^ Tons. Here's the summary of vol. 12 and 13 from popsiclete's tumblr. You can find spoilers of all the rest of the LNs on his/her tumblr as well.
Spoiler for vol. 12 wall of text:
in volume twelve
tsukumoya shinichi comments that this entire conflict isn’t going to end particularly well, and that heiwajima shizuo is going to be the death of everyone and the plot (or something like that haha)
celty flips out completely at kujiragi and turns into a black mass/shroud with all the reason of a beast. kujiragi runs carrying shinra. chase scene ensues as shroud!celty chases shinra. shinra is chucked at vorona, who has been under kujiragi’s employ all this time. kujiragi eventually captures the black mass celty has become. shinra appears to have some consciousness despite saika’s control.
a ran vs masaomi fight occurs. masaomi is severely injured (broken bones), and angry. eventually chikage makes his way up and sets off the fire alarm, dispersing the entire crowd. he rescues masaomi and they stow away on a truck in a rather surreal turn of events. he brings masaomi to a doctor in saitama, who comments that masaomi resembles shizuo in some ways. later they go back to the car lot they were in at first, in ikebukuro. chikage has masaomi tell him everything and pretty much gives him a lecture. he points out some uncomfortable facts, such as the fact that it was masaomi’s fault for disappearing in the first place and it’s hypocritical of him to act so concerned now, the fact that both masaomi and mikado are the same in that they want power, and also the fact that masaomi is just doing this for redemption after the incident with saki. when masaomi says he wants to keep anri out of it chikage says that women aren’t so easily stopped if they’re really after something. chikage pushes masaomi into meeting mikado, and volunteers himself to deal with the blue square in the meantime.
saki meets anri, and makes a significant blow against anri’s character flaws in a somewhat uplifting conversation. she offers to inform her of masaomi’s past. anri shows potential of becoming an active character after 10 volumes of not-much-action; after much hesitation she agrees.
izaya is very excited to see what mikado becomes. dragon zombie has dwindled in number - mamiya manami and haruna are missing, while ran claims he’s injured.
ran meets mikado and hands him a gun in private, under aozaki’s instruction. (the gun is a form of ‘power’, comparable to ‘numbers’.) (note that each of the raira trio meet someone who inspires character development in different directions, this volume.)
namie appears in the chatroom under her full name and calls mikado out by name in the presence of the twins. she threatens to reveal the identities behind all of the handles. mikado tries to evade, and logs off unhappily. namie says she will wait. she sounds rather angry.
shooter finds shizuo. shizuo rides shooter in the form of a bike. they end up at a construction site. kujiragi is in the midst of a deal with seitaro; they have the dullahan’s body, and the head will be delivered soon by vorona. shizuo attempts to save celty and has a short talk with kujiragi; vorona turns up and says she cannot allow her employer to be injured. she has the head. izaya is watching all of this from above, with mikage (kine abstained from this meeting). he starts to drop heavy objects down to kill shizuo. vorona saves shizuo and gets hurt in the process. shizuo and izaya say their goodbyes over the phone, and shizuo begins to go up to the roof. izaya makes observations over his relationship with shizuo, and his own need to prove he’s human.
shingen and igor show up and join the celty parts. whole!celty awakens without memories, with her armour. she has lost her memories. she does not recognise izaya when they have a high-rise conversation (still on the roof).
akabayashi feels an ache in his eye, heavily implied to be from saika. according to the text, saika is spawning tons of children in the city.
kine is at russia sushi. tom is at russia sushi. suddenly tom realises everyone outside is red-eyed and approaching the restaurant. simon closes the store just in time. outside is shijima and mystery man - who turns out to be nasujima - and haruna, who is under nasujima’s saika control.
mikado looks at the gun and contemplates who to kill, possibly himself.
kadota shows up at shinra’s, where the former celty-group is hanging out, and is surprised to see them. he is still injured. he wants to talk to celty.
celty’s shadow covers the sky. the sun does not rise. ikebukuro is plunged into darkness.
Spoiler for vol. 13 wall of text:
I have calmed down enough to have the self-restraint to not paraphrase the entire book. May come back for future edits.
Narita’s current style involves jumping between scenes a lot, so I tried to merge the relevant ones, so it might not be very chronological. If you see anything wrong please correct me my Japanese isn’t the best
more on shizuo and izaya’s fight here
DRRR!!x13 Summary (non-exhaustive):
Armoured!Celty is looking down on the city. Her shadow covers the sky.
Shizuo and Izaya fight. Izaya sets traps for Shizuo, but these are just cover. By various means he had the oxygen from the building removed such that Shizuo now winds up suffering from oxygen deprivation and goes down on his knees. Izaya then very cautiously sets the roof on fire. Celty’s shadow comes down from the sky and douses the fire. Shizuo has punched a hole in the floor to escape. He bats Izaya away with a metal pole. Izaya crashes into the building beside. When he regains consciousness he runs for it; Shizuo jumps straight down the building to follow. Shizuo is rather calm throughout; he doesn’t raise his voice once in this volume.
Mikage is standing guard against both Vorona and Kujiragi - she is an incredibly strong opponent. Eventually Shingen spots them and tells them Shizuo and Izaya have left the building. It’s revealed that Sharaku Eijirou was one of the Shingen dopplegangers from Volume 11.
Mikado does not take the call from Chikage. Masaomi and Chikage see Namie revealing secrets in the chatroom. Chikage enters the chatroom and fakes a hostage situation with Masaomi to arrange a meetup with Mikado before the Tokyu Hands building (near Russia Sushi as well); the first meeting place of the Dollars. As they make their way there they realise it’s strangely crowded (with Nasujima’s Saika’s children), and they go up a building to observe the situation. Chikage then goes to meet the Blue Square alone, as all of the boys who look about Mikado’s size have their faces covered. Note that Masaomi is injured.
Nasujima has control of the area. It is revealed that he was cut by Kujiragi, who initially instructed him to take over the Dollars, though he has broken through the control with ‘self-love’. He appears to be planning to control Mikado as well, but cannot identify him either. The Blue Square don’t seem to be aware that Saika’s children are evil zombies other than the fact that the crowd is acting strangely.
Saki and Anri go to find Celty, but discover Seiji, Mika and Namie, and the Van Gang sans Karisawa at the apartment. They crowd in the van and head downtown to rescue Karisawa, who was trapped in a crowd of Saika’s children after leaving the hospital to find Kadota. (Karisawa camouflaged herself with cosplay contact lenses.) Anri reveals her secret. She calls Haruna to figure if she knows anything about all the children downtown. Nasujima takes the call and threatens Masaomi and Mikado. He knows that Anri would call Mikado to ensure his safety, and is waiting for Mikado’s phone to ring so he can be identified. Saki and Anri call the respective boys to make sure they’re okay. Meanwhile hundreds of bousouzoku (motorcycle gangsters) speed past the van downtown.
Masaomi’s phone rings. At the same time is Mikado’s ringtone. Mikado is on the roof as well. Masaomi is shocked, then happy. Mikado read Chikage’s plan. They hear the motorcycles. Mikado explains that by threatening families and friends of the leaders, they’ve forced the delinquent members of the Dollars to assemble. He plans to end the Dollars. He mentions what Izaya said at first, about evolving. Masaomi lunges towards him to beat some sense into him. Mikado takes the gun out and points it at him. He doesn’t know who to shoot from now on, he says. Masaomi tells him to get rid of it. Mikado says he’s shot it already. It is broadcasted on the news that discharge of firearms have occurred at the police station and the Awakusu-kai, with graffiti confessing the involvement of the Dollars. This makes the Dollars a dangerous place to be, and hopefully the members will abandon ship. Mikado asks Masaomi what he plans to do. Naturally Masaomi wants to beat him up. Mikado tells him that he’s always envied Masaomi for being strong, and even if it makes himself a coward, he’s going to use everything he has. He shoots.
Masaomi jumps with his good leg to grab Mikado’s hand, dropping his crutch. He gets the gun away from them with some rolling about on the ground.
Aozaki prepares to meet the boss. Akabayashi turns up at his office to confront him. It’s interrupted by news that the bullets were of a smaller model.
Remember Goose from Baccano? There is an awfully inappropriately timed reference here to the miniature gun he used. Mikado has it; Nasujima stole it from Kujiragi and had Shijima pass it to him. He shoots Masaomi in the leg. It hurts a lot. Masaomi’s pain is described rather vividly (for Narita’s style). Ouch, ouch, ouch…
Mikado puts the gun to his temple, now that it’s proven he’d even hurt his loved ones for his obsession. Masaomi is crippled on the ground, with a new gunshot wound, and yelling for him to stop. He shoots.
Back to all the other people. The Blue Square are not very effective against Chikage’s extraordinary strength. Aoba sends a message - “Rokujou Chikage is the enemy of the Dollars.” The gangsters around start glaring at Chikage.
The van gang finds Karisawa. They go down towards the Saika crowd so that Anri can solve the situation, and park somewhere while Yumasaki goes to scout. Izumii Ran appears with punks, smashes in the windscreen, and looks very prepared to set the van on fire, girls inside or no. Yumasaki appears with a fire extinguisher modified to be a flamethrower (!!). They get off of the van. Saki, Anri, Seiji, Mika, and Namie run away while the van gang runs interference. Anri hears Masaomi scream Mikado’s name, along with a third gunshot. They go up the building.
Izaya and Shizuo reach the area. Everyone steers clear. Shizuo’s show of strength overwhelms the Saika crowd. Izaya is fighting Shizuo head-on for the first time. ‘Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee’ - except he isn’t making much damage for the amount of energy he’s expending. He stabs Shizuo, except it doesn’t go in. By carelessness he doesn’t make it in time to dodge one of Shizuo’s punches, and blocks it with both arms - this is possibly the only reason he survives. Both arms are broken. Further internal injury occurs. Shizuo picks up a vending machine for the killing blow.
Aoba says that even if Izaya loses the fight and dies, he wins anyway, because he gets to prove Shizuo is a monster.
"Do it, monster," Izaya says, but he gets a knife shot at him from Vorona instead. Vorona is about to kill Izaya in Shizuo’s stead, because she’s already a killer, she’s already a beast, and Shizuo is not. She shoots Izaya. A flash grenade goes off - from the Russian chefs, who’ve escaped just in time to intervene.
Shadows everywhere, tangling the bousouzoku, blocking the bullet from Mikado’s brain and from Izaya. Chikage and the van gang are saved. Armoured!Celty goes down to Mikado’s roof on her headless horse, to bid farewell to the human whose destiny she affected the most - she’s been observing through her shadows. The guns are crushed. The bullet is removed from Masaomi’s leg. Celty speaks of the unnecessary trouble her ‘body’ has created that she has now resolved as much as possible, and rejects Seiji.
Rewind a little. Shinra awakes, still injured, in one of Kujiragi’s apartments. He has overcome Saika’s control relatively quickly. He is bloody, red-eyed, and in pajamas. Manami is here to deliver every scrap of information she can find on Izaya’s computers so she can ruin his life. They meet; Shinra gives some insight into Izaya’s mind as she helps him make his way to find Celty. Shinra meets Kujiragi, who confesses; he rejects her very gently - he likes her, but everything he is is built on Celty, and so Celty is the natural choice. Shinra later meets Shizuo; they go up to the roof where Mikado and Celty are.
Shinra sees through Celty’s lies of amnesia. She wants to leave Ikebukuro because she is now fully aware of how far from human she is and her true duty; and so she lies to everyone to minimise the hurt. In truth she has all of her memories, together. She denies Shinra’s accusations and goes away into the sky, having resolved all of the trouble she caused in Ikebukuro. Shinra has Shizuo fling him into the sky after her - it’s his punishment for as well as his means to do what it takes for his love. He cuts the link between Celty’s head and her body when she catches him - with Kujiragi’s Saika, rented. Celty saves both of them with her shadows.
Mikado and Saki are helping Masaomi along to the hospital; Anri is by the side. They are happy. Nasujima appears, and makes to stab Anri. Mikado pushes her aside and gets stabbed at least thrice. Anri draws Saika to stop Nasujima, but it is blocked by Haruna. Haruna has, all this time, either been acting, or letting Nasujima control her using Saika by choice. Nasujima runs. He goes in front of a van to hijack it - he plans to cut the driver when he stops the van and gets out. Unfortunately Kadota recognises him as the one who had him run over, and Togusa drives over Nasujima without mercy.
Epilogue:
The head is taken by Nebula and moved to Chicago. Namie is invited to Nebula to help with research. Mika and Seiji apply to study overseas.
Haruna has Nasujima tied to a bed in one of Izaya’s hideouts for a honeymoon to forever.
(With sharp objects.)
Izaya was rescued by Manami and Kine, and requests to leave the city, even if he cannot survive the journey.
Kujiragi has herself and Yodogiri confirmed as the main suspects for the Hollywood incidents; she rescues Ruri from Adabashi’s final assault and tells her she has connections to the police, so Ruri will never successfully turn herself in.
Mikado is hospitalised and unconscious - his parents get a few lines of dialogue. Aoba appears as Masaomi and Anri leave the ward, and for the first time Anri sees his true colours as he talks with Masaomi. He reassures them he won’t be bothering Mikado again, seeing as he’s been warned against it (by Akabayashi), and besides, many big players have appeared, and both Chikage (and Akabayashi) can recognise him, so he has to lay low. Anri and Masaomi meet Akabayashi and Saki when they leave, and go their separate ways.
Akabayashi asks if Anri still likes Mikado, and if this is of her own volition - Anri realises that Akabayashi knew her mother and most likely about Saika, but they don’t talk about it.
Celty may actually have her memories back, as Shinra cut the link when she was awake rather than asleep, but it is not clarified. They continue their everyday life.
Vorona has returned to Russia with Slon to talk to her father, but will mostly likely come back, at least for a visit.
Mikage is teaching the twins and Akane, who is doing well.
Mikado wakes to Masaomi and Anri welcoming him home. (Anri calls him ‘Mikado-kun’.) He cries.
Direct transcription:
This is a twisted story.
A twisted love story.
With the neigh of an urban legend,
with the tears of a boy,
with the return of the ordinary,
with the disappearance of the mastermind,
with the hints of a new story —-
the twisted love story now closes its curtains.
For their love is no longer twisted.
Thank you for the spoilers. Nice summaries btw.
Vol 12: Good buildup to vol 13. Its pacing was aite.
Vol 13: Wow, that's a LOT of chaos & I loved every minute of it. Shizuo finally getting his chance to pay Izaya in full...lol
__________________
"When there is evil in this world that justice cannot defeat, would you taint your hands with evil to defeat evil? Or would you remain steadfast and righteous even if it means surrendering to evil?" - Lelouch vi Britannia as Zero.
I've read the wiki and it said that celty got her head back(in vol 12 accdg to wiki), but after reading the wiki further, it seems that it is cut off again?
Quote:
he overcomes Saika by his love for an non-human being (Celty) during the events of Volume 13. He uses the blade to cut the link between Celty's body and head before she returned to her hometown.
I've read the wiki and it said that celty got her head back(in vol 12 accdg to wiki), but after reading the wiki further, it seems that it is cut off again? I haven't read the LN but I don't mind spoilers
Spoiler for what happens to celty's head:
Just to be sure I warned you, this is what happens up to the end of the entire series!
Spoiler for warning:
Celty is indeed reunited with her head, but she eventually goes berserk. Eventually, Shinra is able to break through and it's severed once again (I think Shinra used Saika to do it, but I'm not certain at the moment). At the end of the series, Celty's headless body remains with Shinra, and her head gets taken to the States.
Finally. Now when I rant about how urban fantasy isn't urban enough, I can point to this as the way it's supposed to be done -- gangs, mobsters, transporters and shifty doctors.
Just to be sure I warned you, this is what happens up to the end of the entire series!
Spoiler for warning:
Celty is indeed reunited with her head, but she eventually goes berserk. Eventually, Shinra is able to break through and it's severed once again (I think Shinra used Saika to do it, but I'm not certain at the moment). At the end of the series, Celty's headless body remains with Shinra, and her head gets taken to the States.
A little more elaboration
Spoiler:
After getting her head back Celty also got her memory back. With that, she decided to leave Japan back to where she came from. Of course Shinra won't allow that. He catches up with Celty by letting himself gets contaminated by Saika and threatens Celty to come back or else he is going to take his own life.
Celty of course turns back to stop Shinra, and Shinra use that opportunity to sever the tie between Celty's body and her head using Saika.
Afterward, Celty's head got taken to the US, while the body still stays with Shinra. But this time Celty had all her memory in tact, as she lost her head this time while she is still conscious, so losing her head did no damage to her memory.
Shinra was grateful after finding that out, as Celty decided to stay with him by her own account.
This is a pretty important transformation of Celty's character as she finally accepted her identity as a monster who lives in a human society. This also lead to an important action she did in SH arc.
Well, yeah it's a tad too early to be talking about the anime's effect at the moment. Still to see this from a sequel to series that normally sold over 80k-100k during it's first weeks is pretty depressing.
Well, yeah it's a tad too early to be talking about the anime's effect at the moment. Still to see this from a sequel to series that normally sold over 80k-100k during it's first weeks is pretty depressing.
New cast character which means you gotta spend more time to readjust. Kuon will never truly replace Izaya.
I am really surprised by the numbers myself.
Or should I say I am disappointed by the fan base.
I don't want to believe that the novel's fan base are mostly composed of fan girls who just throw the series away once their favorite guys shift away from the scene.
Yet, I feel this is the message I am receiving from the dropping sales. Especially there is no decrease of the writing quality with likable new characters, and the returning characters also matured for the better from the ordeal from the ordeal in the first story arc.
Kuon replacing Izaya? That will be impossible. They are clearly two different types of character that are heading for completely different direction.