Ragna Crimson Volume 2 – Review

Ragna Crimson returns, and my mixed-but-net-positive feelings about volume 1 transform into… still-mixed-but-trending-more-positive feelings for volume 2.

First off, the positives. All of the strengths of the first volume are still present here. The art is gorgeous, with delightful character designs and intensely satisfying action. Daiki Kobayashi’s characters are evocative and have distinct looks and attire. The action sequences are energetic, with impactful effects and a clear flow from panel to panel broken up by sweeping splash pages. The scale of the personalities and the set pieces are equally larger than life, and they complement each other very well.

The character focus feels like it’s better balanced this time around as well. While I enjoy Ragna, it’s nice getting to spend more time with Crimson. I’m not sure I would necessarily call Crimson a complex character (at least at this juncture), but there is a lot more texture to Crimson’s actions and motivations than with Ragna. This is evident in everything from Crimson’s cavalier attitude about winning or losing the fight against the dragons, to Crimson being a dragon and hunting his own kind, to even his body language; in most scenes, Ragna has an upright, basic “I’m waiting for the bus” stance and posture, while Crimson is practically voguing between panels. I should also note that while Crimson is referred to as “he” on the back cover and the text, it’s clear that Crimson’s appearance and physical makeup can change at will using magic and that fluidity of presentation with regards to gender is a theme in the volume. I’m also glad that Leonica’s role has largely been relegated to background motivation here, since that means we are spared more the same…uh, awkward scenes the first volume had.

I also love the spectacle of concepts on display in this chapter. The idea of magic bullets infused with Ragna’s silver is great, bringing to mind the idea of silver bullets for werewolves (or UV light bullets for vampires, to reference the classic 2003 film Underworld). Disas Trois is a great antagonist too, as his simple, straightforward villainy juxtaposes well against Crimson’s cunning. While Disas Trois’ characterization is not all that complex – and his penchant for torturing people, particularly women, through violent mutilation is unsettling – I think his visualization is terrific, as he is just a big dragon tornado/whirlwind. Again, Daiki Kobayashi’s talent for bringing the ferocity of the storm to life is to be commended, and it’s exciting every time he’s on the page.

My major gripe with this volume is a bit of tonal dissonance in the hunters plot. Thematically it makes sense and I vibe with it: Crimson hypes up Ragna and magic, trains up a small band of disposable hunters and uses them to help slay a dragon. That’s all fine. My big problem is, well, the guns themselves. This is completely subjective of course, but I just did not like the inclusion of modern assault rifles in the text. One of the things that really excited me about Ragna Crimson thus far was its blend of high fantasy and gritty cruelty, with supercharged swordmasters dueling raid-boss dragons. While I don’t think it is out of bounds to have Crimson use magic to get the lesser hunters assault rifles, I just think it’s aesthetically kind of jarring. Suddenly there are dudes running around with modern-looking rifles and driving a big APC… I don’t know, it just didn’t work for me. I thought we were doing Goku versus Bahamut here, not (to inexplicably reference more early 2000s Hollywood films) 2002’s Reign of Fire.

The other negative, if you can call it that, is how the back half of the volume to dedicated to setting up the next volume. This may just be one of those necessary evils of publishing long-form serialized stories; however, after the mildly off-putting pew pew rifles and dragon fighting, we get setup for the next conflict that, while interesting, is not resolved in this volume. Which means we have to wait! Curses. But then again, maybe this is simply a sign of the work is growing on me.

Ragna Crimson is gaining momentum, and while I was cautiously optimistic coming out of volume 1, volume 2 left me more eager for what’s to come.