Review by Ian Keogh

This volume concludes the ‘Jack of Hearts’ story begun in Volume 6, and then supplies all seven chapters of ‘King of Spades’.

Lead character Arisu is absent from the first three chapters, in which the eight surviving game players continue to have to trust others to let them know which card symbol has manifested on the back of a collar they wear. One of the eight is the Jack of Hearts, and if they die everyone else survives. It’s a clever game playing on the worst instincts of human nature, as the maximum rate of survival is only ensured if everyone tells the truth all the time, and who does that?

These are three extremely wordy chapters as the cast assess each other and comment on their perceived psychological make-up, and along with participants readers must make judgements on who’s telling the truth, although they have the benefit of flashback sequences. The traitor in the midst isn’t revealed until the sequence’s penultimate chapter, which then replays events from their viewpoint. There’s a very clever resolution to what over seven chapters has been a compelling game without using any of the main cast. As it plays out truths about the Borderlands are revealed to some people, but not to readers.

The remainder of this volume concerns the King of Spades, who’s wandering around the entire Borderlands territory killing players. If he’s killed everyone wins, but he’s a formidable opponent with considerable military experience and a deranged set of motivations, and to complicate the situation a typhoon is heading their way. Arisu isn’t seen in this sequence either, but people whose lives he’s saved or influenced are. The majority of the story is seen through the eyes of frightened high school kid Hayato Dōdō who connects with the solitary but also extremely capable Morichan Aguni, last seen in Volume 3. Another previously seen character reappears, but they’re a surprise.

Haro Aso’s art is every bit as admirable as his plotting. He mentions something early in the sequence, and by the time it manifests most readers will have become so caught up in events they’ll have forgotten about it, but in the final chapter Aso’s art maximises the possibilities.

The level of planning Aso’s characters indulge in is phenomenal, a military mindset applied to setting traps and tactics, and it pays off in a thrilling sequence. As Arisu isn’t involved the feeling is that everyone is disposable, and that supplies suspense. The final chapter is fantastic, living up to everything that’s been suggested, and with that it’s on to Volume 8.