But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's start from the beginning, so we can better discuss the post title. First, let's talk about the preview for Volume 5, which is located at the end of Volume 4. The fourth volume ends with the ongoing fight (and, man, what a long fight; really, it was such a drag to have to slog through pages of pointless fight scenes) between Chaos, Loki and Skurai.
With this, wouldn't you expect that the preview for the next volume would be about this fight and its possible outcome? We could have gotten some sort of teaser, which would make us wonder if one of the trio was going to die or get really hurt or if Loki and Chaos might end up working together to defeat Skurai or something like that.
Unfortunately, we don't get any of that at all. Instead, we get the beginning of how crazy all this is with the fact that the preview introduces us to a new character called Himmelmez who's supposed to be a necromancer and a Valkyrie (don't get me started on that little tidbit as it's discussed in further detail in this post).
But why does the preview have to tell us about this? Why can't we find out about this while reading Volume 5 of the manhwa? How is this supposed to be believable or interesting if we already know all about this?
In fact, we really already know all about it because the preview also tells us that Himmelmez is working for Freya. But, wait, that's not all.
Clearly, we haven't been told enough yet as the preview also informs us that Freya wants the pieces of Ymir's heart, which is apparently Midgard's life force, so that she can continue ruling for a thousand more years.
Well, thank you for telling us all about this new plot point, which we never knew about until now. Seriously, preview, why must you reveal such plot points to us now? Why can't this wait until we're reading the next volume? Why is this being told to us now?
None of this sounds believable in the least, largely because we never knew any of these stuff before, so we don't know how things work and how any of this can be possible.
To top it off (as if this wasn't enough as it was), we're also told that Chaos and his friends will be going to Himmelmez's flying fortress (thanks for telling us that she has a flying fortress, by the way), so they can stop her, but that they're no match for her so they'll be needing Loki's help.
And this is just for the preview. We haven't even gotten started on the summary yet. Speaking of which, let's get started with that, just to get it over with already. As you can expect, the blurb at the back of Volume 5 is as crazy as the preview, if not more so.
Actually, I do think the blurb is crazier than the preview, mostly because it tells us even more stuff that we should have been shown instead or that we should have found out by reading the graphic novel.
Apparently, Midgard was created from Ymir's heart. The blurb also cheerfully adds the phrase '1000 years after Ragnarok'. Well, thanks for telling us that Ragnarok already happened, but what about a flashback? Seriously, don't we get a flashback? Sigh, let's just discuss that in this post and get back to the craziness that is Volume 5.
We're not told how the heart can help her though, which, I must say, is a surprise since it looks like we're being told pretty much everything already anyway.
I suppose it's also to be expected that the shard of Ymir's heart that Freya sent one of her followers to collect is exactly where our resident main characters currently are (in Prontera). How convenient, wouldn't you say?
So, Himmelmez has been sent by Freya to Prontera where all the protagonists have converged (sounds like what happened back in Fayon, huh? What, are we rehashing scenes now? How 'bout something new?).
Without having to tell us, it's already obvious (predictable) that Loki and Chaos will soon be working together, but what would be good is finding out how they can get over the misunderstanding that they've gotten themselves into.
By the way, blurb at the back of Volume 5, thanks for telling us pretty much the entire plot of the fifth comic. How very helpful of you. Sigh. Really, it's more like how frustrating and utterly so, wouldn't you say? Should we even bother reading this volume? Do you think the preview and blurb for Volume 5 could have been done much better? Were you disappointed when you read said blurb and preview?
*Notes:
- Image with added text was modified by Freya Yuki (CC:BY-SA) based on the image by hayashinomura (CC:BY-SA) from deviantArt
- Said image is meant to symbolize the craziness of Volume 5's summary and preview since the figures in the image can be described as crazy
- The rest of the pics are enlarged product images from Amazon.com; links shown above via Amazon's Native Shopping Ads widget
