(spoiler alert for those of few who haven't finished it)
Alright, now that I've finished the volume, time to do something I haven't done in ages: a review.
My reaction?
I must say, this volume was a surprise hit for me, I really didn't expect much from it but I was pleasantly proven wrong. I should keep low expectations more often.
The best quality of this story is how it is a culmination of many previous events, which are the best arcs in ToAru. Finally the events of all volumes post NT10 (many of which were seen as pointless or boring
at best) and the stuff that was usually relegated to the epilogues (the best stuff IMO) rejoined in one narrative, linking what happened at the forefront and what happened behind the scenes together in an amazing climax.
Despite the presence of Kamisato, a character I have never really liked since day one, he didn't bring down the volume and, in fact, provided much tension before the true antagonist stepped up. Seeing how far Kamisato and his faction are willing to go in this volume made them more threatening than in NT14, where they were just annoying. You even get to feel sorry for Kamisato a bit before he betrays Touma. Reading the afterword also bring a better perspective of what Kamachi was trying to do, and why Kamisato looked so much of an haphazardly done antagonist and with uninteresting motivations.
The change in setting to a new school, while novel if a bit superfluous at first (really, would most of the novel be changed if Kamisato simply transferred to Touma's school?), is used really well in revealing the hidden villain all along among what seemed to be tertiary background character and as a good red herring at the same time. Seeing Touma's ennemies turning his class against him also brought that delicious despair I like to see Touma experience time to time.
As for the villains of this volume:
Salome was great for the time she was there, even if she ceased to be the main threat halfway through. I definitely liked her power, it was suitably creepy and an original magic that suitably showcased her as a powerful ennemy. More importantly, her appearance was a good way to bring back old characters we haven't seen in a while. Hamazura and Accelerator's scenes, while brief, were great, in how they re affirm their beliefs even when taunted by an unknown foe. Salome also served well as Touma's temporary ally against a greater threat, and I definitely appreciated her pointing out the flaws of Kamisato and his Faction. When a mass murderer watch you oddly, you know you went too far.
Yuiitsu is definitely the best thing of this volume, hands down. For once, behind-the-scenes plotting actually come to play in a novel chapter instead of the epilogues, and how good plotting that was. She is the one who brought back elements from previous volumes (Outsider Mental Out, St. Germain, Sample Shoggoth) and removed the seeming pointlessness of some of the previous events by using them instead of any made-up plot devices to bring down the persistent antagonist of the last 3 volumes. She was even more of a threat to Touma than Salome was (and the mental conflict Touma got facing her about whether or not to use teh gun was great too, definitely better used than in NT12 where it just sounded empty and obnoxiously preachy), and, without Mikoto's help, she could have won. I am definitely looking foward to more of her appearances.
Speaking of Mikoto, her "downfall"(?) is an interesting plot thread, if a bit tragic. I said I liked the character development she has been getting in NT (and really liked that she is getting involved in Touma's side of things), but that is quite the brutal outcome. In trying to catch up to Touma (this is a bit his fault too), she is taking a too extreme solution. I wanna see where this is going and if Kamachi can keep it for more than one volume.
Minor appreciation, but I liked the fact that the events this time were stretched over a few days (even if only 2), instead of always packed in a few hours like NT13/NT14 did, which always break my SOD in how everything happens in the same short period of time.
Unfortunately, despite having quite enjoyed the book, I still have some (admittedly minor) gripes:
- Salome, despite her moniker of mass murderer, didn't fully feel like one. Most of her acts of violence were done off screen (like Claire's slicing and the airport worker's death(?)) and we were just given hearsay, or we only saw the aftermath like with the sacrificed members of the K Faction, who didn't die anyway (though the image was deliciously unnerving). I have definitely seen better done unhinged and violent characters, so more of that wouldn't have hurt. Seeing her only fight Mikoto and Yuiitsu, but not her bank robbing or her fight with Accelerator, was a bit disappointing IMO, especially with such an interesting power. Basically, despite the hype, she was never really a threat to the Kamijou Faction, as she either didn't attack them or attacked the powerful "members" who could give her a run for her money instead of teh weak ones.
- Speaking of Accelerator, while I loved his glorious return, I feel he was a bit wasted after that. He is dropped off, and...we aren't shown the aftermath. A bit more could have been done on that front.
- The mentions of Tsuchimikado were either poor foreshadowing or annoying shout outs, but regardless they were uneeded. I hate the treatment Kamachi has given Motoharu ever since the end of NT7, and constantly reminding me is grating. He can give him a proper resolution, briefly explain his situation, keep him out of the picture permanently, anything, but he instead chooses to tease with this quantum Tsuchimikado who is alive but we are only told, and then is incapacitated, has escaped his problems but we don't know how, and is all around not even a character, but a name thrown around to remind us he exists. At least the other discarded of OT are simply not mentionned at all.
- Touma blurting out how the WR works was just...retarded. There is simply no other way to describe it. At first I thought it was a ruse of some sort, but no, Touma was that stupid. Wtf?
But overall, I quite liked this volume, as opposed to last volume, and I hope the plot continues to being relevant and unified like that from now on, no more distractions. My final verdict:
Solid
8.5/10, so a 8 in the poll. It was definitely an excellent volume in a long time after the strange succession of NT10/11/12/13/14 for me, which while were not
bad volumes (I definitely enjoyed 11 and 12), they were only
good enough for me, with always
someting stopping me from enjoying them completely, or, in the case of NT14, caused me to skip large parts of it completely.
) Gankutsuou; Railgun S; Little Witch Academia (one of the most philosophically interesting/deep shows that I've seen, while also being the single most feel good of feel good shows that I have ever seen; literally the weirdest combination ever); Kill la Kill (because it saved anime 
)
