World Trigger, Vol. 18 (18) Paperback – January 2, 2018

Like every book in this series it strikes a good balance between action, intrigue, and comedy. The story is well paced and keeps moving the overall plot forward. I only hope that this isn't the last installment since it is on indefinite hiatus due to the author's health.

I absolutely love the complexity of the world trigger universe. I hope to see many more issues in the future!

Love this series, hopefully the writer/artist will come back from hiatus soon.

World Trigger 18 is bittersweet - it's the last of World Trigger manga for now since author Daisuke Ashihara is taking a sabbatical due to health reasons. The story nicely completes the rank wars while also giving us a great preview of Hyuse in action. It ends on a great note and all we can do now is wait and hope Ashihara is able to take up the series again sooner rather than later.Story: The next rank war battle begins! Tamakoma 2 is facing two very unique teams: Ikoma and their adhoc, seat of the pants reactionary style to the overplanners in Oji. It will be a tough battle for Osamu - Oji has planned the war as carefully as Tamakoma 2; neither know what Ikoma will do to throw off those plans! Hyuse, meanwhile, is about to get to B-rank in one day, much to the chagrin of the useless 3 B rankers he defeats!As with all the rank war battles, Ashihara carefully plots them out so that they are all unique and distinct. In this case Oji planning very carefully to take out Tamakoma and Osamu first so he can't set up the wires. But Osamu is determined not to make the same mistake as the last rank war battle and thinks on his feet much better. Osamu knows Oji's advantage is their speed - and Yuma has plans for Oji himself. But they all need to fear Ikoma's terrifying whirlwind kogetsu strike.What makes World Trigger so much fun to read are the great personalities and moments of sweet humor. From Oji's silly renaming of the enemy teams (e.g., Kuga becomes Cougar and one of Ikoma's team becomes a head of broccoli) to Ikoma coming up to Arashiyama and poking him in the cheek with a twinkling star to get his attention. There are so many wonderful little moments - no panel is ever a throw away. One of my great pleasures is rereading and seeing all the little things I missed each volume.Ikoma was an interesting squad to translate - they have a strong Kansai dialect, which can sound very 'hick' in American English terms. Viz did a great job of showing the boys' obliviousness without making look like complete rubes. There was just the right amount of dropped "g's at the end of verbs to give the right tic to Ikoma Squad's members. And well, I had to love how Ashihara drew their exuberance.Of course, the upcoming next rank war battle should be great - Hyuse earned his place in Tamakoma and he's now ready to be their second ace. Now I wonder if anyone is ever going to figure out that Tamakoma 2 is made up of two Neighbors.The volume ends with the return of Tamakoma's older engineers - Rindo's daughter and a neighbor. When we finally get more chapters again, I look forward to seeing how that will affect the story. Included extras are team rooms of Ikoma and Oji, popularity polls, and some seasonal sketches. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

Simply amazing

A+