinkis rather than against the Ancient Jinkis. Balkus tries to taunt Aoba, but she doesn’t fall for it and remembers what Genta taught her about the need to memorize the area and its features. Aoba makes a smokescreen with her arm gattling and flies off, and Karis, Hamad, and the fifth Hasshoujin chase after her. Balkus predicts that Aoba is trying to lure them to an area where she can split them up and take them down one at a time. Julie and Balkus also chase after Aoba, and Karis, Hamad, and the fifth Hasshoujin chase Aoba through a canyon. Hamad attacks with missiles, and Aoba leads the missiles into the canyon walls. The fifth Hasshoujin also fires missiles at Aoba, but she uses Unit 2’s add-on ECM equipment to disable the missiles’ lock. Balkus sees that Aoba is receiving help and supplies from more than just Angel. Karis catches up to Aoba and is about to attack her with his beam rifle, but she uses her heavy cannon to create a smokescreen out of the canyon wall.

Aoba lands and hides in the fog, and Karis lands and chases after her. He can’t find her, and he ends up shooting at a falling rock. Karis’ beam rifle is destroyed by Unit 2’s heavy cannon, and Karis charges at the area where the shot came from and slashes with his scythes, but all he hits is the cannon, which was fired using Unit 2’s wire. Aoba attacks Karis from behind and slices off the Vargoyle’s scythe arms with her sword. Karis grapples onto Unit 2’s right arm with his normal arms and is about to rip it off, but Aoba destroys the Vargoyle’s kekkairo with her arm gattling. Hamad, Julie, and the fifth Hasshoujin attack Aoba, and Aoba tosses away the disabled Vargoyle and dodges the attack. Aoba disappears into the fog, but Julie and the fifth Hasshoujin fire their wire and grappling arm at her through the fog. Aoba kicks the grappling arm into the heat rod wire, causing the fifth Hasshoujin to get hit by the electric shock from the wire. Hamad tells them to gather together back-to-back so they can watch all directions and so he can use his shields to defend them against attacks, and Aoba attacks Julie with her sword. Hamad blocks the attack with his shield, but he sees that Aoba used Unit 2’s wire to throw the sword at Julie and to retrieve the sword. Balkus, watching the three from a ledge above the battlefield, sees that Aoba really does know the layout of the land, and he wonders who Unit 2’s pilot is.

From what I read for volume eight, then it amazes me that Genta was still alive for the Jinki:Extend manga.

I was pissed off and complained that he was killed earlier on in the anime during the Venezuela Jinki arc. He along with the Aoba were the powerhouses that gave strength to the anime.

Since, it looks to me that Genta and Kokushou's fight is depicted the same way as it happened in the anime, or at least it is reminiscent.
- In the manga, their showdown was sword dueling like in the anime?, or did they fight piloting Jinki?

- I must assume, that unlike the anime, Akao wasn't brainwashed when she witness the Kokushou-v.s-Genta fight.
- Then from what you understood in the current volume, Akao interfered in the middle of their fight like she did in the anime. Genta protected Akao, and Kokushou took advantage to slash him on the back.
- However, there's no such corny romanticism from Kokushou for Akao in memory of Wakana. In the anime, Genta returned to the base with Akao and explained everything only to Minami. The anime never mentioned at which exact point the old man died, but it can be assumed that he died on Minamis' arms.
- Most importantly, in the anime Genta dies in the Jinki 1988 A.D. arc, while in the manga does so at the Jinki:Extend 1991 A.D., am I right?

Normal swordfighting.

She wasn't brainwashed in the manga, she was just an empty shell at first until she saw Genta, then some of Akana's memories came to her. (I'm guessing about the memories part thoguh, it may have just been her own will alone to protect someone)

Unlike in the anime however, Kokusho was never in love with Akana. He only created Akao pretty much just to make fun of Genta and his ideals.

It's "Akana" not "Wakana," that was a mistranslation by the subbers.

No, this is still 1988.

The volume picks up where 8 left off, with Aoba in a stand-off with the 4 remaining Hachishoujin. Balks asks if Carris is dead, but Hamad says Aoba avoided the cockpit and only destroyed the Kekkairo. Aoba asks them why they’re getting in her way, and says she only wants to go to Tabledust. Julie and Hamad wonder if she actually doesn’t know about the Kyomu forces at Tabledust, and Blaks makes a realization. He says that Aoba is an excellent pilot, but doesn’t understand battle. He has realized that Aoba has never killed anyone, and says that her non-killing fighting won’t always work. Aoba tries to say that Jinkis aren’t tools for killing, but Balks says this is a deathmatch, and Jinkis are weapons and nothing more. Those who can’t understand that have no right to fight. Balks sends a shockwave through the ground that blows away the fog and reveals Aoba’s position, and he orders everyone to attack at full strength.

The Hachishoujin surround Aoba, and Aoba tries to ask them why they have to fight to the death. Hamad asks what about Jinkis is peaceful, and points out that that idea became a false reality when Jinkis first became designed for combat. Julie latches her heat rods onto Aoba’s ECM emitter, but Aoba detaches the emitter before Julie can electrocute her. Aoba avoids Julie’s cockpit and slices off Julie’s Jinki’s arm, and Balks calls her a fool and slams his auto turbine hammer into Moribito Unit 02. Balks sees that Aoba is still lacking in determination to fight, and he tells her of Kyomu’s plan to attack Kalakas with a force of 500 Vargoyles in 30 minutes. He says that if she doesn’t get through them here and stop the Kyomu forces at Tabledust, many more people will die. Aoba is shocked and realizes this is the reason for the order to fall back, and Balks taunts her and says that everything depends on her will to fight. Aoba uses the Phantom, but is caught by the other Hachisoujin’s grappler arms. Julie and Hamad blast Unit 02 with missiles and destroy Aoba’s remaining weapons, then Hamad moves in to finish Aoba off. Balks tries to stop him, but Aoba hits Hamad with a Rebound pressure, electrocuting Hamad in the cockpit. Aoba thinks she killed him, and cries out.

Meanwhile, Ryouhei arrives at Tabledust and confronts Kokushou. Kokushou says he’s late, and Ryouhei asks him if he’s the swordsman. Kokushou only taunts him with “I wonder.” Ryouhei attacks him, but Kokushou merely avoids his attack and flies in the air. Ryouhei says he didn’t come to talk, and Kokushou sees that Genta died. He says he regrets not having shown Genta this sight, and Kyomu’s force of 500 Vargoyles launches from Tabledust. The Black Londo appears and lands near Ryouhei, and a familiar face grins inside the cockpit.

The Kyomu forces pass by Aoba and the Hachishoujin, and Balks declares that they won. He orders the rest of the Hachishoujin to fall back since they can’t fight as damaged as they are, As Aoba watches the Kyomu forces fly by, she says that as Balks says, Jinkis may have indeed become weapons. However, that is only for the moment. Someday, Jinkis will become useful to people like cars and planes., and she can fight for that cause. She declares that before her, the battle of Jinkis will not continue, that she will not allow it to continue. Balks sees that she has at least gained determination if not the will to kill, and the two get ready to fight. As the rest of the Hachishoujin leave, Julie thinks that Balks needs to stop giving his enemies motivation, but at the same time she likes that part of him.

At Tabledust, Shiva prepares to fight Ryouhei with her twin swords in the Black Londo. Kokushou points out that like Ryouhei’s Unit 0, the Black Londo has no extra weapons or equipment beyond its sword. He says victory is decided by the ability of the pilot, and if Ryouhei can beat the Black Londo, he’ll come down and fight him. Ryouhei tells Kokushou to stop messing with him, and he draws his sword. Then both Aoba and Ryouhei start off their fight with their respective opponents.

Aoba tries to attack with the Rebound Pressure, but Balks easily dodges her attacks. Balks attacks Aoba with throwing knives while she charges up a Rebound Pressure, and he points out that the Rebound Pressure is a powerful attack with a long charging time of 5.5 seconds. He warns Aoba that he won’t miss that hole in her defense.

Ryouhei is being suppressed by Shiva’s fast and powerful sword attacks and is pushed off the cliff. Ryouhei manages to grab onto the ravine ledge, and Shiva looms over him and says she’s disappointed, as she was expecting much more fight from him but he turned out to be weak.

Aoba tries to think of some way to get around the Rebound Pressure’s charge time, and she remembers the weaker but faster attack that Kokushou used in Unit 01 back in their first battle. Aoba continues to dodge Balks’ attack as she concludes that she’ll only have one chance to use the attack since Balks will adapt his attacks to be able to avoid the attack once he knows she can use it.

Shiva continues to play with Ryouhei and uses a midair Phantom to slam Ryouhei into the cliff wall. Shiva explains that any Jinki can use a midair Phantom, and taunts him that he doesn’t have the skills to use it. Ryouhei dodges her next Phantom, but she kicks off the cliff wall at Ryouhei, and impales Unit 0’s shoulder armor with her swords.

Aoba flies into the air to lure Balks in before she unleashes her attack, but he uses a midair Phantom to dodge it. He knocks her off-balance and prepares to deliver the final blow.

Shiva becomes bored and decides to end their fight, and she kicks the Unit 0 down the ravine. As Ryouhei falls down the ravine, he begins to see Unit 0 as an extension of himself. Aoba, not wanting to lose and in desperation, snaps and uses a midair Phantom to get behind Balks. Ryouhei uses a midair Phantom to close the distance between him and Shiva. Aoba slams Balks into the ground, and Ryouhei slices off the Black Londo’s arms. Ryouhei uses another midair Phantom from behind Shiva, and Aoba smashes Balks into the ground with Unit 01’s foot. Ryouhei hits Shiva with repeated midair Phantoms knocking her out of the ravine, and smashes her into the ground. Aoba uses Balks’ auto turbine hammer to smash his Jinki repeatedly, and Ryouhei hacks into the Black Londo repeatedly with his sword. Both Aoba and Ryouhei both prepare to deliver the final blow to their respective opponents, but Aoba regains her senses and stops herself just short. Ryouhei, however, grins as he stabs his sword into the Black Londo’s cockpit, while Aoba stands in shock. In the Black Londo’s cockpit, Shiva lies in pain, pinned down by the tip of Unit 0’s sword sticking into her uterus.

Ryouhei pushes his sword further into the Black Londo’s cockpit, and Shiva screams out in pain. Kokushou floats above watching from Unit 1, and Shiva begs him to help her. Yao, in his Jinki, blinds Ryouhei with a flare and saves Shiva. As he flies away, Yao thinks that it’s dangerous to let Kokushou have Ryouhei now, but he had to save Shiva. As Shiva cries in pain in the Black Londo’s cockpit, Yao hopes that Kokushou hasn’t forgotten why he created Shiva as a female. As Ryouhei lies on the ground completely phased out, Kokushou looms over him and says he is a Jinki pilot fitting for this world.

Aoba gets out of Unit 2’s cockpit to check on Balks, but he tells her not to come. He says he lost and he won’t think about why he lost, and that all living things live like that, including humans. Balks tells her to go and that the victor has the obligation to prove their will is right. They exchange names before Aoba leaves, and Balks looks at a picture of what seems to be his family hanging in his cockpit. He thinks that even though he has seen countless corrupt people, humans can still cling to a small hope because people like Aoba exist. Balks calls himself weak, and Aoba trudges towards Tabledust and Ryouhei in the damaged unit 2.

At Kalakas, the military’s Assault Hasher Jinki forces have completed their placement. A soldier catches sight of the incoming Kyomu Vargoyle forces and informs Daving. Daving is impressed that Kyomu was able to gather such a force in such a short time. He orders all units to prepare for combat, and on-site command shall be left to the decisions of the respective team commanders. Daving’s White Londo is prepared for combat, but he finds Minami at the lower pilot controls. Minami says he needs a lower pilot, and Daving asks what happened to his assigned pilot. Minami tells him that his lower pilot was “sleeping” down below. Daving tells Minami he doesn’t want to put her in danger, but Minami says that she’s a pilot, and he should have told her not to be a pilot 10 years earlier. She says that as a parent she can’t watch her daughter and friends go into battle and tells Daving to wait before worrying about her. Minami adds that she also hates the orders the top brass are giving and that she’ll give each of them a good punch when she gets back. Daving says he has one condition, and Minami asks what it is. Daving asks her to marry him, catching Minami completely off guard. Minami blushes, and Daving waits a few seconds before asking what her answer is. Minami looks away, then moves the White Londo so that Daving falls on her, and she kisses him. The White Londo launches, and Minami tells Daving she’ll marry him and do whatever else he wants when they get back, and Daving thinks of how strong a person Minami is.

The Vargoyle forces enter the city and take fire from Assault Hashers on the building rooftops. The Vargoyles return fire and take more fire from Hashers rappelling down the sides of the buildings. As the Vargoyles continue to advance, the Hashers and Vargoyles begin to exchange in melee combat.

Minami says that it only looks like the battle is going in their favor, and Daving adds that the battle is going against them as it drags out. While the Hashers are performing well against the Vargoyles, the Hashers’ extremely limited activation time is clearly causing them to lose the fight. As the Hashers continue to displace to refuel at the various refueling points throughout the city, the constant activity draws the attention of the Vargoyles, and the refueling stations are attacked by the Vargoyles. A Hasher shoots down a Vargoyle and is about to finish it off when it runs out of fuel and shuts down. The Vargoyle then destroys it with its beam rifle. Minami tells a team of Hashers to fall back and kicks one when the pilot refuses. The White Londo takes a hit, and Minami tells the Vargoyle to come on down. Daving sees that Minami’s tension is high since it’s her first time piloting in a while. The White Londo and the Hashers are surrounded by Vargoyles, but the Vargoyles are destroyed by Nana-Twos from Angel arriving by carrier chopper. Rui’s Nana-Two flight unit plows through Vargoyles to the White Londo and Shouse makes a flashy appearance in the Touja CX. Shouse strikes a pose and makes a show-off speech while Kouse sits at the lower controls in silence. Shouse tells him to say a line, but Kouse refuses. Shouse says he’s ruining the mood and Kouse tells him not to mix him up in his showing-off, while a Hasher yells at them to help while it struggles against a Vargoyle in melee combat. Rui says she won’t lose to Aoba because she also has something to protect. Daving tells the Angel units to take down as many Vargoyles as possible, and declares that this is the final showdown for Angel and the military.

Aoba arrives at Tabledust and is confronted by Kokushou in Unit 1, who is impressed that she managed to get through the Hachishoujin. Kokushou sees that this is because Aoba has had a high-potential unit from the beginning. He sees that Aoba’s skills have greatly improved, but despite that she still took heavy damage from the Hachishoujin. Aoba asks Kokushou where Ryouhei is, saying that he came here first in a Nana-Two. Kokushou is surprised that she came to Tabledust and even defeated the Hachishoujin for that reason. He says that Aoba is just like him, to Aoba’s shock. Just as Kokushou, she uses power for her own ambitions and goals, even to the point of abandoning Kalakas. Aoba denies it, but Kokushou tells her that she should be realizing that Jinkis are power that allows the fulfillment of peoples’ ambitions and dreams, a power that is neither good nor evil. Kokushou says that it is to be used as people wish, and Aoba says she won’t let him do that. Kokushou asks her why she denies that fact, claiming that Jinkis are the form of power obtained by humans through evolution. Kokushou says he’ll show her a person of this world he speaks of, and Moribito Unit 1 attacks Aoba from behind. She guards, and is shocked to see another Moribito.

From the carrier choppers, Elnie and the Angel technicians watch as several groups of military vehicles evacuate from Kalakas. Another technician wonders why the rear battles lines are so far back from the front lines, Elnie and Kawamoto, listening to a radio receiver, both notice a strange electric signal. It sounds like average noise in the signal, but Elnie realizes it’s a code made to sound like noise. In Kalakas, Minami and Daving continue to fight off Vargoyles, but then Daving gives an order to move to Mission S-3. He orders Angel to follow the military’s orders and evacuate the city. The Assault Hasher pilots abandon their Jinkis, and the Hashers are switched to automated control and march forward. Daving pulls a gun on Minami, to Minami’s shock. Elnie tells Minami that there is an American bomber on the way carrying a nuclear warhead. Minami realizes that what Daving sold the Jinki blueprints to America for was the nuke, and Daving says this is the only way to completely eliminate the flight-capable Vargoyles. The bomb will be dropped in 30 minutes, and the White Londo is the target for the targeting nuke’s beacon. He tells Minami to evacuate with everyone else, and Rui heads into the city to go after Minami. Daving says he wants her to understand that if this operation succeeds, it’ll delay Kyomu’s plans three years, but Minami tells him to shut up. Minami says she understands he’s a big-headed soldier, but there are words that can and words that can’t reach other people, and she thinks of Window Cole. If he dies, he won’t understand the feelings, words, or anything of the people who are left behind. She then tells him to stop acting cool. The council of animal heads contacts Daving over the radio, and they call him insane for planning to use a nuclear weapon in the country. Daving says they have no right to say anything about the situation since they were the ones who allowed the situation to escalate to this stage. Daving says that Tabledust is their Noah’s Ark, and that the council shouldn’t have messed with Jinkis if they weren’t prepared to restart the country over from scratch. He yells at them to learn the true meaning of responsibility. Daving then tells Minami that at some point, being with her and her friends became more important than worrying about the fate of his country. He says he doesn’t want to die, but says that more importantly, he loves her. Minami tries to stop Daving, but he shoots her with a tranquilizer dart. She tries to punch him, but is knocked out by the tranquilizer before her punch can land, and her fist falls softly against Daving’s cheek. Daving catches Minami as she falls and hugs her. The Hashers are quickly being destroyed as they slowly march towards the Vargoyles on autopilot, Shouse and Kouse evacuate from the city with the rest of the military personnel. Shouse says he swore when he died he’d die resting his head on a woman’s lap. He prays to god that either Rui or Aoba come to him, but Kouse says he can’t have Aoba. Back in the city, Daving hands an unconscious Minami to Rui in her Nana-Two, and she says she won’t forgive him even if he dies because he hurt Minami. Daving says he has plenty of regrets, so maybe he’ll become a ghost and visit them. He says if he does, he’ll have Minami hit him again. Rui flies off with Minami, leaving Daving and the White Londo. Daving then activates the homing beacon for nuclear warhead and charges at the enemy. He takes heavy damage to his unit and to his cockpit, and he recalls the time he spent with Minami. He takes out a Vargoyle before the others dogpile him and destroy the White Londo’s cockpit. The nuke hits the city and explodes. As Rui flies away from the city, Minami sits in the Nana-Two’s cockpit, crying.

Flashing back to the old Jinki testing, Daving, at the time a lowly military grunt, and Hakuya sit on a hillside and talk about how they’re both orphans. Haka asks him if he’s lonely, but Daving says he isn’t. Daving asks Hakuya the same question, and Hakuya says he isn’t either. He says that even though he doesn’t have any parents, there are plenty of people he likes. Genta and Shizuka come for him, and Hakuya tells Daving not to slack off his work too much. Daving watches Shizuka telling Hakuya not to talk with soldiers as they walk away, and Daving reflects that he doesn’t have parents nor people he likes. Several years later, Daving patrols the hallways of the testing facilities and spots the Moribito Unit 1. Daving runs into the colonel heading for Kalakas and tosses away his cigarette to salute. He goes back to his patrols when he finds several soldiers raping Shizuka. Daving tries to stop them, but another soldier knocks him out from behind. He is woken up by Hakuya bringing his sword down next to Daving’s face, slicing him on the cheek. With blank killer’s eyes, Hakuya asks him where the colonel went, and Daving tells him. Hakuya pulls back his sword and walks away. Daving realizes that this country is changing for the worse and decides to gain power to stop it.

After the incident, Daving used the data on the Jinkis to become “friendly” with America, while at the same time steadily rising through the ranks of the Venezuelan government. Several years later again, Daving is a colonel surrounded by rumors of doing under-the-table “business,” but at the same time volunteered to overlook the supervision of Angel. As he drives through the woods around Angel’s base, he drives by a Nan-Two geared for salvage operations. He sees teenage Minami and young Rui playing below it and asks the driver about them. The driver explains that the older girl is the commander of the Angel’s salvage squad, who is raising the daughter of the dead former commander. The driver adds that they probably won’t continue like that for long.

Again later, Daving meets an older Shizuka, now part of the military, accompanied by Kokushou. They met with Daving to acquire his assistance in the formation of Kyomu and the Hachishoujin. From then on, on one side he was a military commander, and on the other side he was a supporter of the Hachishoujin. However, Daving realized that Kokushou’s ultimate plans would most likely turn out to be the destruction of the world and reported such to his superiors, but his words fell on deaf ears.

Some time later after that, Brigadier General Daving id heading to Angel’s base again. His driver tells him he doesn’t need to head out to the base himself, and Daving tells him to be quiet and drive. Daving again drives by a Nana-Two equipped for salvage operations and is stunned to see an older Minami and Rui playing below the Nana-Two, and Daving grins and breaks out laughing.

Daving recalls that that moment may have been the one time he was relieved from his dirtied life, and watching them play so joyfully as he passed down that road made him want to protect them. Then he met Minami, a person he thought to be beautiful as a mother, and the woman he came to love. Daving’s final words are to tell Kokushou that he obtained both, and that the world is not such a bad place.

As Kalakas is destroyed in the nuclear blast, the light is viewable even from Tabledust, where Kokushou watches as Moribito Unit 1 and Unit 2 exchange blows.

Wow, where to begin. :eyespin: This was probably the best volume in Jinki and Jinki: Extend so far, all thanks to Daving. I guess I’ll start with one of the lesser points so I can build up this review to a great note:

Yes, I expected that Daving would die before the end of the Lost Years War arc once it was clear he was a good guy (clever name imo, thanks go to Wikipedia, where I found the name) because he doesn’t appear in 1991, and I definitely knew he was a goner when he proposed to Minami. But after all this, that doesn’t make his death any less moving, since from the very beginning his plan was to sacrifice himself to give the world a chance to prepare for the threat of Kyomu.

When Daving was first introduced, it was hard to tell whether he was friend or foe. It didn’t get too much clearer as we got to know him, as he showed traits of being both a good guy and bad guy, having obviously been involved with Kokushou, but at the same time doing things that seemed to be for Minami and Rui’s benefit. Then we find out her’s made under-the-table deals with the US government, selling them Jinki blueprints for what I assumed was money. Well, this volume makes it clear just which side he was on, even the dealings with the US government was expressly for the purpose of fighting off Kyomu. While Daving’s death wasn’t the most original death in anime/manga (but is their any really original kind of death anymore? :heh: ), I still don’t think it took away from the impact. His final charge into the heart of the enemy forces so that the nuke would cause as much damage as possible was classic, and he even manged to do some more damage on his own before being dogpiled by the large number of remaining Vargoyles.
We get some serious development on Daving and his past, moreso than many anime/manga characters I have seen. Daving got more development than many nain role characters I know, which makes him all the more likeable. He wasn’t a jackass or hardass military commander that people love to hate, but occupied a space in the middle, between a softie commander and a hardass commander.
I think it was extremely fitting how he was pretty much fated to have a relationship with Minami. Seeing him catch glimpses of her as he rose through the ranks helped him stay in touch with his human side, which allowed him to remain a good guy as well. This also shows why he had such an interest in Minami when he first met her in volume 6. I must say, it’s really nice to get such development in a character. If only this would happen more often in anime/manga.
Daving’s proposal to Minami before they sortied was just as good as Daving’s development. It was one of the few times I’ve seen an actual proposal in the anime and manga I watch, and seeing Minami’s reaction to it was fulfilling, including the way she answered.

The battle in this volume is also well done and well drawn in full artistic glory by Shirou Tsunashima. Even though Jinkis are technically super robots in the way they are powered by advanced super-technology, it doesn’t mean human technology can’t compete. The Assault Hashers easily stood on par with the Vargoyles, even overpowering them at times, and if it weren’t for the Hasher’s weakness of constantly needing to refuel the military would have had an excellent chance of fighting off Kyomu without having to resort to a nuclear strike.

Minami gets plenty of screen time here and plenty of focus, with the acceptance of Daving’s proposal and the heartbreak of losing him such a short time afterwards. I can’t even imagine what she’ll go through when she learns Genta is dead as well, although it’s obvious that she’ll eventually recover since she’s perfectly fine in 1991. And as Daving said, she’s a strong person. As many would expect, Rui, Shouse, and Kouse also arrive to chip in for the fight and show their skills, although they arrived a bit late to make a difference. I expected Elnie to show up in a Jinki as well though, but I guess I shouldn’t have since it doesn’t look like anybody has figured out that she’s a Kindred/Cognate yet.

On Ryohei’s front, he has arrived at Tabledust, but it doesn’t look like things are looking too good here. First he was getting his butt kicked against Shiva, and when he started beating her he basically snapped and went evil. He’s beginning to see his Jinki as an extension of himself, which is a very bad thing. It’s what staarted happening to Hakuya back in the original tests before he became Kokushou, and is a sign that Ryouhei is being possessed and corrupted by the power of Jinkis. In fact, it’s pretty safe to say that he’s already been possessed and corrupted by Moribito Unit 0’s power. He’s so far gone that he even attacked Aoba for no apparent reason, and there’s no way that he couldn’t know Aoba is in Moribito Unit 2. Although I suspect that Kokushou’s hypnosis may have something to do with Ryouhei turning evil, but we’ll have to wait for volume 10 to know for sure.

As for Shiva: wow, she sure got the short end of the stick here. She gets utterly wasted by someone who’s not even a Kindred/Cognate, and then gets stabbed by a giant robot sword in the stomach, or the uterus to be precise. Then her own “father” abandoned her to the wrath of a crazed psycho guy in a giant robot impaling her with a giant sword. What Yao said got my attention though. It seems to hint that Shiva is a female for reasons other than being a clone of Shizuka. Although to be honest, we don’t know for sure that she’s a clone of Shizuka. While it’s the most logical possibility, nobody has actually said she is. In the anime sure she was, but the anime was different from the manga in many respects bigger than this. Anyway, we’ll have to wait for future volumes to find out what exactly Yao meant about Shiva. If it had anything to do with Shiva giving birth to a child, then that plan is now officially scrapped unless they repair the damage to her body. Another thing of note, Shiva seemed quite different from her 1991 self. She was more like the Shiva from the anime, more playful and girlish. But this could be because she’s basically a newborn baby. She was only “born” recently, after all. That and maybe her loss and wounding to Ryouhei teaches her some humiliation, leading to the more serious Shiva in 1991. She also seemed a bit of a crybaby when she was being stabbed by Unit 0, although given the circumstances, I think calling her a crybaby in that situation is too harsh. :heh: I juts don't see the 1991 Shiva crying like that, even if she was stabbed by a giant robot sword. The "crybaby-ness" could also be explained by the fact that she was only "born" recently, though. This fight also might be why Shiva shows a bit of an interest in Ryouhei in volume 2. It could be some kind of sick love thing, or maybe she’s just teasing him in volume 2.

I must say though, this manga is also good because of its lack of reluctance to have moments of what some people might be inclined to call “disgusting.” Cases in point, we now know for a fact that Shizuka was raped by the soldiers that took her hostage in the flashback of volume 7, and Shiva being stabbed in the uterus by Unit 0’s sword. I honestly felt a bit awkward seeing that scene with Shiva, but not in a bad way.

Now Aoba has finally managed to defeat the Hachishoujin and arrive at Tabledust only to be attacked by the man she loves and came to save, although she doesn’t know it just yet. It’ll be very interesting to see her reaction to this new development. It’s looking pretty bleak for their relationship at the moment though. I can’t see how this will have anything other than a seriously bad effect on their relationship. But I can’t see Ryohei getting together with anybody else, even Akao. She’s a clone of his mother, for crying out loud, although neither of them know this yet. But what am I talking about, Tsunashima might not have Ryohei get together with anyone in the end. But for now anyway, I’m expecting an AobaxRyohei ending, despite how bleak things look for that right now.

I also expect something to happen to Kokushou by the end of the Lost Years War arc. He hasn’t appeared at all in 1991, which tells me that he’s unable to appear for some reason. It would make sense if Aoba or both Aoba and Ryouhei fight Kokushou and critically wound him, and he’s still recuperating in 1991.