Welcome to volume 5 of From Far Away! In this volume...there's a lot of hair. I mean a lot. Like Shepard Book levels of hair.



Also some people really try it with Izark and it DOES NOT go well for them.

We have a name for our ghostly boy - its Irkule! He's the spirit of the Morning Mist Tree and is simply at a loss as to how to help the villagers trapped by the hair monster of nightmares. Have no fear though he helps Noriko realize that just being herself is such a big responsibility.

Minor digression - from here on out its an important theme that each character, simply by being their truest self, can and will help others. Other then Izark none of the other characters in the main "good guy" cast have offensive supernatural powers, but they are able to achieve the results they do by believing in something larger than theirselves. Namely in Noriko and Izark, but also in the inherent goodness in people's hearts.

Back to the volume at hand, we also see Izark just...well he demons out. He and Noriko wind up in a nasty jam thanks to the hair demon nightmare thing and he loses control in his fear for Noriko. So Noriko sees the Sky Demon form of Izark (random aside: in volume 5 of Fruits Basket, this happens to Tohru and Kyo as well) and while Izark is busy alternating between freaking out and growing so frantic he can't think straight, Noriko realizes two things: 1) she can totally see why Izark is scared of being the Sky Demon and 2) him being the Sky Demon meant he'd leave her and THAT WOULD NOT STAND.

We have what young me jumped up and down about - a confession! And it works!

Its important to note however that at this point Izark is not really romantically in love with Noriko. He cares about her, he worries after her and he doesn't want to leave her side, but he's so frightened by what being the Sky Demon could mean he's not at liberty to love her. When Noriko confesses to him, while he's in almost full on Sky Demon mode, he's reacting less to 'omg she returns my feelings!' and more to 'omg she isn't scared of me and cares about me still?'.

We also get a side story about when Gaya met Izark for the first time (he's like...15?) that really illustrates why Gaya trusts him and why Izark trusts her. Also the words that Gaya speaks about the Founder of the Gray Bird Tribe are very important later on. Just saying. ( )

The excitement continues non-stop in this fifth entry in Kyoko Hikawa's fourteen-volume manga epic, which chronicles the story of Noriko, a young schoolgirl mysteriously transported to a strange world where her coming has been foretold in prophecy, and Izark, a mysterious wandering warrior who comes to her aid, and who ends up having an important role in that same prophecy as well. Picking up right where the fourth installment left off, as Izark battles the strange and malicious monster that haunts the White Mist Forest, it follows the companions - Izark and Noriko, Gaya, Agol and Geena, Barago, Jeida and his sons - as they struggle to escape the dangerous situation in which they find themselves. Noriko discovers that the beautiful "ghost" who has been appearing to her is none other than Irktule, the spirit of the white mist tree, and the companions team up with him to combat their mutual enemy. As they slowly (and painfully) win their way through to Guzena, where they hope to shelter with Gaya's seeress sister, a number of flashbacks fill in some important information about our cast, from Izark's true identity, to the story of how he and Gaya first came to know one another.

My enjoyment of this series continues to increase with each subsequent volume - a big thank you to my friend Jeannette, who made me aware of its existence! - and I fairly raced through this fifth installment. This episode is action-packed, from the fight between Izark and the "hair" monster at the beginning, to the battle with the Rock Bird at the close, but there is also some significant character development. Izark's destiny, as the sky demon whose terrible power will shake the world is revealed, and his relationship with Gaya, who taught him swordplay, is clarified. I had guessed the former, and then had it accidentally confirmed when reading something about the From Far Away series, so that didn't come as much of a surprise. Noriko's declaration of love, when confronted with Izark's other face, also wasn't terribly surprising (surely most readers knew this was coming?), but it made for a very satisfying moment when she kissed him! All in all, an engrossing fifth volume - I finished it with an immediate desire to begin the sixth. ( )

As if being dumped down into a completely fantastical and strange world that doesn’t speak her language or play by her rules wasn’t bad enough. Noriko faces bigger enemies in this volume and feels more powerless than ever. She can’t help her friends or fight the bad guys, all she can do is be herself. But will that prove to be enough?

It turns out being herself is more powerful than Noriko originally thought, but she isn’t the only one showing her true colors. Izark finally breaks down and reveals his true self to Noriko and the result ends up shocking them both.

This volume delivers two fantastic, worth the wait, reveals. One is Izark’s long kept secret that he now shares with Noriko and the other is a flashback to Izark’s childhood and his struggles right after he left home. Both were exciting to read about and I’m glad this twist has come along, it will be interesting to see where things go from here.

The author is still interrupting herself a bit but it’s becoming less and that’s good. Her side panels throughout the volume responding to fan mail are very annoying and keep coming in during key tense and emotional scenes in the book. That I could really do without. ( )

This manga picks up where the cliffhanger from volume 4 left off with Izark in the clutches of the hair creature (yes, I said hair creature). As the story continues on we get a glimpse of Izark's destiny and Noriko is determined to show him that no matter what, she wants to stay with him this time. This manga series has rapidly become one of my favorites of the genre and I would highly recommend it to lovers of fantasy stories. ( )